And the winner is...

Cat Lovetro! That's right. She won. She was the first person to come visit me since I left the good ol' USA. She arrived at about the 5 1/2 month mark bearing all sorts of goodies from persons in the states as well as some early birthday presents. But of course, her visit was the best gift. If I haven't told you before, she's kind of awesome. She's also kind of ridiculous, which is probably why we are friends. It was wonderful having her in Lima, even though it was only for a few days. Unfortunately I almost killed her by walking her to death. We were both hurting pretty bad after a few days of nonstop walking. But, we did see a lot of Lima!

The nice thing about people coming to visit is that it gives you a reason to do all the touristy sight-seeing stuff that you'd like to do in your own town but never make time to do. We toured the Huaca Pucllana, centuries old ruins in the middle of Miraflores that I walk by all the time. We checked out the Magical Fountains water park, enjoyed sunshine on the cliffs, toured the catacombs, walked around downtown, visited the inquisition museum, found some llamas, and shopping until we dropped at the Inca Market. We also had some down time watching the Gator game, cooking, and just generally enjoying hanging out. Of course it's never enough time, but I loved having her here. Here's a few shots of what we did:  

The best pack llama! Cat brought lots of goodies from the States. 

Huaca Pucllana- the ruins in Miraflores

Old and new. 

Cat met a new friend. Paco the llama.

The Peruvian Hairless dog. Yes, it really is that ugly.

Walking along the cliffs.

Walking to Larcomar.

Gator girls!

Laser/fountain show at the fountain park.

Fountain park. 

Rainbow fountain!

Interactive fountain.

Cat at the cat church. She is forlorn because I was abandoning her there, despite the warning on the sign.

Oh hey. I'm riding a llama.

Skulls in the crypt at the cathedral.

Inside the cathedral.

Archbishop's house.

In the Museum of the Inquisition and Congress. Yes, they put those two things together, and no they don't sell these snazzy heretic hats in the gift store, much to our disappointment.