Cristo Blanco (White Christ)

Cusco, Peru has changed immensely in the last 10 years due to a stronger Peruvian economy and an increase in tourism. There are several restaurants, bars, clubs and music in the night life of Cusco to attract the young tourists to go out at night. The city welcomes and protects their tourists with a good presence of police as friendly citizens. The Plaza de Armas is a very lively place and the main hot spot for tourists to go to during the day and night.

A great quick stop only 20 minutes away from Cusco is the Cristo Blanco near Saqsaywaman to introduce yourself to Cusco. The reason its a good first stop is that there are not as many tourists there compared to Saqsaywaman. The view of Cusco is amazing, so go ahead and just breath some fresh air and enjoy the view quietly before engraving yourself in the popular tourist spots. Great spot if your by yourself or a group of people.

The Cristo Blanco is placed on one of the very high peaks of the mountains before leaving Cusco so that the statue can be viewed from any point in the City. There is lighting of the statue so it can be viewed at night as well and creates a big bright spot in the mountains. The statue was created in 1945 and donated by Christian Palestinians to the city of Cusco.

Parque de San Isidro

Lima is a big city, but it maintains their parks really well. One of the more wealthy areas in Lima is San Isidro and they invest a good amount of money to upkeep their park and make sure that it is secure. I haven't felt safer in this city since walking through the park of San Isidro with my camera. It is a known spot for wedding pictures and there were two photoshoots going on. My boss and I kind of crept up on them to observe and critique what would we have done. The Park of San Isidro is filled with flowers, fish, fountains and people relaxing. It is a common place for organizations to meet and discuss and for couples to walk around. It is about eight blocks long and each one is amazing. I highly recommend this park to be one of your stops while in Lima. It is very well known by Peruvians, but not by tourists. Enjoy a time to just relax and feel like your not in a big city.

There are a couple of churches near by and usually during Sunday you will find a good amount of people walking by the park. So I recommend going on a weekday and you will run into the residents of San Isidro and maybe a wedding shoot or two. Also if you are in the park during the season, you can get your hands on tons of olives since there are olive trees planted everywhere.

Peruvian Dishes Part 1

Peruvian Cuisine is possibly the best food in the world. The variety is amazing and every Peruvian could easily be a food critic in the United States when asked to describe their favorite dishes. Lima is very well known for its very fresh sea food. Part of the main reason its so fresh is because the current of the shore comes from the south and the water is colder. So fishing in the shores of Lima is lively and can find all types of variety of food at every corner. Throughout these blog posts I am attempting to take a picture of everything that I have eaten in Peru and will write a little bit about.

Canchita:
This is a very common appetizer and Peruvians tend to eat canchita while drinking beer and waiting for their sea food. It is also known to be mixed in some of the dishes like ceviche and chiriuchi. Canchita is dried up corn and cooked in oil with some salt on top. The warmer, the tastier and a great snack to crunch on.



Sublime:
Now is going to sound pretty biased, but I believe Sublime is probably the best chocolate this world has to offer. Part of the reason is that when I visited Peru when I was a child, I would eat these chocolates. Now each time I eat one, not only is it delicious but I get that Ratatouille feeling and nostalgia just kicks in. If I could I would bring back 50 boxes of these guys and just be happy. Sublime is a great chocolate that is not too expensive that all Peruvians love and are proud of. I strongly recommend trying one any time during your trip and start a petition to bring Sublime to the United States. The chocolate has grown to be very popular and now there is Sublime extra crunchy, white chocolate and even its own ice cream. The chocolate is delicious with a mixture of nuts. So if you are allergic, you are definitely missing out! This picture is one of the small fun size, but I will post more of the other types.



Alcachofa:
Now this snack is more common in Latin America and can even be found in the Unite States. But I felt the need to post about it because of the artichoke's in Lima are big and a great snack after or before a meal. Artichoke goes especially well with some lemon juice and cooked for a good hour or so.



Arroz con Pollo:
This is a common dish in Peru as well in other countries in Latin America. But there are different varieties in making the dish. I loved this form of the common chicken and rice dish with peas and seasoning to make it green. Peruvian's have made this dish their own by adding different spices, varieties of corn and aji. This is a great delicious dish that I recommend eating if you are traveling to South America. Its simple and tasty!


Learn how to make Arroz con Pollo Verde here.

Peruvian cuisine is very mature in the sense that everyone has a strong taste in a wide variety of food. Possibly the best food on this planet, if not then probably top three. I look forward to sharing more pictures and hopefully recipes or where to find the best food in Peru in the upcoming posts.

The Park of Love: Miraflores Lima

There is so much to see in Lima and not enough time to see all. But one of the main parks I recommend visiting is El Parque de Amores (Park of Love) in Miraflores. The park is designed for couples to go walk around and relax in peace next to the shore. Miraflores is one of the nicest parts of Lima, it is well kept and more safe than most areas. There is security around the park and it is near one of the nicest shopping complexes in Lima, Larcomar. The park has murals paints everywhere with quotes of people stating who they are in love with. There is also a statute in the middle showing a couple kissing. This is a great spot to get a picture of the shore and walk around with a group, or someone special with confidence and a very nice atmosphere. The park is most popular during Valentines Day when it is filled with couples everywhere and flowers.

Huaca Pucllana: Lima, Peru

First off Let me start off by introducing myself and this project. My name is Daniel McDonald and I am traveling to Peru for about four weeks. The schedule is the first week Lima, second week Cusco/Machu Picchu and Ruins, third the north of Peru such as Trujillo and then another week back in Lima. This blog is going to contain pictures of tourist attractions, food, culture and just interesting photos. I am studying Journalism and Media Studies at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg with a passion for photography. Telling a story through a picture has the potential to reach into someone and communicate emotionally. So hopefully through this blog experience you will enjoy the pictures that are taken through my Nikon D60.

My first week in Lima was amazing. I ate some of the best food in the world and got to see a historical side that Peruvians take huge pride in. It has been 10 years since the last time that I visited Peru, so I am going in with a mature mind and a hunger to learn. The very first place that I visited is a Pre-Inca site known as Huaca Pucllana. Here The Limas (Pre-Incas) where very close to the shore and a center used for ceremonies. The Limas people would do dances and sacrifices on top of the temple to the Sun God. The architecture in Huaca Pucllana is probably the most impressive site here. Since it was Pre-Inca, these buildings that some are still standing is the roots of the minds in architecture in the Americas. The reasoning into why the Limas People built the temples in their style using mud and adobe bricks standing upright is to absorb the waves from earthquakes so that the bricks wont collapse. For a well paid 10 Soles, you can get a full walking tour (Spanish or English) and start in the roots of history of Peru. The tour is very complete because it also gives you a brief introduction to a lot of Peru's traditional flowers, animals and food. Huaca Pucllana is located in Miraflores in Lima and can find more information on how to visit it here. http://pucllana.perucultural.org.pe/