Today was the last day of my trip and, well, it didn’t turn out at all as I expected.

To give you some kind of clue, I had actually pretitled this blog “Foodie kind of day” and I had to retitle it when I actually got down to writing it.

So, let’s get on with the day shall we?

With a very, very late night flight (1am), I made a point of both going to bed and waking up late today.

It was 10:30 by the time I was packing up all my stuff.   I was checking out and would be without a home for the day.

Well, not really.   I just stored my backpack in the luggage storage and just kept coming in and out of the hostel through the day just hanging in their common room.

The plan for today was simple: a 2 hour chocolate making course at 12:00 and a 3 hour food tour at 5:00.

Now you see why I had pretitled the blog “Foodie kind of day”.

Well, as fate would have it, my plans were altered today…

Food fail #1

When I woke up, I still had a sore stomach.

I left the hostel to go to a place serving gluten free sandwiches.   I wasn’t super hungry but just wanted something in my belly to hopefully settle my stomach.

After walking a couple of blocks all I wanted to do was go back to the hostel and lie down.

It was at this moment I made the decision to not go to the chocolate making class.

I had missed the 24 hour cancellation window and ended up eating the entire $40 cost but that’s how much my stomach was acting up.

I’d rather just rest up the rest of the afternoon and go on my food tour later in the day.

Oh, and that gluten free sandwich place?

It’s closed on Tuesdays.

I can not catch a break with my restaurant selections the last week.   It’s insane!

I ended up just walking back to Tropicana restaurant with it’s Peruvian dishes.   I had eaten dinner there a few nights ago and I enjoyed the meal.

So, lunch today was chicken breast with sausage, egg, rice, and fries.

A walk in the park

I’ve mentioned it before but Kennedy Park in the center of Miraflores is home to a bunch of cats.   They just hang out there all day long and there’s even keepers who stop by to feed them.

They have little houses set up for them as well.

It’s literally their park.

Anyway, the park is just a block away from my hostel so whenever I’m out I make sure to route my return through the park.

No matter how crappy you’ll feeling or how you’re day is going, a walk through a park with cats in it will bring a smile to your face.

And that’s how I felt as I was returning to the hostel after lunch.

I just hung out in the common room downloading videos for my upcoming flight and just plain relaxing trying to get my poor stomach back to normal.

Barranco

By mid afternoon my stomach was feeling slightly better and, at 3:45, I made my way to the Barranco neighborhood about 15 minutes away by metrobus.

Barranco is known as the bohemian or artsy area of Lima and as you walk down the streets, you see why.

Passing by colonial houses you reach the center of the neighborhood and see several murals painted on different buildings.

It just seemed like a cool little relaxing neighborhood and not as touristy as Miraflores where I’m staying.

At just before 5:00 I arrived to the meeting point for the food tour.

Food Fail #2

My tradition for dinners on my last night of a trip has been to find some place that does a tasting menu and go out for a nice, albeit expensive, meal.

This time around I Googled “Lima tasting menu” and was confronted with the reality of Lima being a foodie destination with many Michelin star fine dining restaurants.

Now, I’ve done a couple crazy tasting menus going into the $100 and even $200 range but these place had menus at $550 not including drinks and, well, that’s just a wee tad too much for this guy.

So, I signed up for a 3 hour food tour instead to different restaurants in Barranco.

It’s always awkward when you sign up for a tour and there’s no real description of your guide.   You just kind of wait there looking for anyone with some kind of lanyard around their neck or some vest brightly saying “food tour”.

So, I stood in front of the Starbucks meeting point and looked around.

No one else seemed to be waiting along with me.   Was I the only one signed up for this tour?

And I waited.

And waited.

By 5:10 I was looking up the food tour’s website to find contact info.

I left them an email and a message on WhatsApp.

I then looked at their Instagram page to leave them a message there.

Their last Instagram post was from 2023 and now the reality that this tour wasn’t going to happen became real.

In the end no one contacted me back and I contacted PayPal who, to their credit, gave me an immediate refund after I message them about it.

Well, that sucks.

I just kind of laughed at how sad this day, my last day, had become.

I had cancelled the chocolate making class and now my food tour was a no-go.

I walked a bit around the neighborhood and passed by the first restaurant we were supposed to stop at and, can you believe it, it was shuttered.

At this point I literally laughed out loud.   After all, all adventures, even the bad ones make for great stories down the road.

Tropicana revisited

Anyway, I took the MetroBus back to Miraflores and walked up to a restaurant I knew I’d get a good meal at.

Yeah, I was back at the Tropicana where I had dinner the other night and lunch today.

I knew their menu and I knew I could get a large and inexpensive Peruvian meal.

So, I sat down, ordered a steak with sausage, rice, potato, and fried banana.

And that was my last meal of this trip.

It wasn’t quite the elegant meal I was expecting and, to be honest, as I reflected on the day I was overcome with a bit of sadness.

I just felt like I went out with a whimper today.

What should have been an amazing day full of food adventures was just so meh.

And, you know what?   When you’re feeling down, there’s only one thing to do…

Hanging with cats

I again went through Kennedy Park to have one last look at the cats.

I actually found a bench to sit on and within minutes a cat wandered up to me and, without prompting, just jumped up in my lap.

Now, this was the perfect end to my trip.

My smile was ear to ear and again I teared up a little but this time it was tears of joy.

And you know what?   That cat would not leave my lap.

I sat on that bench for a good half hour until I finally had to scoot it off my lap to get back to the hostel.

My airport shuttle was coming soon and I need to be ready.

A late flight

My flight tonight was at 1:00 in the morning and, honestly, I don’t ever remember having a flight this late.

Again, I tried as I hard as I could, but I just couldn’t fall asleep on the flight despite it flying out at the perfect time for sleep.

So, I watched videos and had a few minutes sleep here and there.

After a couple of meals including a breakfast where I had to peel the ham out of a ham and cheese sandwich, we landed at LAX just before 8:00 this morning with the two hour time zone change in effect.

Now, let me just say that LAX is a frickin zoo.   Holy crap!

I had a 4 hour layover here this morning and, thank God I did, cause it took a full 2 hours from the time I landed to the time I got to my new gate in another terminal.

After purchasing a outrageously priced $7US ($10CAD) bottle of water, I settled in at my gate and waited for my final flight.

At noon we were off to Vancouver.

And, at 2:45, Peru/Bolivia Trip 2024 had finally come to an end.