"We've come a long way" said Julie.

At first I thought she was simply referring to the journey from home to the shores of Lake Titicaca but she was talking about our journey, the path our life has taken from the moment, 38 years ago today, when she and I were married in a small church in the village of Bryngwran, Anglesey. We certainly have come a long way.

Flora wasn't here this morning. The mothers of the children at the local school take it in turn to cook and today was her shift. She left us in the capable hands of Richard, although I'm sure everything had already been prepared for him to simply heat up. 

First came small thin pancakes that were similar to what we would call pikelets back home. We slathered them with butter and placed a dollop of strawberry jam on top. 

Then came a bowl of Toctochi, a rough and ready fried dough, like a rustic churros. They were delicious drizzled with some syrup.

We chatted with Richard for a while, showing him pictures of home, the majestic mountains of Eryri and some of our famous Welsh Mountain sheep. 

"There are more sheep in Wales than there are people." I told him. 

Around 9am we collected our bags and walked to the main road to wait for a minibus to pick us up. It was an opportunity to have a few photos with Richard. After waving us off he was going to tend to his livestock and then his crops.

Our transport arrived, already carrying our luggage from the hotel in Puno, to save on time.

We set off for the airport in Juliaca, making slow progress at first as we got caught in the rush hour for herding livestock.

"It's like being at home!" said Julie.

Our flight to Lima wasn't until 1:30pm but from Llachon it would take us almost an hour and a half to reach Inca Manco Cápac international airport.

he first point of interest was We reached Capachica, the largest town on the peninsula which carries its name. The Plaza de Armas in its centre had a attractive church and a huge sign of the town's name promoting itself as a tourist destination. To be fair, it looked like an interesting place to stop.

Next we reached the district of Coata, a community of breeze block tin roofed houses. However the authorities must have big plans for the place because in the centre was the grand looking square of Plaza Juchi San Francisco, with a statue of a man standing on a reed boat in front of a bright blue two storey municipal building.

It looked so out of place.

We continued across the arid landscape. There were only a few patches of green grass for the sheep to graze on. It must be a such tough life to scratch out a living. 

After driving for over an hour we reached to city of Juliaca, passing along the way some peculiar statues. One was playing wind instrument and wearing and unfamiliar traditional costume which included this strange hat that looked like a lampshade. The other was wearing regular clothes with a standard fedora waving his flute in the air.

I couldn't find anything about them or why they would be associated with the city.

 However, I did discover that one of Juliaca's nicknames was the "Sock City" because it once was a centre for knitting.

We arrived at the airport, nice and early. In fact we were too early to check-in our luggage so we sat in the cafe for half an hour. Julie was begining to slip into a spiral of anxiety.

It was a small airport which didn't have much to occupy us once we got through security. Ali Jei suggested we could pay for the VIP lounge at the departure gate. It was an inspired idea.

 Access to the lounge included food and soft drinks and even one alcoholic drink each. There was a small buffet. The best were these warm cheese empanadas, wrapped in foil. They were so nice I ate them all!

We relaxed on comfortable chairs, away from the crowd. It was a nice way to spend an hour before a flight.

Julie was trying to come to grip with her nerves. The fact we were flying with SKY airlines, a Chilean budget airline we had never flown with before, and they spelt their K backwards like a child, didn't help her confidence.

Thankfully there was no delay and we were up in the air on time, taking off over the rooftops of Juliaca before we knew it.  

We circled around and caught a great view of Lake Titicaca and the Capachica peninsula stretching into the distance. It was really exciting to see where we had travelled from this morning.

It was a perfectly smooth flight, even Julie agreed it was almost a pleasure. The view out of the window was keeping her entertained, distracting her, (most of the time), from her thoughts of doom.

"Oh my God. Look at the mountains" she turned to me, geniunely excited when she saw the snow capped summit of Coropuna.

It wasn't a long flight, about 1 hour 45 minutes to Lima. We landed smoothly and SKY airlines got the stamp of approval from Julie. We would fly with them again.

We checked into Hotel Señorial, the same one we stayed in last week. We had been allocated different rooms this time and they weren't as nice. They were a lot smaller and up two flights of stairs so it was a bit disappointing.

With about two hours before we had to leave for our dinner reservation Julie decided to catch up with some sleep whilst I was desperate to meet the Lima sunset.

I headed straight out and marched as quickly as I could down to the coast. I ignored Paddington in Parque Salazar and continued along the malecon. It was a beautiful clear day and a glorious sunset was almost guaranteed.

If anything I was a little too early. I reached the kiosk by the bridge and decided to walk no further.

Turning back on myself I stopped a few times, at Parque San Marcelino Champagnat and then Parque Letonia.

It was a beautiful sight, overlooking the espigon breakwater looking down the coast, with the islands of San Lorenzo and El Fronton in the distance and this lone tree on a cliff edge. The sun was dropping quickly now.

I allowed myself a few minutes to catch my breath and remember this moment.

It was a pity that I was alone.

With time running out I got moving to a quick march, stopping very briefly to say "Good day" to Paddington. 

Before leaving Parque Salazar I allowed myself one last look at the increasingly beuatiful sunset.

I made it back to the hotel room for a quick shower and a costume change.

Our dinner reservation wasn't until 8pm but Ali Jei suggested we should leave at 7pm. 

Ever since knowing we were going to be in Lima on our wedding anniversary I had chosen restaurant Astrid & Gastón to celebrate our special occassion. Not only was Gastón Acurio a Peruvian culinary icon but their restuarant was a love story. 

Gastón met pastry chef Astrid Gutsche in Paris whilst studying gastronomy. They fell in love and fulfilled their dream of opening a restaurant together. It made the prestigious World's 50 Best Restaurants list eight years in a row between 2011-18 bringing contemporary Peruvian cuisine to the world.

As far as accolades are concerned it's best days may be behind it now but it still holds a special place in Peruvian hearts.

I don't know who was the most excited about eating at one of the world's most renowned restaurants. Me or Ali Jei? Julie invited her as our guest after we managed to increased our reservation to a table for five yesterday. She was so thankful. She had never been before.

Our executive minibus collected us from the hotel and delivered us to the steps of this stunning 17th century colonial mansion, Casa Hacienda Moreyra. It was whitewashed and subtley illuminated. It looked very much the temple to gastronomy.

We were a little early, so we took a closer look at the outside and came across a pretty church. The house and chapel was in fact declared a National Monument in 1972 such was its importance.

We returned to the entrance and decided to go inside to wait for our table. Julie and I walked up the steps arm in arm, feeling like we were floating. There was a sense of magic in the air.

We were welcomed like royalty, despite landing on them 25 minutes early. They showed us to a waiting area where we browsed through large coffee table books about fashion and gourmet destinations. 

Just off the reception was an open kitchen where the pastry chefs were busy preparing the desserts. They all seemed very happy in their work.

After only five minutes we were shown to our table. We followed the receptionist out onto a balcony overlooking an inner courtyard. In the centre there was a bar beneath a large enchanted tree decorated with colourful lanterns and ribbons.

It was such a fairytale setting.

Waiting for us at our table was a card. Inside, it wished us a happy anniversary and hand written they added "Thank you for celebrating with us". It was a nice gesture.

The waiter arrived with the menu. They did a tasting menu but I had asked for the a la carte so that the "royal-we" could have a better control over our choice of dishes. They didn't do a vegetarian taster menu.

After our drinks arrived the waiter returned and politely asked "Do you want any help with the menu?"   We all shook our heads but he must have mistaken our answer because before we could say anything he launched into suggestions of his own.

He was quite bullish in his manner and if we were young and lacking in confidence we would have allowed him to order for us. I knew exactly what I wanted but he wasn't listening and talked over us. Really bad form.

He went away without an order and we never saw him again.

A while later another waiter arrived with far better manners. He took our choices without question and was happy to answer anything we needed to know.

I did ask if they could adapt a dish for me. I didn't fancy the cauliflower on the menu but they did have a spinach & ricotta ravioli but unfortunately it was served with a langoustine sauce.  

"I could ask if the chef could change it for a huancaina sauce?" he suggested.

"Perfect" I replied. It was exactly what I was going to ask.

The bread basket quickly arrived with a fabulous selection of rolls and chunks of spectacular tasting bread. They were so colourful, with a beetroot bread, a buttery brioche style roll, one infused with turmeric, a roasted garlic bread and one filled with sun dried tomatoes and pockets of pesto.

For a starter I went for a vegetable ceviche, which consisted of two slices of sweet potato, giant maize kernels, button mushrooms and thinly sliced onions drizzled with a lime juice dressing.

I have to admit to not rating it very highly. I know the ingredients were meant to be raw but the acidity of the lime juice had started to soften the vegetables. Even slightly "cooked" by the lime juice would have made a big difference. 

Julie went for the scallop, which was a singular scallop, but it was a whopper. She seemed to enjoy it without feeling the need to enthuse about it.

Whilst we were eating we could see our host, Astrid, doing the rounds moving from table to table. It was another nice touch. We remember seeing Harry Cipriani at Harry's Bar in Venice and felt honoured by his presence.

Garry was talking about Sylvester Stallone's mother which gave me the giggles just as Astrid arrived at our table. She kindly wished Julie and I a Happy Anniversay and graciously agreed to pose for a photo with us all.

Ali Jei mentioned to Astrid that I had cooked several Peruvian dishes from one of Gaston's cook book. "Really? How did they turn out?" she asked.

"Perfect" I answered. "You should help us out in the kitchen!" was her reply. 

Meeting Astrid was definitely a memorable moment.

Our main courses soon arrived. Julie had ordered El Cochinillo de Toda de Vida con Papas Mortero, Cebollitas Glaseadas y Ensalada de Berros which was the Whole Roast Suckling Pig with Mashed Potatoes, Glazed Shallots and Watercress Salad.

She loved it, even the drizzle of sauce that was served with it.

My hybrid dish arrived looking pretty as a picture with the yellow fresh pasta submerged in the yellow huacainia sauce then a splash of colour added with a basil foam and some finely chopped red chilli pepper.

There was also an interesting dark leafed herb on top that looked a little suspicious at first but it was from a plant called Huacatay or Peruvian Black Mint.

It tasted incredible. I wouldn't be surprised to see it on their menu next year!

The dessert menu made an appearance and I couldn't say no to the Chocolate souffle. In Spanish it was described as a Chocolate tibio which literal translation was lukewarm chocolate!

It was served with an ice cream made from Uchucuta, a sauce made with rocoto chilli, evaporated milk and a few other ingredients, traditionally served to accompany meat.

The souffle was perfect but the ice cream was spectacular. It was the best ending to the meal that anyone could wish for.

We paid our bill and of course the four of us covered Ali Jei. The total price was quite reasonable given our surroundings. At 1435 soles it worked out at around £60 per person.

It was 11pm by the time we left Astrid & Gaston. It had been a wonderful experience.

Our minibus was waiting for us when we came out and it shuttled us across the city back to our hotel.

It was late but I wondered if I was awake enough to head back out to see the procession of The Lord of the Miracles which was taking place along a route through the historic centre of Lima, throughout today and continuing all through the night until tomorrow.

But when we reached our room we went straight to sleep. We were on the move again tomorrow.