6th August

6th August
Callao for Lima Peru. Cloudy Temp 22c
We arrived in Callao which is the port of Lima around 7am. As we were on an early tour we ordered breakfast in the cabin for 7am and it turned up at 6.40am. We had woken early so it did not matter. As arranged we met Coral outside the Princess Theatre at 7.45am and although we were not supposed to be there before 8am we were the last people on bus number one. Our tour was a City Drive, Cathedral, Gold Museum & Indian Market. Indeed we did do a short tour of Callao which is a port and the housing looked pretty poor. We had already been warned not to walk out the port gates as it can be unsafe. All day we did notice the presence everywhere of security people but we did not see any trouble. After this tour we headed for Lima and were struck by the ornate colonial looking buildings. The Spanish influence was obvious. Our first stop was the square which contains the Cathedral and the Archbishop's Palace. Also in this square is the Government Palace and the Town Hall. We visited the inside of the Cathedral which was begun in 1746 although several earthquakes resulted in much of the structure being rebuilt.While it all looks very solid it has been constructed mainly of bamboo and plaster so that it will with stand further earthquakes. While it is not as ornate as some European Cathedrals the side chapels are magnificent. The altar and the choir stalls are carved out of red cedar. The Altar has been covered in gold leaf. After the Cathedral we walked to the Monastery of San Francisco which is working monastery with 40 Monks although we did not see any. It is also a lovely building. On the way to the Monastery we passed many buildings which have wooden balconies, these are a feature of Lima and some of them are very ornate. Our bus picked us up at the Monastery and took us to the Gold Museum. This museum houses an extensive private collection of gold items belonging to Miguel Mujica Gallo, who since an early age started his life as a collector. Not only does the collection have gold pieces some of which have come from tombs but also a lot of weapons and armoury. Next it was lunch at a local restaurant and then to the Indian Market for shopping, the Market is actually named Inca Market so  I do not know where the Indian Market came from it is definitely not Indian. We bought some material which Betty is going to turn into table runners when we get home. This was a long day but we enjoyed it and now have lots of memories. Tonight we did not go to the dining room but Coral, Betty & I went to HorizonCourt and we met Bev & Ian up there who told us that they too had a great day. They went to see the Pachacamac Ruins & the Peruvian Prancing Horses. We all went later to the Princess Theatre to see the Callao Folkloric Show. The show was music & dancing from Peru, it was good in parts but the music was repetitive.
Before I close I must tell you of our excitement at the lunch. With about 10 minutes to go before our bus leaves after the lunch Betty needed to go to the toilet. After the 10 minutes and when people began to leave to get on the bus I became concerned that Betty was taking a long time so I asked Coral if she would go and check to see if she was Ok. Coral came back and said could not find her. I said well she has not come out so she must still be in there. Coral said there was some confusion in there as a lady was stuck in a toilet but it was not Betty because Coral had looked under the door and the lady had brown shoes on and she knew Betty did not. She went back in there and eventually found out that it was Betty in there but one of the attendants had crawled under the door to help her get out. The lock had broken making it impossible to open. They tried a hammer but finally. Got a screwdriver and took the lock off. When most of the people around where speaking in Spanish it was an exciting time for Betty. There was cheers when we got onto the bus. Betty says she will always check the lock in future before using public toilets.