I took this picture when I was out for a run on the Malecon de la Marina the last time I was in Peru. What you're looking at is a snapshot of my daily running route, and it's honestly a pretty nice one for being in the middle of a city. I wouldn't call Lima the best city in the world for running, what with the crazy traffic and the relative lack of any kind of path, but the Malecon de la Marina route is pretty nice.
Honestly, it's kind of funny how much of a hard time runners have in Lima. But as bustling as Lima is during the day, it's absolutely dead at night. So most of the hard-core runners have taken to running at like 4 or 5 in the morning. I know because I've seen them on the various times I've returned to Peru from the US on an all night flight. I think when I go back to Peru, I might start roller-skiing in the middle of the night. That'd bring shock and awe to the local denizens.
Anyway, as I was doing the run that produced the above picture, I noticed the "Ghostbusters II" logo floating around in the air. Do you see it in the above image? No...well, I don't blame you, it's harder to see things in photos than it is to see them in real life. Let me help you out by expanding it:
Not only did I expand it, but I flipped the image over.
I don't know...I guess I just sort of freaked out when I saw this sticker adorning this guy's taxi. I mean, the "Ghostbusters I" logo was commonplace enough when I was growing up. That was a popular movie and the logo was attractive. But who frickin' puts the "Ghostbusters II" logo on their car? The fact that this sticker somehow made its way throughout all the gulf-streams and cold-water currents of the world, and was plucked from its metaphysical bottle to end up on the back of a random taxi in Lima just conspired to give me pause.
Actually what probably happened was that the logo got hijacked in Peru and means something totally different there than it ever did in the US (it probably became the banner for some third-rate, short-lived taco chain or something).
Kind of funny really. It's minor things like this that lend you perspective when you're living abroad. One man's Ghost buster is another man's taco seller.
I have seen midnight rollerbladers and bikers there on the malecon near the lighthouse in Miraflores.
ReplyDeleteMr Dean, See the question that I posed in my last comment yesterday. I´d be interested in your take. Yes, runners generally have a hard time in Lima but you found the ideal solution, Mr Peru. The Malecon in Miraflores is the place to be.It´s a lot more user friendly and the girl watching is pretty great around there too.As for that Ghostbuster logo, yes, you´ll experience and see plenty of wierd and strange things that one might not expect in Peru. For example, while riding a bus outside of Cajarmarca one time, I was pretty surprised when the driver was playing Bruce Springsteen music as he cruised up the Andes.
ReplyDeleteHola, I think El Pentagonito (in San Borja) is a good place to run, walk, bike, roller-skiing, etc.Especially on Sundays because the streets are closed until noon and many races during the year. It is about 4,2 km around.
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