Christmas Eve & Christmas in Lima

Our StarPeru plane and the volcano!

We arrived back in Lima on a flight from Arequipa in the afternoon.   Some of these pics are from the Arequipa airport (notice the volcano and with the plane in view!  Christmas Eve 2011  After having time to rest a little, wrap presents, etc., one of Beth's friends from DeKalb College in the early 1980s, Fabrizio Jeri Suito, came and picked us up to spend the Noche Bueno (Christmas Eve) celebration at his house.  It was great to see him after all of these years - neither of us look the same! haha  He has a beautiful home and a beautiful family.  His wife, Jolly, and his three kids - Fabrizio, Romina & Paloma - along with Jolly's Mother and other family members were at the house.  We ate late in the latin fashion for Christmas Eve, opened presents about midnight, and got back to the hotel about 2am.  As I had mentioned before, we are staying at the  Basadre Suites Hotel in Lima  We slept late in the morning, had breakfast at the hotel and then walked around the area in San Isidro where the hotel is located.  Wow - it is beautiful!!!  This area has beautiful old homes and many of the Ambassador residences and Embassies from around the world.  You will see some of them in the pictures.  Fabrizio picked us up to go to his house for Christmas lunch with his family.  We had a great time meeting his side of the family (Christmas Eve was with Jolly's family).  Before heading back to his house, we drove down to the beach.  It was amazing how many folks were out with their families at the beach.  All of the restaurants in Miraflores and the beach areas were open for business and you would never have known it was Christmas Day.  Enjoy our Christmas Pictures:  Christmas Day 2011

Colca Canyon Sidetrip from Arequipa



Condor in flight



Why do I have to stay outside?

 We went for an overnight stay to the Colca Canyon outside of Arequipa.  Colca Canyon It is supposed to be a lot deeper and wider than the Grand Canyon.  It was really a nice side trip plus there was a viewing area that is famous because the Condor's nest there.  We were sooooooo lucky because we got to see somewhere around 10 condors flying around and it was amazing.  The pictures will show you the scenery while in the Canyon.  Pictures on the way there and back are in the post below.  The llama you see pics of was one who hung out at our hotel in Coporaque.  The other pics were ones we took from Arequipa to the Canyon and back.   Arequipa to Canyon and return  Notice the snow and volcanoes.  We saw a lot of wildlife also.  The light colored animals are Vicuna. 

Arequipa & Guinea Pig!




Ocopa Arepiquena - Appetizer















Everyone we know who has travelled to Peru (except the Peruvians) have told us we needed to try the Guinea Pig (Cuy).  Our last night in Arequipa we ordered two of the most famous dishes which are Chupe de Camarones (a Shrimp Stew) and Cuy.  We also had a traditional potato appetizer.  During dinner, there was also local Andean music.  It was nice except both of us had upset stomachs on Christmas Eve.  Some Peruvians said it was because it was probably too spicy, but it was not spicy at all (maybe a problem).  Oh well - we enjoyed it when we ate it!



Chupa de Camarones



Chris eating his Cuy!





Adobo de Cuy - Otherwise known as Guinea Pig!

Arequipa, Peru & the Santa Catalina Monasterio

The attached pics were mainly taken while walking around Arequipa.  One of the main tourist sites in Arequipa, which the Peruvians call the White City, is the Santa Catalina Monastery.  Santa Catalina Monastery  Historically, many local families sent their daughters there to the Convent along with servants, etc., so they were cloistered but lived fairly well.  Today it is home to a small number of nuns, but the main part of the Convent is open to tourism.  The pictures will show you how great it was:   Pictures of the Santa Catalina Monastery   Arequipa's historic district is full of colonial homes and lots of Spanish architecture.  As you notice, Beth LOVES the alleyways and doorways in the old city.    Arequipa Photos   We left Arequipa on Christmas Eve to head to Lima to spend Noche Bueno y la Navidad with Beth's friend Fabrizio's family.  Before we left though, we had to take a picture with Santa Claus in the Plaza in Arequipa.

Travelling from Cusco to Arequipa

We've had a busy couple of days, so we didn't get time to post.  so, now to catch up!  We spent the last day in Cusco going to the Mercado de Artesanias to get some of you Christmas presents!  We really liked Cusco a lot and it reminded us of Oaxaca, Mexico, which is one of our favorite cities in the world.  From Cusco to Arequipa we took the Bus Cama or in English the overnight sleeping bus which you can see in the picture on the left here.  It was a great double decker bus with the seats/bed section on the bottom.  The only problem is that it wasn't made for folks as tall as Chris, so he had to do some body contortion to fit into his space and sleep.  The company was called Cruz del Sur:  Cruz del Sur   Other than that, when we woke up in the morning we were in Arequipa.

Valle Sagrado - "The Sacred Valley"

Terraces of Pisaq behind us



Borrachos in the parade!



Ollantaytambo

Today we did an all day trip to the Sacred Valley outside of Cusco.  In some ways, this trip was more interesting than Machu Picchu if you can believe that.  We visited the cities of Pisaq, lunched in Urubamba, Ollantaytambo, and Chinchero.  In Pisaq we stopped at the ruins and then stopped by the Sunday Market.  This probably had the nicest bathroom stop we have seen the entire trip so far (those of you who know the 3rd world understand this comment!).  From Pisaq we travelled to Urubamba where we had lunch.  First though, we got caught in a parade and got to see some lovely characters.  I especially liked the borrachos (drunks).  After lunch we went to the Ollantaytambo.  This place was amazing and we would come stay here again. 
Our last stop was at Chinchero and we had an exhibition by some local women who showed how they spun and dyed the alpaca wool.  They also demonstrated some weaving and then we got a chance to shop.  We bought the table runner they were demonstrating!

Weavers of Chinchero

We liked these places so much because they were really accessible to see and to visualize how the Incas really  lived in these towns.  The stone work was amazing and exactly what you see in guidebooks.  As much as the Spaniards tried to demolish the work of the Incas, much still remains incredibly preserved.  Peru has done a great job of preserving these ruins.  Here is the link to all of our pictures from the day:  El Valle Sagrado
Enjoy!!

Machu Picchu

On Saturday we got up at 5am to leave the hotel by 6am to catch the train for a 3 1/2 hour ride to Machu Picchu (Aguas Calientes).  We got tickets for the Vistadome train car - it was really nice and first class service as you can see by the pictures here.  Once we arrived in Aguas Calientes, we took a bus to the entrance to the ruins. You only walk about 3-5 minutes and you immediately see the ruins.  We could talk a lot about them, but really looking at the pictures is the way to go.  Click on this link to our Picasa album for our pictures:  Machu Picchu Pics

Our Breakfast on the Train

Chris next to our Vistadome Car

The only thing bad was that Beth wasn't feeling well.  She started out with stomach problems in the morning and made it through Machu Picchu but felt bad the entire time.  By the time we got back to Cusco, she had more of a fever and still a little sick, but 9 hours sleep helped! 
We hope you enjoy the pictures!!

Food Viewings and Our first strange food for Dinner

Tonight we went to a restaurant recommended by our friends Ernesto & Priscilla - the Inka Grill.  It was great.  We started out with Beth having a Pisco Sour and Chris had a Cusqueno beer (glad the altitude issue is gone so we can drink!).  For Beth's main course, she had a Lamb dish that was a leg of lamb with a tomato type sauce served with mashed potatoes and a nice little salad made of arugula and julienned tomatoes in an oil and vinegar dressing.  Chris stepped out and ordered ALPACA medallions.  It really didn't taste much different than beef - maybe a little gamier.  That plate came with a timbale of quinoa slices with mushroom ragout and greens in the middle and argula on top.  We finished it off with decaf coffee and a nice walk back to our hotel.  We went by the market today also, but wasn't too hungry after we saw our friend pictured here.

YUMMY!!!

By the way, the hotel we are at is the Orquidea Real Hostal Cusco    It is in a great location.
Off to bed because tomorrow is Machu Picchu!!

Cusco Day 2

We just spent a nice day doing a city tour of Cusco and walking around.  What a beautiful place; it reminds us a lot of the sites we've seen in Mexico.  Enjoy the pictures on our Picasa site.https://picasaweb.google.com/BethsPottery/Cusco?authuser=0&feat=directlink

First Evening in Cusco

After drinking 3-4 cups of Coca Tea and taking a nap, we woke up to still some altitude  side effects, but we go dressed for the rain and went out walking.  We walked to the Plaza de Armas and around that area a little to find a place to have something lite for dinner.  I bought my first souvenir (a baby Alpaca neck scarf) since I needed it for the chilly temperatures that go along with the rain at this high altitude.  Tomorrow morning we'll do a city tour and then go exploring Cusco on our own.

The Cathedral as we saw it tonight

The inside of an old Church building that is now a store

This was the facade which I thought was part of the church, but was a store

The Long & Winding Road

We are now in Cuzco, Peru.  We found the hard way to get here. Our flight was delayed an hour and 1/2 from Atlanta and that meant that we missed our flight from Miami to Lima. Lucky enough there was another one two hours later, but that put us in Lima at 12:30am.   Our transport to our Hotel was rearranged as we scrambled to find WiFi at Miami International. American Airlines had an old plane to Lima with no usable water and little food.  Great!  Two broken planes from American and no money to fix them.  We arrived at our Hotel to finally get to sleep around 2AM, but we needed to be back at the airport at our 10am flight to Cusco.  Overnight in Lima and when we return Christmas Eve, we are staying in a sweet little hotel called the Basadre Suites.  Their link is  Basadre Suites Hotel in Lima   We'll write more about that later when we're back in Lima.
We are now in the Andes Mountains (Cusco) at 9000 foot elevation  ( 3326 meters ) feeling winded and tired. A litttle coca tea and off for a nap to acclimate. It is 3pm, but feels like 3am.  Our heads hurt and the walk from the taxi up to the hotel felt like climbing Everest!  We are not that old...it's the air, it's the air.....

The view from the window as we begin our descent into Cusco

Cusco view from the plane

Off to Peru

Tomorrow (December 14th) we are off to Peru for our first 'real' vacation in over a year.  We're excited about it and looking forward to seeing a place we've always talked about going but never made it to.  We'll be visiting an old, old buddy of Beth's from when she was a student at DeKalb College when we're in Lima.  We'll also be visiting Cusco/Machu Picchu and Arequipa/Colca Canyon.