After breakfast in the hotel, we set out to explore the barrio Barranco. Lima is divided in 43 barrios or districts that all have their unique architecture, layouts, and feel. In the cycle of cities that happens everywhere (area is cheap/poor, people who don't have money but have gumption move in and make it nicer, rich people move in afterwards pushing out the people that made it cool, rich people live in luxury recent builds that are on lots that used to have local businesses with interesting architecture and complain that the neighborhood is no good anymore), the Barranco is somewhere in the 2-3 range. Lots of restaurants, small boutique clothing stores, a cliff side walk with views of the surf and the surfers below, our walk through the Barranco was visually varied and felt less "Americanized" than our location in Miraflores. 

We started at the Museum of Contemporary Art, spending most of our time at the Ramiro Llona exhibit. Large horizontal canvases falling solidly in the realm of abstract expressionism occupied us for well over an hour. This time was definitely extended by the process of: first trying to read the supplied analysis text in Spanish and translate it ourselves, then going through with google translate and trying to improve our translation, before finally reading their provided English translation. Which still took a good amount of deciphering, because it appeared they had simply put it through google translate as well (whose literal approach to many aspects of translation can make technical texts slightly....obscured)! 

Afterwards, we walked the length of the district, stopping for a snack at a cafe, looking out over the sea, and ending at a well known "cevicheria" (El Muelle). One constant in our stay here in Lima has been over-ordering food. I maintain that prior to this early dinner we were not to blame for the unexpectedly large platters of food at very reasonable prices, but here, I just got carried away and spontaneously ordered an extra dish. It was delicious and provided us a snack later in the room though, so I have no regrets. Mushroom ceviche (we were too chicken to try the raw fish version), Chicharrones pescado (they're cooked! its different!), and causa con verduras refueled us after our day of wandering. 

Between the Hermitage of Barranco and the Paseo Chabuca Granda sits a famous, but underwhelming, bridge of sighs. A much more spectacular sight: dozens of black vultures perched atop a church, the Hermitage of Barranco, that has been closed since 1974 due to damages from an earthquake.  

As we made our way back to the hotel, our urban bird watching continued. While attempting to picture the Blue Gray Tanagers we had heard but not seen yesterday, a pair of Bananaquits started swooping and loudly cawing at a palm frond. As we watched, a Harris's hawk took off and fled its two tiny attackers, swooping not 20 feet above the center of a main street through the barrio. We couldn't possibly have looked more tourist-y if we tried, but we pointed and gasped as we followed the pursuit for several minutes, which we can only suppose is commonplace as measured by the lack of response of anyone else on the street.