Sunday funday

Entrance to the Real Felipe 

Two Sundays ago Carlos and I went to the Real Felipe.  It's ALL the way across town and technically in a different department all together.   We went from the department of Lima to the department of Callao.  The Real Felipe was an old Spanish fort on the coast.  It's really quite huge and it is said that it is the largest complex/building that the Spanish constructed outside of Spain.  Its in the shape of a pentagon and hag hugely thick walls and crazy maze-like towers.  The Real Felipe was built to protect the Spanish from invasions, but what it is famous for is Peruvian Independence from the Spanish.  Yup, the Peruvians used the Spaniards own fortress to take over Lima and win Peru back.

Google Image of the Real Felipe's shape

It was cool to see the fortress and they had several rooms with old uniforms and maps and things documenting the war for independence.  You got to put a face and a place to all the names of the streets that you hear in Peru as most of them come from the Independence.  It is interesting that all of the people who fought for Peru, probably came from Spanish stock, and all of them were caucasian.

Outside there is a "tank park" and a "cannon park"  where they had old tanks and cannons that you could look at and not touch.  In one of the rooms that we were taken to on the tour, Carlos took me to a certain case where all of the Army's highest decorations were held and said that his grandfather won all of them.   Every single one.  The awards are at his mom's house along with the swords that Carlos and his brother played with as little boys.  Carlos was so excited at seeing something in a museum that he has in his house.  That would be pretty cool.

Gun Park

The actual tour was kinda funny because the guide in a soldier, who has no public speaking/people herding skills and only speaks Spanish.  There was a group of American exchange students (the highly talkative, and annoying kind) and 2 groups of French speakers, who I don't think understood a single thing.  Too bad they make you pay for a tour you cannot understand.  Good thing it is cheap. Only 12 soles, but I go in under the "Peruvian" price of 6 soles.  yay.

We were dying of heat and hunger by the time we left the Real Felipe so we headed back towards home and stopped at a FOOD FAIR!!  I had seen them setting up when we drove out to the Real Felipe, and convinced Carlos to stop on the way back for lunch.  Really, if there is food involved, he doesn't need much convincing.  The fair was in a part of town that I had never been to before (San Miguel) and was set up kinda on an island in the middle of a major street.  Yay Peru.  They had all of the usual foods plus ribs and food from the jungle.  The ladies making the jungle food had little cups full of suri, fat worms that they eat in the jungle. We decided against trying them, or rather I did.  I was not in the mood for trying very traditional foods.  We chose ribs with Peruvian style lima beans and causa with a huge avocado on the side.  It was most certainly a Sunday Funday.

Food fair!!

"and its happy to see you!"