Rain and Rest in Cusco

Cusco, another city at altitude standing at about 3,400 meters above sea level, left us breathless (literally). With a population of just under half a million and its main source of profit from tourism, Cusco feels to be a thriving city. The Inca Capitol was declared a world heritage site and preserved in certain ways, and there is plenty to see in Cusco. There are also streets upon streets of stairs (yay!) and many delicious restaurants.

Our first day in Cusco was rather uneventful. We checked into our cute little hostel, complete with a rainbow colored covered courtyard, and then wandered our little neighborhood. Known as the artists' quarters, it seemed to be a forgotten area with tiny, winding streets and dilapidated buildings. We sat in the calm compact square by one of the oldest churches in the area. The people of Peru are industrious, and within a minute of sitting on the bench, we were approached by woman after woman in traditional dress asking us, did we want a scarf? Or a doll? Or a belt? Or a weird wooden thing that serves no purpose? They were polite enough and after 5 or 6 polite 'no, gracias', left us to our people watching.

That night we decided to go out of our neighborhood in search of dinner and we accidentally stumbled into the main square via this road with the big, beautifully fit and shaped stone walls. The main square was well lit and bustling with activity, this was the Cusco I had imagined. The square was dominated by two towering gray stone churches and lined with galleries topped off with balconied restaurants and cafés. That first night, there seemed to be some sort of celebration with locals dressed in traditional clothes, singing in high pitched voices and blowing on conch shells in a circle around the main fountain.

  
Our time in Cusco passed leisurely enough with no major activities. We went on a mini adventure to find a restaurant quite far from the touristy safe center and found ourself in neighborhood that didn't look like the best place to eat (and we couldn't find the restaurant despite retracing our steps several times). So back to the square we went, to be lured into a restaurant with a great view of the square, ceviche and the traditional local dish: guinea pig.  Although it was interesting to taste, I'm not sure I'll be ordering it again.

On our way back from trying to find the ceviche restaurant I snapped this quick shot before hopping in a taxi back to town.

Reading in a small bar overlooking the square and waiting for the sunset. Not bad a bad place to be!

The main square close to sunset from our viewpoint on a balcony.

 After a lazy afternoon, we found an amazing burger place - sorry I can't remember the name! It was right next to Paddy's Irish Pub, and had paper and crayons on the table to let you draw. We had a ton of fun and they asked to keep the tablecloths!

On our last (almost) full day in Cusco we tried to take the Free Walking Tour. We sat at the meeting place until it started to rain and still there was no guide. Unfortunately I hadn't read the brochure closely enough to see that the tours didn't run on Sundays (it was Sunday!) and also when I'm not working I absolutely lose track of the day. As the rain started to pour down we ducked under a gallery and circled back to the main square which was thick with people watching some sort of large parade. 

 A nice, dry gallery with artwork and tacky souvenirs everywhere you look.

Look at all that rain!

It was difficult to push through such a thick crowd in the rain, but we made it! (desculpe!)

We pushed through and managed to soak our feet before arriving at a slightly less crowded spot. We both wanted to see what was happening and the best vantage point was Starbucks! I know, I should drink local coffee abroad, but the view of everyone in their uniforms was perfect from there. We sipped our drinks, stayed dry and watched the world unfold under us. Groups of all shapes and sizes - children, military, woman, mixed groups, marched in the pouring rain across the square.

Just as the parade finished, so did the rain. We ducked back out of Starbucks and started the climb up the stairs to find one last quick lunch - more ceviche! Then onwards to our hostel to pack up for our next destination... Ollantantambo!