Adventures in Peru

Earlier this year Liz went to Peru for over a month and Lewis joined her at the end for a antiquing week in Lima. We had a blast! Lima is an interesting place to shop for antiques and decorative items largely due to its eclectic past. Lima has a rich heritage of fusions with European and Asian cultures. Starting with the Spanish invasion in the 16th century, Peru has witnessed influxes of people from all over the world especially as it was the the center of the Spanish Viceroyalty. African, European, Chinese, and Japanese immigrants came in waves over the last 2 centuries. One example is the strong Chinese presence in Lima. Beginning in the 1850s, Chinese indentured servants were imported to work on the Peruvian railroad and plantations. There is a Chinatown in downtown Lima and one can find Chifa (Creole Limenan fusion Chinese food) restaurants sprinkled all over the city.

While in Lima we did quite a bit of shopping. The first few days we tried to source and find antique shops and stumbled on some great spots. We were looking for Alfonso Ugarte, an obscure small side street in Miraflores that changes names after a couple of blocks. We'd walked around this little strip of shops for 2 days and just kept missing it. When we finally found it we were so excited to see a street chockablock with small stores. The inventory ranged from Colonial pieces to Victorian, to Art Deco and Modern collections. One shop, Cofre de Antiguadades had a fantastic collection of Colonial pieces, the majority originally from churches. The owner of Cofre de Antiguedades was nice and helpful, he spoke a little english but luckily Liz was there to help translate! He had a nice mix of 20th century pieces in with the colonial antiques. Below is a shot of his shop.

What's not to love about this armless Spanish Colonial Santos figure! How much fun would it be to design a room around him. In Peru, they have strict laws on what can leave the country. Pre-Columbian and Colonial art and antiques are generally illegal to export. It's a good rule of thumb that if it is over 100 years old and Peruvian, don't buy it because at customs they'll confiscate it. Beware of dealers willing to sell you illegal Peruvian pieces; they don't care if it doesn't make it home with you.
Another great shop with 2 locations off Alfonso Ugarte had a great collection of modern pieces. The owner was a stylish affected man donning sunglasses at night. Here we bought a great 1960/70's carved gilt mirror. In the Indian Markets you can find slews of newer, cruder ones with overly gilt plasticy looking paint. They are made from carved cedar wood, and were made in Cusco or other states and brought to Lima to sell as is often the case with artisan crafts. Below is a shot of our favorite shop where we bought the mirror which is pictured below. The owner has a good eye, and the prices were pretty good on certain things.
We also went to a 3 floor palatial shop with high prices but some great things. Many of the shops were on ebay so the prices there were the same as the prices here, but there were some good deals to be had. I guess that really shows that we are in a global economy!
Where there is a will there is a way. There is such a demand for Spanish Colonial Furniture, that there are reproduction dealers who specialize in selling these fakes. As always you can spot the fakes a mile away. They are always a little clunkier and clumsier. Shown below was a shop filled with reproductions masquerading as antiques.

What we learned while down here is that during the 20th Century many Europeans moved to South America, and with them came there antiques and design pieces.Unfortunately, I think many of the great designer pieces are gone. While there we talked with one of the store owners and he said a few years ago a European antiques dealer came down and bought the contents of an old hotel filled with french deco design pieces. I remember him saying there was a bunch of Jean Royere. This is almost unfathomable to me. The antique shops were totally amazing!
We hoofed it pretty much everywhere when in Lima. It was great because you really never know what you're going to see pounding the pavement! The first great piece was this 3 ship set all made out of metal, similar to Curtis Jere but each ship was over 3 feet tall! We're pretty sure they are old Italian pieces which have been left outside for years. Lewis loved it and had to put his arms through a fence and take a photo this funky yard art.
Another piece we happened into was this art installation in a burned out building close to Chinatown. It was a large red donut shape, painted in 2 dimensions on a 3 dimensional space. We don't think this could have been projected without the image being stretched so we're still trying to figure out how it was done. Maybe with lasers? Any ideas? I'm not sure if this was a grafitti piece or this was some sort of organized display, regardless it was inspirational.

On another note, if you're visiting Lima make sure you visit Huaca Pucllana and take the tour of this amazing structure! Its a 40 acre religious site by the Lima culture from 400-700 AD. They have been excavating this site for the last 28 years. As a boy, our guide used to play on the ruins because the site was an unexcavated mound of dirt. Pucllana is Quechua for playground. The huaca is a ziggurat constructed out of mud bricks. Only the center of the ruin has been excavated because the rest has been paved over with streets and houses. The shrine is in the middle of the residential part of the San Isidro district. The large pyramid was built vertically in trapezoidal segments so as to withstand the all too frequent earthquakes that hit Peru. The Lima culture used the huaca as a religious shrine and urban center where they would make offerings and human sacrifices. These sacrifices were made in the building's foundation. Girls, usually from elite families, were laid face down in the earth, dispersed and presented as offerings. The Wari culture from Ayachucho invaded Lima in 700 AD and converted the Huaca to a cemetary.

Another reason we love this site so much is the restaurant affiliated with Huaca Pucllana. Lima is known as the gastronomic capital of the Americas, in large part due to its rich fusion of cultures and their cuisines. This restaurant was a culinery delight with a fantastic setting. We sat outside and ordered a series of appetizers so as to try as much as possible. It was winter in Peru when we were there, but along the coast it remained very temperate and the most we had to wear was a light jacket, even at night. Eating in the open air under a large tent next to a pyramid, conjured images of what it would be like to be on the British campaigns!
Our appetizers consisted of causa, a traditional limenan dish of pured yellow potato, warm shrimp ceviche, a tempura crab claw in a beef-lime broth. We also had anticuchos, another traditional limenan dish of skewered beef heart with mote (big white corn) and as well as fried yucca wrapped in plantain in a coconut milk sauce. For an entree Lewis had asado de lomo, another classic dish and Liz had the ceviche, a must when in Lima next to the ocean! All of this decadence was topped off with great pisco sours, the national drink of clear grape brandy, lime, emulsified egg whites and bitters. Luckily we walked the several miles back to our hotel. What an experience! It was one of the best meals we've ever eaten and proceeds go to the excavation of the huaca. Very Highly recommended!

And did we forget to mention that our bill was a bargain? In Peru you can have a great gourmet 3 course meal with drinks, and a dessert for a little over 50 dollars US.
Here's an interesting side story! We never planned this but after he bought my ticket to Peru, Lewis realized one of his high school friends from Cape Henry Collegiate lived and worked in Peru! Her family owns Condor Travel, which we wished we booked through. They are a great socially responsible company and do so much for Peru . It's a large company but it's also a family run business. So it was weird while down there, we ended up meeting up with 4 other people from Lewis's high school, which was a small school so it was really random but it was a fun time and it was awesome to catch up with each other!