The World Heritage City of Cuzco, Peru served as our home base for our adventures in the country. All together we spent 7 full days and a couple additional evenings in between our visits to other places.
Cuzco has a rich history as the center of the Inca Empire and currently as a destination for those traveling through the Sacred Valley and onto Machu Picchu. We enjoyed our days in the city and always found interesting sites to see and steep cobblestone streets to explore.
The Plaza de Armas is a beautiful central point for the city and is surrounded by two large churches (which sit atop former Inca sites) and has several restaurants and cafes and a lovely park in which to relax, people watch, and practice Spanish. We spent a lot of time walking through the Plaza de Armas on our way to other streets and for browsing artisan markets and café menus.
During our time in Cusco, we visited the museums on the Boleto Turistico General (which we mentioned earlier) and also toured the streets admiring the remaining Inca stonework on the buildings and the various markets and ships throughout. We even enjoyed an evening show of local and Andean dances and music.
just one of the many interesting pieces of art we saw on this trip
We also were pretty pleased to find two completely vegetarian restaurants and several other places with great vegetarian options, as well as some new favorite treats (among them are the small chocolate truffles at Chocolate and Inca Corn - addictive gigantic pieces of maize, we like the picante flavor, of course! - and Camote [sweet potato] chips and a brilliant ice cream bar that is half ice cream sandwich/half chocolate-covered ice cream bar). This has been the first place to provide a wealth of dishes for we vegetarians and to have affordable options. We were able to try a veganized version of a Peruvian dish – Lomo Saltado, which is made with sautéed meat and vegetables served over french fries with a side of rice. Ours was made with a really great soy meat. ginnie is eager to learn how to recreate these soy meats we have tried and add more new dishes to our recipe book.
We underestimated just how cold it can be at 11,500 feet and have added some nice alpaca socks, gloves, leg warmers, and a sweater to ginnie’s wardrobe in our time here as well. Anthony keeps passing up the hats, but often wishes he had one when the cold really hits. This has been one place where the temperature change from minute to minute can be drastic! When the sun is shining, we are comfortable in light clothes and t-shirts, but as soon as it is covered, we need to layer up again; don’t even get us started on the rain! We have been lucky with the weather overall, but when it does rain, it can be pretty chilly J
Our photos provide a glimpse into the city and the architecture. We visited an important Inca site –Qoricancha – which is now a Dominican Friar’s residence and school. It’s disappointing and aggravating to see how much the Spanish Conquistadors destroyed and how they took over to impart their religion on the people. The Qoricancha site is a mix of both Inca stonework and Spanish and Catholic stonework and art. The contrast is obvious since the Inca work was done with such precision. Throughout the city you can see the combined remains of Inca buildings with current structures.
As our time in Peru comes to a close, we leave you with some views of Cuzco and a few hints as to the next country on our South America tour:
~we’ll be spending more time in the Andes and enjoying restful days by the mountains, lakes, and beautiful countryside
~our first stops include the capital city and a visit to the town where the Saturday market is said to be the biggest and best in South America
Paz y Amor!
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