18.11.2008 - Visit to the Parque de la Exposicion and Museo de Arte italiano

On my third day in Peru, me and my dear went to Lima, to the Parque de la Exposicion. The day was just perfect for wondering around that wonderful park, which is described as one of the nicest in Lima. And I can confirm that this is absolutely true. Besides it is perfect for couples, you can spend there an entire day. The Park is situated in the center of Lima, delimited by the avenues Beatriz Walked Columbus, Wilson, Paseo de la República and 28 de Julio in the quarter Santa Beatriz.
Below are some photos of the Parque de la Exposicion:

Fuente China (Chinese Fountain)

was donated by the Chinese colony in memory
of the centenary of the Chinese immigration to Peru.

Pabellón Bizantino (Byzantine pavilion)
constructed during the government of Augusto B. Leguía

Museo de la Nación (Museum of the Nation)

Pabellón morisco (Moorish pavilion)
constructed during the government of Augusto B. Leguía

The location of the park at present was occupied by the south door of the walls of Lima, known as Guadalupe's Door (Puerta de Guadalupe). When in the years 1870s the president José Balta arranged the demolition of these walls, within his plan of modernization of the city it was planned that this location would be destined for the construction of a park that would lodge the International Exhibition of Lima of 1872. This way, together with the Park, it was constructed the Palace of the Exhibition (currently the Museum of Art of Lima).

After the visit to the Park, we decided to go to the Museo de arte italiano (Museum of Italian Art), because there was an exhibition "Del mito al sueño" (From the myth to the dream) of Dali, Rodin, Degas, de Chirico, Renoir, Bourdelle.

about the exhibition

Below are some photos of the Exhibition:

The Thinker by Auguste Rodin

My favorite pieces of art, the sculptures of Salvador Dali:

Nobility Of Time by Salvador Dali

Homage to Terpsichore by Salvador Dali


Space Venus by Salvador Dali

And some facts about the museum:
The Museum of Italian arts opened its doors on the 3rd March 1924. It is situated in the second block of the Paseo de la República, in front of the Paseo de los Héroes Navales. This building was constructed and donated by the Italian colony in Peru to the country to commemorate the centenary of its independence in the 1921.
The exhibition was very impressive, in one place so many great artists' works. But my favorite artist is certainly Dali. I saw one of his exhibitions in Venezia (Venice), Italy. They exposed just his paintings. Really great peaces of art.

17.11.2008 Finally with my dear in my new home

me unpacking my stuff

Finally, in our room unpacking my stuff. I put everything in small plastic bags, and push out the air, so the cloths take less space in the bags. This way of packing is also very useful when you find your luggage all wet at the end of your plane travel. That is what happened to my poor bags, but fortunately no big damage. Besides, I was too happy to be finally in me new home and with my fiance, after so long.

finally with my dear Mario

I was so happy to see him at last, after all that months that we spent apart, communicating only on the messenger. It felt great to be finally at his side in our new, small home, together with his two brothers. One of them is a cook, and one Sunday, when he was free, he cooked us a very tasty "ceviche", a typical Peruvian food, made with raw fish, marinated in lemon juice.

"ceviche" prepared by my brother-in-law, Diego

That tasty plate of ceviche looks really delicious, and you can trust me, it was delicious. Compliments to the chef de la cuisine, my brother-in-law. And below is us, all the family, tasting our delicious meal on Sunday, one day in the week that we all eat together.

eating "ceviche"

Well, that is all of the family, me, our chef Diego at the left, my darling Mario at the very right, and my other brother-in-law, sited next to me on the right. My darling took that photo in black and white. That is our living room, modest, but comfortable. It needs a little make over, but slowly. We are going to do a little make over before our wedding, which will be very modest too, we both hate the big ceremonies with hundreds of people. Small and nice is more our stile.
The first days in my new country were nice, I spent it visiting Lima and knowing better Santa Rosa, the place we stay in. In the photo below is the view of our neighborhood from our apartment.

Santa Rosa, Avenida Pacasmayo

This is what we see, when we go out. All the houses in that part look like that. Same size and same color.

the view from our living room

We have security grates on the windows to prevent robbery, you never know. The boys said they were robbed already, and the robbers took their vacuum cleaner and a few small things. Security here is so so, you must be very watchful. And the other thing bothering me is the dirt. People throw stuff away whenever, parks, roads, something that I am not used to see, because the most European cities and places are clean. Well, one can find dirty cities also in Europe, like Milan for example. Apart from that, the other thing that is a shock for me is the transportation. I am used to that small buses from Colombia, but still, I am surprised how people know which bus to take to go to places. But in the end I am just a little time here and still learning.
I was almost forgetting one member of our family, our dog Europa.

our dog Europa

This cute doggy Europa, well known as Europita, is a sweet 5-year female dog, that my darling took from the street. He found her and her sister abandoned in the street and took them home. Her sister found a new family outside the city, and this cute dog stayed with them. She is really sweet and good mannered and very obedient. I spoil her of course, because poor animal must go out very often, but the boys seems not to understand that. Shame on them. Hehehe, they are also reading my blog, so I hope they will take her out more often.

16.11.2008 - Finaly in Peru

After a week, spent with my new family, well, with part of it, I took my flight to Peru. Below is me with my mother-in-law, at the time of our farewell, before leaving to Peru.

me and my mum-in-law, Rosa

I spent a wonderful weak with my new family that is way saying goodbye was so difficult for all of us. And below is my brother-in-law, who showed me around Madrid and its nice places and told me a lot about the history of the places we visited.

my brother-in-law, Fernando

After our farewell, I took the plane to my new country. That day I spent most of my travel in the sky, watching the clouds in the sky. It is fantastic to think that one is so high in the sky that can watch down on the clouds. It feels like clouds diving.

Clouds over the Atlantic Ocean

And finally after more than 9 hours of flight over the Atlantic Ocean, we saw land. In the photo below it is Venezuela. That means we are closer to my destination.

Venezuela from the sky

After more than 11 hours of flight, the airplane stopped first in Cali, where they filled the airplane with gasoline, check if it is ok, and cleaned the inside. Never had a technical stop so it was interesting to see what they do.

Cali airport

The stop in Cali made me remember my stay in Cali, in February, 2007, when I was doing a research in sustainable tourism in the Valle del Cauca region. What memories. It was a very pleasant stay, because my friends from Colombia helped me a lot with my research and my stay. I felt like at home. I was wondering, as I was near Peru, what will be like to stay there and to live there. Reading about a country is one thing, but staying there is another story. As a tourist you never see certain things of the country, certain aspects, that are not of your concern, as you only wish to have a pleasant stay and see as many interesting things as possible. So I wondered what will be the difference, how will I perceive the country, the people, and finally what will I feel staying so far from my country and my family and friends.
To returning back to my travel, after this one hour stop in Cali, we finally reached after 45 minutes, the capital of Colombia, Bogota, where I took my plane to Lima. In this four hours that I had to wait for the plane to Lima, I stayed in one restaurant at the airport remembering my stay in Colombia, the year before, and wondering how my friends are doing.
My travel was pleasant also because I met nice people, had a chat with them. Traveling always reveal a part of ourselves that we never thought we have, we open up to others, especially when travelling alone, because you need to talk to someone in your travel. And it is interesting to met new people and hear their stories. The people I met told me that they live in Europe and go back to their countires just to visit their families and to go to shopping, as dresses are cheaper in their home countries. The majority of them go to live to Europe to find a good job and send money back to their families, as in their home countries it is difficult to find a good paying job and do a good living. This is something a wanted to check out for my self, how is the situation in the country I will stay in. How is life there, how are the people, jobs, life quality. And I was just a few hours from discovering all of that, but especialy to see my fiance, who was the real reason of my travel to Peru.

Me coming threw the door at Lima airport

After three hours of flight, waiting in the queue to get my stamp for my 90 days tourist visa. I had no problem for that and got my 90 days tourist visa. But I had to wait for my luggage for more than half an hour, and I found it a little damaged and wet, because in Bogota it was raining. Thankfully the cloths were not damaged or wet, because I always pack them in plastic bags for that reason. And after more than 19 hours of flight and waiting, I made my first step in my new country.

8.11.2008 - 15.11.2008 Wondering around Madrid - Plaza España

Plaza España

Me and my mother-in-law decided, on the second day of my stay in Madrid, to visit the center of the city. This square on the picture above is one of the biggest in Madrid, and is as nice to visit by day as by night, but by night it is something spectacular because of the lights of the city. and the games of light. This Plaza is situated near the Palacio Real (Royal Palace), which I visited with my brother-in-law. He is a fan of the history and explained everything about the history of the buildings in the city and about the most famous places there.

Royal Palace

The Royal Palace or the Palacio Real de Madrid is the official residence of the King of Spain, but he does not reside in this big palace, but in the smallest Palacio de la Zarzuela, on the outskirts of Madrid. The construction of this Palace started in the 1738 and it ended in the 1755. It was built on the location of the previous Old Castle, that burnt down on Christmas Eve in the 1734.

But to return to our Plaza, on the day we visited it, there was a market place just between the Fountain in the photo and near the Monument to Cervantes. The market was represeting craftworks from different South American countries. After checking out each stand from different countries, you know women curiousity to see just everything (but we forgot to take pics, of course, too much to see), we visited the Monument to Miguel Cervantes, writer of the famous Don Quixote de la Mancha and his trusty squire, Sancho Panza. I remeber I was watching, as a small girl, a cartoon about Don Quixote and Sancho Panza and their adventures and their fights against the mills. The book is really amuzing, and now that I speak Spanish, I must take courage to read it in the original language. Well but that day we don't have to fight against mills, but just against technology to take the best pic by night.

Monument to Cervantes

And below is the photo of my mother-in-law, standing between Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. She looks worried cause it was hard to get where she stands to take a photo. But this exact point is quite famous for photo shooters, in fact a small queue was waiting to do just the same. Well, who doesn't want to appear near this two characters of the novel.

After visiting the nicest spots in Madrid, my time with part of my family in law ended and my travel continued on the 15th November to my new home country, to Peru.

8.11.2008 - 15.11.2008 Wondering around Madrid - Visit to El Retiro

One nice and relaxing tour in Madrid is to visit El Retiro (Jardines del Retiro de Madrid), which is an enormous park of 118 hectares that was once owned and enjoyed just by the royalty. Nowadays this park is a really great spot, where one can spent and entire day, especially in summer. It is a Central Park of Madrid, very pleasant, also in November, with the cold, one can enjoy its beauty.

Fuente de los Galapagos - Galapagos fountin

The Galapagos fountin in the Park was constructed in 1832 to celebrate the birth of the queen Isabel II.

The statue seen at the end of this nice lagoon, situated in the Park, is the Monument to Alfonso XII, that the queen Maria Cristina had ordered to do in honor of her deceased husband. This nice lagoon can be seen also by boat, that you can rent there. Apart from countless Statues and Monuments dedicated to the kings of Spain and also Queens, as is the Galapagos fountin, there are also nice Palaces in the Park. One of them is the Velazquez Palace (Palacio de Velazquez).

Palacio de Velazquez

The Velazquez Palace was built between 1881 and 1883 as a central pavilion of the National Exhibition of of Mining, Metallurgical Arts, Ceramics, Glassware and Mineral Waters, which were celebrated in Madrid between May and November, 1883.

I was particularly fascinated by the painting of the pavilion, as you can see in the picture below.

Another really spectacular Palace in the Park is Crystal Palace (Palacio de Cristal). Really awsome, as you can see from the picture below.

Palacio de Cristal

In front of the Crystal Palace there is a wonderful fountain and trees in the warm red autumn colours, really awsome. The red trees are growing in the water. A pretty awsome view.

fountain n front of the Crystal Palace

Another amazing, but almost night view of the Crystal Palace.

Palacio de Cristal

The Crystal Palace was built in the 1887, it served as a pavilion to lodge exotic plants brought for the purpose of the General Exhibition of the Philippines, which was celebrated in that year in Madrid.

This park is amazing, and my guide, my brother-in-law was so gentle to accompany me to this wonderful place and told me a lot about its history and the monuments. A really must see place without a doubt.

8.11.2008 - 16.11.2008 On my way to Peru - Wondering around Madrid

My travel to Peru started at the Italian railway station in Gorizia, where I took the train to Milan, and once in Milan another train to the Malpensa airport. Fortunately that day Italians didn't decide to strike, which is often the case, and getting somewhere is difficult, especially in Milan. But my luck I could get to the airport in time and there took the plane to Madrid.
Madrid's airport Barajas is good connected with the city, taking the metro. When I stepped out of the Terminal one, my new family was already waiting for me, my future mother and brother-in-law. It was nice to see them both there waiting for me, and to meet them finally. It was a very emotional moment. From there we took the metro to get to the apartment. I spent with them a wonderful one week, it was short to know my new family well, but good to have the possibility to know them at last, after my fiance spoke so much about them. They were both very kind with me, and took time to take me around.

With my mum-in-law we went to the Puerta del Sol in Madrid, where it is situated the statue of the bear and the tree ( "El Oso y El Madroño"), which is the symbol of Madrid. Apart from the bear, there are other two symbols of Madrid, namely PUERTA DE ALCALA is a kind of Arch of Triumph erected by Sicilian artist Francesco Sabatini in the XVIII century, and the fountain CIBELES, a Phrygian Goddess representing the fertility.

Puerta de Alcala - the second symbol of Madrid

In the Square of Puerta del Sol there is also the so called kilometer zero ("kilometro cero"), situated near the street, where is this nice building in the photo, just the opposite where the statue with the bear is situated.
In lot of countries kilometer zero is the geographic location from which start the streets, and from which one can measure the distances. It is usually situated in the center of the square. This is of course not the center of Spain, but just the place where streets start, as I was told by my mum-in-law.

kilometro cero in the Puerta del Sol Square

This inscription is not so easy to find, one must look down and where is a group of people standing in the circle and looking down, saying wooow and taking photos. Well, one must be practical :)).
The day I wondered around with my mum-in-law there were celebrations in the Plaza Mayor. They were doing folkloric Spanish dances and the Square was full with people. That day, the 9 of November, they celebrate the patron saint of Madrid, the Virgin Almudena. People get out in the streets, they put on the vests once used. It is really interesting to see olders with their vests of old days dancing in the streets with such a passion.
The streets that day were crowded. On the net you will read that the celebration take place in the Plaza de la Almudena, where is situated the Almudena Cathedral.



On the left is an image taken by night, of the Almudena Cathedral, situated near the Royal Palace. It take 100 years to construct this magnificent Cathedral, that Carlos V proposed to built in 1883. The Cathedral was finally consecrated in the 1993 by the Pope John Paul.