Day 2: Things the Spaniards destroyed and/or a bunch of rocks

Yesterday, we rose early to meet our airport driver at 6AM. As most things go in Peru, our driver wasn't there at 6, but this gave us time to steal a few bites to eat off the breakfast buffet. Score! Food! Our driver got there about 6:20 and we realized he was for us around 6:30. Then, it was off to the airport w/ some lovely Lima traffic. Our flight was delayed (we now have a record going as all 3 of our flights have been delayed so far). We finally arrived in Cusco around 11AM.

This place is gorgeous. It reminds Michael of home (Santa Fe). There are mountains and windy streets and adorable plazas. We checked into our quaint hotel, Rumi Punku for about an hour's rest. We both had some coca tea. It's made from the same plant as cocaine, so apparently it's illegal in the US. It's supposed to help w/ altitude sickness and I'll say I've felt completely fine since I've been here, so I'll back it! And it's delicious.

Then, it was off for the city tour of Cusco. 4 hours of exploring. And not just in the city! We started w/ two churches in the heart of the city. One was a Spanish church that was built around the 1500s on top of an old Incan temple. It was fascinating to see the new mixed with the old, but also sad to see all the things the Spaniards destroyed. Apparently these big gray stones you'll see in the pics were once covered in gold. Total bummer. Then, we went to the big church in town that was developed over time as three different sections. They're each unique and covered in gold. Wonder where they got that gold?! 

Then, it was off to see 4 different Incan ruins. Now, as some of you may know I'm not a huge history fan, and our guide really liked to talk. I appreciate him wanting to tell the story, but I would have much rather just explored these places on my own. I think Michael agreed. We were tired, hungry, and exhausted the whole time. I get that the Incan moved these giant rocks to build these amazing structures without any mortar and they're perfect and still standing, but I can only take so many stories about them. Today is FULL of rocks so maybe I'll gain a better appreciation for it. Unfortunately, my favorite part was these stories of creatures in the rocks like llamas, frogs, pumas, snakes, condors. You'll see me petting the llama below. But, according to my art history friend this was never what the Incan intended. Boo!

After our tour Michael and I wanted to try some alpaca for dinner. Our guide suggest Uchu, a Peruvian Steakhouse. We were starving as we had really only eaten granola bars, candy, and nuts all day since we pretty much missed breakfast and didn't have time for lunch. It was nice to have a good warm meal as it was also a bit cold at night (it gets in the 30s at night here). After our meal, we got to meet up w/ our Texas friends. Patrick and Omar from Southwestern just finished a study abroad program here and Omar's wife Christina and her friend Courtney (both of whom know Michael) just arrived earlier this week to do the Inca trial hike starting tomorrow. SO, it was fun to have a drink w/ them and say hi. Apparently we'll all be at Machu Picchu on Sunday so maybe we'll see them again. 

Hopefully we'll have time to post again tonight before we head to the jungle tomorrow where we likely won't have internet for a few days.