Cusco

 We had a very nice flight from Lima with LAN Peru, what a change from American airlines, the food was good, the service excellent, the plane was on time, it was clean and comfortable. If I have to travel and LAN Peru is available, I will try it again.

As soon as we got settled in the hotel I went out to explore Cusco, I immediately fell in love with the city, it is lovely , the people were very nice and friendly, the weather was perfect. I went to the main plaza where the Cathedral and the Jesuit Church are located, checked some stores with native products, and possible places to have lunch. After that went to get my wife that was resting because high altitude is not a friend of her. When I got back she was ready to go and explore after a quick nap.

We walked around and ended up again in the main plaza where we went to a restaurant called Paititi (I hope I remembered its name) next to the Jesuit church. The food was excellent, I had papas a la huancayna and quinua soup, I wanted to take pictures but I forgot so I took pictures of the empty potatoes plate. I hadn't had quinua soup for a very long time so it was great. After lunch we went to shop, I bought a nice bag for my camera and my wife bought many things. Then we went to take a tour. First stop was the ruins of Saqsaywaman. It is impressive to see the huge rocks that formed the walls. What we can see is only about a third of the original height of the walls. The top parts were taken to Cusco for the building of the many churches and buildings. Close by is a giant Christ like the one in Brasil, but much smaller. I was told it was a gift from Palestinian refugees, that found a welcome in Cusco in troubled times. From Saqsaywaman we could see Cusco below us very clearly. After we returned to Cusco and went to Qorinkancha, during the Inca empire, the Qorinkancha was a sacred place, with rooms dedicated to the different gods. Most of the walls were covered in gold, and the gardens were made of gold, gold flowers, butterflies, etc. The Spaniards converted it to a Church and convent. Today parts of it are a museum. After that we went back to walk around the city until it was time for dinner at the hotel. There a group of musicians and dancers gave a nice show. It was a very intense day, but very rewarding.