Peruvian Pups - Lima

Monday, the boo and I returned from a 10 day vacation in Peru.  We decided back in May that we would hike all the way to Machu Picchu doing one of the 5 day treks offered for a variety of trails in Cuzco.  Having never hiked and camped before, this was a drastic choice to make.  But I felt strongly that this was something I had to do in my lifetime.  So we did it!

I would love to blog about my entire trip, but seeing as this is a HARRY blog, and not a travel blog, I needed to find a creative way to tie my travels back to life with my fur-baby.  It just so happens, that Peru is a lot like Greece (where I spent a month the summer of my junior year in college), in that it has a large population of community dogs that roam the streets.  Therefore, I shall update you on my vacation via the fur-friends I met along my way.

Our first full day we spent in Lima City, Peru.  Although we stayed in a hostel in Miraflores, we took the bus downtown to see the cathedrals and centers that the city is known for.  The city is not full of skyscrapers and modern technology.  It's crowded, but the tallest buildings are the ancient churches that sit amongst modern buildings and stores.  We chomped on churros, took lots of pictures, and made our way into the Plaza de Armas and enjoyed a tour (albeit all in Spanish) of the Cathedral de San Francisco and the Catacombs below.

I noticed on our walk that the dogs I saw were wearing clothes.  Most dogs in Lima, were wearing human t-shirts or fleece dog outfits.  I asked a shop owner, the mom of little Nikita below, whether that meant they belonged to somebody.  She said that they put shirts on the dogs so that they don't get "frio" aka cold in Español.  Nikita was her dog, but there were strays with shirts on as well.  When in Cuzco I went on a mad shopping hunt for an authentic Peruvian dog sweater for Harry, but the ones I found at a random veterinarian were just fleece with polka dot patterns.  Nobody knits llama sweaters for the household dog in Peru...maybe I should start a business.

After a long day of sight seeing, the boo and I were starving and wanted to check out "La Lucha", the sandwich shop that our hostel raved about.  We made our way back to Miraflores after gasping at the serious amount of bones in the "Catacoombas" in the Cathedral de San Francisco and met this chill dog on our way.  He was pretty much sleeping in that position all dressed up with nowhere to go.  His owner didn't speak a bit of English so I had no idea what the gig was for or whether I was supposed to pay him for snapping a shot of me and his ridiculously dressed son. 

La Lucha ended up being super good.  So good that the line queued a good distance out of the shop.  I think it was comparable to some of the best Philly sandwich places like Paesano's or Dinic's.  Alas, there is no Peruvian Yelp for me to write a raving review.  Guess I'll have to invent that too and make a page for my Peruvian Dog Sweater business.