Dia Nueve, Diez, Once y Doce

Just one last view off our balcony, as I sip my morning coffee...

We started our day off with a little walk around the city...

Restaurant we passed by called Nina...

...Contemporary house along the way...

...lots of places here have more security than you would see in the US...
....I liked this because it doesn't look so much like it's a place up in arms, but rather an intregal part of the architectural design...

So, our plan was to pick up some gifts for friends...

and get the uniforms for the boys volleyball game on saturday...

...that's right I said volleyball...I'll explain that later...

....but for now, here is a little place called LaQuinta

(a store that sells Abercrombie, Guess, Holister, Express, etc...)

As well as many other top name brands that are...

Hecho in Peru...

Here's the real kicker, are you ready.....

.....they sell for only $3-5 each!!!!

Shirts, pants, skirts, you name it...I've died and gone to shopping heaven!!!!

and I'd like to take you all there with me...

I love Hecho in Peru!!!

Into the night, we ate at this great restaurant called Malabar...

...Had a French/Spanish flair, with odd nude paintings of naked ladies in swimming caps, sepia tone prints of some of the barrios here...and stuffed antelope heads at the bar...

...you can see them in the background...I really like the color palette they used...

Charlie Chaplin figure is sitting under the white blossoms, this place had lots of odd details...including the oversized Bjork looking girl shushing us in her spanish babydoll dress...lots of unique amazing art here...

...I liked this little corner booth...

...Black plantain shutters and a sepia tone photograph of one

of the distressed homes in a barrio here...

Danny's best Dr. Evil impersonation...

Rosey cheeks from rosey wine...

Jessica and Steven....our great dinner dates!!

They just kept coming with the free desserts, we couldn't resist!!

Cappuccino and ice cream with rasberry and a carmel pastry strueddel...

Powdered shortcake cookies with a peach like marmalade and a type of cherry fruit they have here dipped in chocolate (mom, you would love it)...

This was the most expensive meal we've had the whole time here which included a round of cocktails, a bottle of wine, two appetizers, everyone's entree, three different desserts and a round of coffees...

.....grand total...$45 dollars a person, unbelievable!!!

...Back to EL Dragon to here Novalima play...
...this time I brought my camera, yay!!!....

This bar brought to you by Lucky Strike...

The whole top of the bar is a canopy...

... it has three top decks at different levels and a stadium floor for when the bands play...

...the black and white mural in the background covers the whole wall and is of the hillside on the coast of Punta Hermosa...

Oyyyayayayayah!!!! Novalima!!!!

Afro-peruvian music, very cool!

And the band plays!!!

... Maria your in the bottom corner to the right, the girl danced and looked just like you,

...thought you were here with me!!!

...Even though little Cole is due any day now, you can still shake it girl!!!

...Jessica and Steven are dancing down there too...

....Danny and I had the view from above, it was so much fun!!!...

Danny and Steven after a few Pisco Sours...

...What?!!!...not us!!!

they look happy to you?!!!

Happy couple, we salsa danced the night away....

Jess and me hanging out...

....before she got all famous on me and went back stage with Novalima...

The next morning...

Tom and Danny went to Starbucks and picked us all up coffee for Valentine's Day...
...they decided flowers would go great with our coffees...

...so off they went to Wong's (the Peruvian Vons) to get us some flowers...

(Here's my flowers!!!! Awww...)

...as they stepped out of the Wongs, glances, oohs and ahhs came from the women...

(Here's Jessica's flowers...what a man!!! ...a dozen long stem roses!!!)

...And so on the way to the car four older ladies and one man walked by...

...The ladies all glanced at eachother and said, "Oh! How sweet!!"...

...the man with them though, thought differently,

...giving growls at Tom and Danny, thinking...

his expression said "Great!!...Now I'm gonna have to buy four bunches of flowers!!!..."

Good thing our men did get us flowers to buy some points, because later that day...

...this is what the boys were doing...

Okay, so another funny story....

...Above is Danny and Tom playing volleyball...

...You wouldn't think this was unusual because they both do, in fact, play volleyball....

...except for the fact that we are, by the way, IN PERU, and had not scheduled any volleyball tournaments in our sightseeing agendas,

...but as it worked out, the time we happen to be here for our 3 weeks also just so happens to be the same time, once a year mind you, for this weekend...

...that there is a tournament for the Peruvian National Tour...

....And so Danny and Tom registered and got there cute little

matching Peruvian brand board shorts...

....Had fans show up to cheer on the North Americans...

....Even got sponsored by Thunderbird Resorts, Tom's Company he works for here...

...and got some inspiration from Steven on how exactly they were to defeat the other teams...

...So Tom hit a couple extreme cut shots...

...and hammered a couple balls...

...had to deflect a couple too...

...and Danny was right there to help the team out...

...No one in Peru had ever seen the Poke Shot...

...and afterall everyone underestimates him, but he jumps high for a little guy...

...So they held their ranks and came up placing second!!!!!!....

...and got their name in the paper the next day...

...Dony Neiman and Tom Mraz, the North American's win second place!!!...

So that was how we spent our Valentine's Day....

...After a little celebration with cervecas and Arroz con Mariscos...(seafood and rice...)

...I feel so lucky sitting next to someone Internationally famous...

....should I ask for his autograph??...

...Beach side dining....

...complete with a fried fish, to cap off the celebration!!...

In to the night.....

...We had Emerson build us a bonfire...good job buddy...

....For which we made smores with...

(the closest I'll ever get Danny to the camping experience)

...And Steven said it was like something out of the movies, so Californian...

...it did feel like every one should get up and start doing the twist and hang ten signs...

...Emerson had never heard of had smores!!!...

...So we quickly went into action preparing his hanger with marshmellows and showing him the ropes...

...This was fun for us, as we all crunched and licked our gooey fingers...

....I was surprized he had never seen this before, even on television,

because I remember seeing something like it on Snoopy when I was a kid...

...Emerson tasted...and he liked!!!....

....then asked if we could also roast hot dogs like this...

...you know...like Snoopy did...

...Go figure!!...

...Okay, so they had different chocolate and vanilla cookies instead of graham crackers, but Danny still gave it a thumbs up!!

The next day I lounged in the sun...baking in the heat...and reading my book...

This book is for any of you haven gone through your twenties with some wild times...

You know...the ones that would make your friends laugh their ass off the next morning...

...and make your mother cringe...(I have always been good at that, huh mom)...

...But as I near my thirties...

...it makes you not worry about having truly lived with some stories to tell...

...to survive what's to come in the next couple decades of your life...

...We just never thought someone would put it all down on paper...

...Kareen, go out and buy a copy now...

The day is done...

...Time to hang up our surfboards and trade them in for Amazon gear...

....and lots of mosquito repellent...