Saturday Fun

This past Saturday we went back to the Indian Market to get souvenirs. Very touristy, gotta love it.
The Indian Market is within walking distance, so of course we walked. It was a nice day but very, very warm. When the sun comes out, Lima becomes very warm. We walked through some neighboring apartment regions to a main street that leads to Parque Kennedy. I think I have blogged about it before, that it's the center of Miraflores and everything. Lots of shops surrounding the main green area. Yeah, I think I did. So we walked there, and then you have to go down a couple of side streets and stuff, and then you turn onto the long street lined with markets. There are little shops selling paintings and Incan things too. A lot of the shops and stores before the Indian Market are filled with decoration things--rugs, paintings, wall hangings, jars, sculptures, etc. And a lot of it is in the Incan style stuff (like the stereotypical native Peruvian patterns).
There are two main markets, the Indian Market and the Inka Plaza. They are across the street from one another. The Inka Plaza is a little smaller and spread-out than the Indian Market. I personally like the Indian Market better. The deal about the prices is that 1) you can bargain to get the price you want, and 2) the prices are pretty darn good. When you figure it out, you can get a t-shirt for like mmmm well they ask for 25 soles, but that's a little high. Twenty-five soles comes out to around maybe 9 bucks?? So 9 dollars for a t-shirt is pretty good. Purses go for around 20 soles (around 7 dollars). Soccer jerseys are pretty well-priced also. Love it! I could look around there for a long time if I was a shopper. But alas, I am not. So I was pretty tired after spending 3 hours at the Inka Plaza with my family. But we got a lot of stuff done, so that was good.
Next we took a taxi over to Larcomar (the mall by the sea and within walking distance of our house). The kids grabbed a couple of tables in the shade while Mom and Dad ordered food. Not just any food--Pardo's Chicken. I had never tried it before, but I had heard about it. Now I can understand why. It was amazing. Rotisserie chicken, french fries, salad, and Inca Kola made my day. Inca Kola is an amazing soda found in Peru. It's bright yellow and tastes kind of like a bubblegum cream soda...?? Mmm I don't know how to describe it, but it's really good. We ordered a lot of food but ate a lot of it. I was glad we had leftovers; a lady with her family asked for the leftover package as we were walking out. Dad was glad to give it to her, and the woman was very grateful. I felt bad that we didn't have more to give her. But you can never be totally prepared, you know?
I had a pretty good day with my family. Good company and good food make for a great time. Despite almost dying of heat stroke and starvation in the market (kidding!), it was good :) I will post pictures soon. I think I might do an entire post about the food...
Mags :)