Cusco

As I said before, we got to Cusco at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. Not a whole lot to do, but we busied ourselves with a walk to find our hotel and then returned for the others to get some breakfast. An hour and a half walk around the area put us eating breakfast at only about 7:30 or 8 am. A great breakfast too! We found a little restaurant on a side street that cost each of us only about $2.50 USD. The service was slower than we're used to in the U.S., but we've gotten used to the laid back style of eating out here.

The day was spent wandering the city of Cusco, checking into our beautiful hotel, eating 2 very delicious meals, and a play that night called Kusikay (Koo-see-kiy). The places we ate both looked over the main plaza in Cusco, but from different angles. We made a goal for ourselves that we would eat from every angle in the plaza, and you better believe we accomplished it! Our dinner was completely authentic complete with a CubaLibre, Mojito, and 2 full plates of alpaca cordon bleu and alpaca nuggets - we weren't brave enough to order "cuy," but the man next to us was - it is a delicacy in Peru.....guinea pig. Literally served whole, hooves hanging off the plate and all. Sorry all you vegetarians, it wasn't a pretty sight for the carnivores either.

The play was amazing - it was performed only in dance and song - no words were used which allowed people around the world to understand the meaning of the play. It told the story through acrobatics of the indigenous culture and works its way through time until the Spanish came and conquered. It used a lot of humor too, there were several characters that acted as audience members in a way, and they included people from the audience often, too. Nolan was chosen to go up on stage in front of the whole audience to participate in a bull fight, and he was the matador! Another audience member was the bull who proceeded to chase him around the stage...very entertaining from my seat :)