First of all, I wanted to call attention to the fact that this is the 100th post on Travel In Sandals. I always see TV shows make a big deal out of their 100th episode, so I figured I'd mention our milestone as well. TIS started in 2010 with a wild journey to Australia and has made stops in Mexico, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, all over Europe and now Peru. I'm looking forward to another 100 posts and plenty of more worldwide adventures.
Now back to Peru...
Greg and I were still on a high from the exciting day we had exploring Machu Picchu so waking up a bit early on Friday morning and catching the 8:30am train back to Cusco wasn't too bad. However, it was a two hour train ride followed by a two hour bus ride so it was a lengthy half-day trip.
Now back to Peru...
Greg and I were still on a high from the exciting day we had exploring Machu Picchu so waking up a bit early on Friday morning and catching the 8:30am train back to Cusco wasn't too bad. However, it was a two hour train ride followed by a two hour bus ride so it was a lengthy half-day trip.
El equipo verde (the green team); Greg and Matt spent so much time together that they started to dress alike.
The train back to Cusco was just one car; the small train in Peru is not the equivalent to the small bus in the U.S.
Train friends...on our train and bus back to Cusco we met Italians Francesca and Natasha as well as Chelsea Football Club's very own Frank Lampard.
Apparently Peru knows Mo...we passed about a dozen of these hand painted Miguel Morales signs on the way back to Cusco.
Peru Sabe Mo
I wish every urinal had a view like this.
We finally pulled into Cusco around 2pm. Fortunately, we were in no hurry; we had no afternoon plans, so we were free to wander, eat, drink, meet people, relax and enjoy vacation.
The view of Cusco and how the houses climb up the mountain side.
We stopped for lunch at Pachapapa in the San Blas part of Cusco. It was traditional Peruvian food which included an outdoor wood-fired oven.
We started with potatos in a creamy chili sauce.
The main course was the roasted lamb shoulder with mashed potatoes and veggies.
After a relaxing afternoon, we decided to take it up a notch for the evening festivities. Since it was our last night in Cusco we did dinner at a highly recommended place called Cicciolina. It's among the top spots in Cusco. We increased our group by one; our French friend Valerie - the same girl who was with us when we chased the tour bus through Cusco - joined for dinner and drinks.
Cleaned up and ready to go.
Remember Cuy - the roasted guinea pig? Well, we finally tried it. We managed to find a place that served it in a more appetizing manner. This is actually shredded Cuy Confit on a bed of avocado and potato puree. A bit different than the fully roasted head-to-tail guinea pig we've seen on previous menus. Glad we tried it, but we won't be making it a regular thing.
BBQ calamari, prawns and scallops.
Tagliolini tinted with squid ink in a creamy coconut milk, lemongrass, and coriander sauce.
Three's Company
Dinner was solid but the post-meal festivities is what left Greg and I a little sluggish on Saturday morning. We heard about Cusco's discos and being that we both dabble in the dance arts, we checked out Mama Africa, a spot spinning a mix of Top 40 and South American Latin hits...perfect!
There was a lot of jumping around, plenty of singing, probably too much air guitar, and I don't know what else. Basically, we dominated the dance floor until about 3am.
Pistolas!
We fly back to Lima on Saturday and wrap up this Peruvian extravaganza with a few more nights in the Capital city (Greg leaves Mon, Matt leaves Tue).
Got it!
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