Cusco City Tour - Anniversary

We woke today starting with our 25th wedding anniversary! Little did we know how the day would turn out. Of course we slept in a bit with a leisurely breakfast (European Style Buffet) as our tour for the day had a 1:30 p.m. pickup. Another beautiful blue ski in the 60's. The temperature means no heavy coats, however you run into hot in the sun and cold in the shade issues. So in a church or museum very cold as they do not heat their buildings. I will say there have been numerous observational moments about not having a welfare system and no heating systems. Everyone dresses and works accordingly.

While waiting for our tour pickup we headed out to walk around and grab lunch. We found a few blocks away the local soccer team stadium. They had a banner that showed ticket prices and I was pointing out to Janie when a guy stopped and started trying to talk with us. He asked in full Spanish if we wanted to see inside. I said Si and he proceeded to open the gate and walk us in and onto the pitch. Picture taking and a lot of words of no understanding. We ended up in the locker room and training room, before a few more pictures in the stands. This was one of those how could you plan this any better.

On the way back we did get a little lost and ended in a private condo area and accidentally got locked behind a gate. Someone was kind enough to let us out. Whew. Then we back tracked a bit and decided we were running out of time and grabbed the first place we could find to eat. No English was spoken from the time we entered to leaving, but a great experience. Jeff ordered a beer and Janie a coca cola. Nothing small here. Then after a lot of trying to figure out what was what we ordered a Tacu Tacu Lomo Saltada. This is a traditional bean and rice base with onions and beef covering. They brought out ceviche and fish soup to start. After the meal the young waiter informed us we could get a complimentary Pisco Sour or Ice Cream. Jeff got the sour and Janie the Ice Cream. Yum all around. Then back to the hotel.

The family we've been traveling with had two down sick, so opted to not do the tour. They canceled with the office, so we got a call from the tour guide to check if we canceled. Good thing they called or we would have been out of luck. The bus shuttle took us and others (many from our overall group) up the road about a kilometer and dropped us to start the walking tour. Our guide Alejandro guided us through the streets pointing out the Inca infrastructure the Spanish either tried to destroy or built upon. Very similar to the Churches in Rome built on Roman ruins. Common theme with conquering of civilizations.

The tour started with a stroll through the streets to the Catholic Cathedral "Coricancha Temple". A colonial style church built on top of Inca ruins the Spanish tried to destroy. Throughout the tour we saw aspects of the Inca buildings that were built on. Again a lot of history and stories told by our guide.

Bishop garb from 1700's

Inca used interlocking design you can see here and not cement or connecting material - out performed Spanish buildings when it came to earthquakes. 500 tremors a month in the Cusco Area on average. Most you can't feel.

Large gathering place outside for special services and events

Guide talking about Inca

Streets outside main entrance

Inside the Church

Center Plaze of Cathedral

Cusco was the government center for the Inca Empire and until the Spanish pushed them up the valley the Empire ruled from here with the Inca Trail as a major trade route. As we departed the church we walked past more ruins and then through the streets past an old Inca Palace now built upon. There were several of these types of buildings. We eventually came to the Plaza del Armas where the Minor Basilica stood. This was a huge facility where we could not take pictures, so check out this link. Basilica

After the tour we stayed in the main down town area (historic city center) as a local festival was going on this weekend. We checked out a couple of restaurants recommended as a parade was about to begin. We selected the Calle Medio, because Jeff was stopped by a young lady hawking the restaurant. Janie was still checking out the other restaurant menu. Turns out she also wanted to learn English is from Argentina and wanted to move to Miami, etc. When Janie arrived, we opted to take the young girls lead due to her unique approach. We secured a seat on the balcony for happy hour Pisco Sours and an appetizer. Turned out as the sun was setting and we'd been there 1.5 hours the parade was still going on. Local bands with dancers in fancy costumes.

Restaurant Choice for Anniversary

Basilica with Laser Art

Part of the Plaza the parade was going around

Appetizer (cheese filled) - Pisco Sours

Balcony View

Could not have asked the locals to put on a better show for our Anniversary celebration. What a unexpected gift. After the sun set it started getting cold and our second round of drinks were done we went inside to have dinner. Unfortunately due to the celebration we waited to long to be able to sit in the restaurant, and ended at the bar. This turned out to be a good thing as the young bartender spoke English (self taught) and wanted to engage. We ordered another Pisco Sour for Jeff and water along with Lamb Shank plate to share. Janie was asking them about how to make the Pisco Sour and decided to have them demo making one, which they did. Jeff got to do the shaking and learned about little bubbles versus big that determines whether the egg whites are ready. You use plain ole egg whites in the recipe with no whipping, etc.

The lamb shank was too die for and after dinner we parted ways with our bartending hosts and started the trek home. 2.5 hours the parade was still going on and we could not get to the side of the street for our hotel. So we started the Kilometer walk to find out there were bands still lined up for the full kilometer and more around the corner were we luckily could turn to get back to our hotel. We estimate close to 100 bands - dance groups from all over the district. 3 plus hours of performance as when we got to the last band they still had the kilometer and around the plaza to go.