OMGoodness what a fabulous day! First breakfast at our hotel by the airport. They have really big slices of crustless sandwich bread both white and wheat. So big in fact that they stick out of the toaster and only get half toasted. Really you’d think they’d get bigger toasters or smaller bread?
We then boarded our 2 hour flight to Cusco. Incredible views of the Andes from the windows of the plane. Everything is so clean and crisp and clear.
You’re advised to take it easy your first day in Cusco and we did. At 11,000 feet, Cusco is more than 2 miles above sea level, the elevation at which many have symptoms of altitude sickness. I was good at Kedarnath in the Himalayas which is about 10,500 feet and fortunately no issues at 11,000 either for me or Will.
Cusco is an amazing colonial city. Tourism has brought real prosperity to Cusco which has almost tripled in size over the past 15 years and now has more than 400,000 inhabitants but maintains its colonial charm. Multitudes of Limeños (people from Lima) have fled the capital over the past decade for the good life here in Cuzco. Unemployment is low, literacy is high, climate is wonderful and Cuzquenos are beyond satisfied with their lives here, they say they are blessed.
The central Plaza de Armas and the surrounding colonial structures are beautifully maintained. Amazingly clean and orderly. No trash or litter thrown anywhere and at the end of the day I realized that I hadn’t seen a single person light up a cigarette.
But the most surprising thing is the level of gastronomy, wow!
We had lunch at the Inka Grill. Will had a local favorite from his time here last summer. Lomo Saltado a dish of tender lomo, peppers and vegetables with fried potatoes and I had the best ceviche ever which bears so little resemblance to the ceviche I know and is so much better it should really have a different name.
Other than the tour of our hotel’s art and artifacts and the Pisco class we took it pretty easy but we did quite a bit of walking and souvenir shopping and finished the day with dinner at a beautiful restaurant named Morena.
I had a local soup called Criolla that was so good. It was a cross between fideo and garlic soup with bits of beef and a fried egg on top. Will had a local drink specialty (nonalcoholic) called Chicha Morada, a purple drink made from corn, apple and cinnamon and this ridiculously good fried rice. They really like fried rice here, who knew, well actually Will knew and he had told me and he was right.
Will was also right about the Spanish spoken here. He told me they articulate every syllable distinctly and that the Spanish is very easy to understand and he’s right and his Spanish is getting pretty good.
So we had a great first day of vacay, in fact, Will said he felt like we had already had a complete fabulous trip even if it ended tomorrow!
But it doesn’t, tomorrow is our guided tour of the city including the Basilica Catedral, Convento de Santa Domingo, Museo Histórico Regional, Museo de Sitio Qorikancha, Museo de Arte Popular etc until we can stand no more.
And next day to Pisac where Will is going to show me the town where he lived, introduce me to his host family and we are going to have delicious empanadas.
So that’s it for Blog Post 2, buenas noches, duermen bien amigos, hasta mañana!