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Art Bob Peru Bob Travel Bob

Dining with Diego

During our first day in Lima, Wes and I had lunch at Astrid y Gaston in the Miraflores neighborhood. Apparently owner Gaston Acurio is something of a man about town, Peru’s answer to Emeril.

This was my first taste of authentic cebiche (raw fish marinated with lime juice), and as I marveled at how good it was, I noticed one of the paintings nearby. It looked like something from Diego Rivera’s Cubist period, and damned if it wasn’t signed “Rivera.”

Could it be?

I asked the waiter, who confirmed that it is indeed a Diego original.

Bon appetite!

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Peru Bob Top Bob Travel Bob

Peru: The llama, the puma and the serpent

We’re standing in the magnificent choir loft of Monasterio de San Francisco, and my guide, Olinda, is a bit frustrated with me. She’s trying to explain key features of the loft, but my eyes have drifted down toward the altar, where a priest is saying Mass in front of a packed house. Above them, at eye level with me, pigeons flap back and forth among the rafters. Below them, in the dank, claustrophobic catacombs, lie the bones of 70,000-some people.

It seems the perfect metaphor for the three themes that constantly recur during my trip to Peru — the heavens, the earth and the underworld.

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Dog Bob

Who’s yer dog’s daddy?

I came across a cool service in one of the dog magazines I read. For $65, Metamorphix claims it can run a DNA test that will reveal your dog’s breed composition. It apparently uses a cheek swab to sniff out the dog’s heritage from among 38 breeds. I’ve always been curious about Ozzy’s 57 varieties, and I’m thinking about giving it a shot. Even if this will only find 38 …