Pisco Sour: Peru and Chile One of our favourite foodie discoveries from South America was the Pisco Sour. Pisco is a grape brandy made in both Peru and Chile. In Peru, lemon, angostura bitters, sugar or syrup and egg whites are added to the brandy to make a Pisco Sour. Traditionally in Chile, the egg white and the bitters are not added. First Pisco Sour! It is the national drink of both countries and both lay claim to have invented…
Pretty Valpo Known as ‘Valpo’ to its friends, this bustling, chaotic port town was designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 2003, after locals petitioned the international body to try and stop the building of a very modern glass cube on top of an old colonial building in one of the city’s main squares. They failed to stop that particular development, but were successful in achieving world heritage status. This has been a mixed blessing. While it means new developments have…
Cochiguaz Valley Fresh (?) off the bus from our adventures in San Pedro deAtacama, on arrival in La Serena, we decided to head straight into the Elqui Valley – where grapes are grown to make Pisco (mmm … Pisco Sours). Small villages are dotted around the pretty valley and it is a common weekend getaway for locals and foreigners alike. We made straight for the town of Pisco from La Serena bus station. The town changed its name from La Union…
Sunset from Valle de Luna with the Licanbur volcano San Pedro de Atacama is really cute and chilled out little town in the middle of the driest desert in the world. It is now largely centred on tourism, but this hasn’t ruined its small town outpost feel. San Pedro’s main drag – Caracoles It is very wild west and you could easily imagine cowboys riding into town to challenge each other to a duel. Happily, this doesn’t actually happen ……
1. Enjoy a sundowner in Barranco near the Bridge of Sighs It may have been that we particularly enjoyed this beer as it came at the end of a very long day. We’d arrived into Lima at 7am, got to the hostal and then pretty much went straight back out again. So this relaxing beer at the end of a long and hot day was very welcome and this was a beautiful backdrop. 2. Visit the Museo de la Nacion…
On the coast south of Lima, there are a number of sights and activities, which collectively have become known as the Gringo trail. I hadn’t actually realized this when I was planning our trip. However, looking at what there was to see and do between Lima and Cusco (from where we are booked on an Inca Trail tour, starting on 23rd March), I unknowingly managed to map out a perfect Gringo Trail route. So much for trying to get off…
On our second day in Lima, we headed to the Centro Historico to take in the sights of the old town. We started in the main square, with its very impressive Cathedral and Government buildings. In the square and surrounding streets there are also a range of other imposing buildings from the Spanish colonial era, many sporting a typical Lima-style balconies. In recent years, the mayor of Lima has established an ‘adopt a balcony’ scheme, encouraging businesses and individuals to…