Lima Day 1, Museum 2. Then Dinner at a Chifa

From the culinary side of the National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology, and History of Peru complex

The second museum of the first day in Lima was a one-mile walk from the Larco Museum: El Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del Perú.  The National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology, and History of Peru.

There were a lot of small green parks in the walk through the Pueblo Libre neighborhood, such as this:  Parque Héroes de la Policía Nacional.  Police Heroes National Park.

And outside Museum 2 was Plaza de Los Libertadores, with the obligatory statue of Simon Bolivar.

This was a giant head.  Bust, to be more precise.  Usually he's on horseback.  Don't worry.  We will Mr. Bolivar on horseback once we go inside the museum.

And here we are at Museum 2:

It may be billed as the National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology, and History of Peru, but it's light on the archaeology and anthropology.  No worries.  We got a healthy serving of those courses at the Museo Larco.  The "history" part of the triptych placed a very emphasis on the liberation period, when South America was taking off the yoke of Spanish colonialism and winning its independence.

Let's have a look-see, shall we?

Here we start off by meeting one of many Tupacs who have played a role in Peruvian history.  This is not the Inca Tupac.  This is not the rapper Tupac.  This is the Peruvian Revolutionary Tupac.

Tupac Amaru.  Martyred for the cause of Peruvian independence in 1781.  Which would put the time of his violent death between the Inca Tupac and the Rapper Tupac.  Mamas, don't name your babies "Tupac."  Your baby will be cursed to die a violent death.

Here is the Peruvian coat of arms:

That is a vicuña, by the way, in the top corner of the coat of arms (the animal against the blue sky).  Most expensive wool on the planet, by the way, the vicuña.

And this pot is just about the lone representative of the archaeology and anthropology sections of the museum:

I'm just here for the history.  Already had my daily dose of archaeology and anthropology.

But you can never get enough Simon Bolivar.  And, here he is, as promised, on horseback.

Naked on horseback.  Simon Bolivar.  Naked.  On the back of horse.  Something I believe he never was in real life.

And here is a centotaph depicting Mr. Bolivar being mourned over by the angels.

And, with that, I am officially museumed-out for the day.  Time to return to the hotel.

And then it is supper time.  I ate a healthy breakfast in the morning.  No lunch.  So I am very hungry at the dinner hour.  Which means it is time for chifa!

"Chifa" is a cuisine unique to Peru.  It is a hybrid of Peruvian and Chinese cooking.  Near my upscale hotel in the upscale Miraflores neighborhood of Lima is an upscale chifa restaurant Kion.

I could not decide between a noodle dish and a pork dish, so, being hungry enough to eat Bolivar's horse, I decided to order both:

Noodles "picante," which is a noodle dish with chicken, bean sprouts, and more, in a mildly spicy chimichurri type sauce.  It was quite good.

And then there was the pork dish: Cru Yoc.

Oh my.  Breaded fried pork, with red bell pepper, zucchini, pineapple and peaches.  Basically a chifa version of the Chinese menu standard of sweet-and-sour pork.  Only more so.  It was:  one of the best dishes I have ever eaten anywhere.  This is was the version of sweet-and-sour pork served in the employee cafeteria in heaven.  Just amazing.  Lima has a deserved reputation as a foodie destination.  And the Cru Yoc at Kion is one of the reasons for that reputation being well-earned.