My time off started on Tuesday, and we spent the day leisurely packing and running errands, including a last-minute trip to REI to get binoculars and a walking stick. Those were suggestions on the National Geographic packing list. In various times on previous trips, we’d wished we had them so seemed like the time to do it.

We made our way to the airport around 4pm to begin what would be a 22-hour trip in 4 legs: Sacramento to San Francisco, then to Los Angeles, Panama City, and finally Lima, Peru.

In San Francisco, we had dinner at the Giants Clubhouse, an option on the Priority Pass we’ve used several times. Priority Pass is a travel membership we get with our Chase Sapphire card which gets you access to lounges or, in the absence of one, $28 per person at a participating restaurant.

Ash had a grilled chicken salad, I had a chicken and sausage gumbo, both were pretty good.

In LAX, our business class tickets got us into the Star Alliance lounge, the network which includes United and Copa Airlines, the two we used on this trip. They had a wonderful outdoor seating area which we enjoyed until it got too cold. We didn’t sit at this bar, but I liked the view of LAX in the background. Each area had fire like this in the table.

That wall in the background is actually a waterfall.

The 2 legs to get us to LAX were on United, and both in coach. The next 2 were Copa. The first would be an over 6-hour flight starting at 2am so we were thrilled with the lie flat seating option we had here. Look how happy Ash is. He booked these seats over a year ago using miles, so they cost us nothing.

I am typically not able to sleep well on planes and this was trip was no exception. Ash was clear with the flight attendant not to wake him if he was still asleep for breakfast, served about 2 hours before landing, so he missed out on this, but it was pretty good: a simple omelet with potatoes, ham, and salsa. The orange in the fruit is mango, not cantaloupe, and the bread was like a rye. I enjoyed his very much.

Next stop: about a 2 hour layover in Panama City. Here we had access to the Copa lounge and found a quiet corner to sit in that also gave us a perfect view of our gate there on the left. The breakfast was classic continental – pastries, bagels, cereals. Ash had a bit but I skipped since I’d gotten to eat on the plane.

I don’t know why I get a kick out of snapping a shot of where we are on the map but I do, and this seemed like a good time to do it. In case you forgot your 6th great geography, Panama is the last country in North America before South America begins. Below that you see Ecuador and Peru which is where we will spend all of our time after this.

Ash took this shot of us sitting in our corner of the lounge.

Our last leg left around Noon, and was about 3.5 hours. Lunch was a salad and a spicy chicken and orzo dish. Other than having too many olives for my taste, the flavor in this dish was great.

Ash took this photo of the terrain from the plane as we approached Peru – dry and mountainous.

We got through immigration without any problems – although we were disappointed they don’t stamp your passport! – and our bags were already on the carousel when we got there. The rental car counter was just outside of baggage, and a short walk to where the car was from there. Photo above is Ash going over the car – a Kia – with the worker to document nicks and stuff. Ash’s Spanish is pretty good and that has helped quite a bit already.

For the first 2 nights we are staying at the AC Marriott in Miraflores, one of the main touristy areas in Lima, which is right on the water. Ash’s Platinum membership which he acquired during his IBM days in the 90s continue to serve us, which resulted in a free upgrade to an ocean view. That’s the Pacific out that window.

And his status helps when he tells them we are celebrating an anniversary, which we are, resulting in a little cheese and meat platter, along with a bottle of wine which of course we won’t drink. More on the anniversary bit later in the trip.

The view from our room to the right. See those pointy ledges in the bottom right? That top one that’s more of a tan color is where we stood to take an upcoming shot. I didn’t notice it until I was putting the blog together.

The view to the left. If you look closely in the center about 1/3 of the way down, you’ll see a cross at the edge of that land mass.

We dropped our bags and made our way out to walk around a bit and find dinner. We made it just in time to catch the sunset. This was taken at 5:48pm.

This was taken from the same spot as the sunset photo by just turning around. This is the shot I was telling you about above, with our hotel in the background top center. I managed to catch Ash taking a selfie which I just happened to be in.

This is that selfie!

To our left is a pretty big shopping area with several restaurants. We looked at 3 different menus before making a decision.

We ended up at Mangos, which on TripAdvisor was #1 Nearby and #99 out of 2498 in Lima. It also had a lovely outdoor seating area. That’s Ash waving to you in the center.

And a great view of the water’s edge at night. Notice that cross again in the background, all lit up. The temperature was about 62 degrees, a nice breeze, it was a lovely evening with a great view.

They started us with a very local dish called canchita. Imagine a roasted popcorn flavor with the texture more like corn nuts. We are both crazy about anything corn and this was a big hit with us, I look forward to more of this on this trip.

Ash had parmesan scallops, which were baked with the cheese melted on them and a little crusty along the edge of the shell. I had one and it was delicious.

I had a ceviche, which Peru is famous for, and it was definitely the best I’ve ever had. Several kinds of fish, mostly raw but some fried, in a spicy citrus broth with raw red onion and a bit of sweet potato. And some corn. Every bite was terrific. I think that green in the sauce may have been wasabi.

Ash had a salmon salad which he really liked.

I got a grilled tuna dish which had a bed of fresh artichoke puree at the bottom along with some grilled artichoke, radishes, crunchy fried onions. The tuna was some of the best I’ve ever had. I practically licked the plate.

So food-wise we are definitely off to a good start. Today, Thursday, May 23, will be our first full day in Lima. We don’t have much planned and don’t meet up with our tour until tomorrow evening. We wanted a couple of days here to just disconnect and relax and roam a bit without much of an agenda before we join someone else’s schedule. The weather today is supposed to be partly cloudy with a temperature range of 58-70. Should be a lovely day to be out and about