Echoes of South America in the Midwest U.S.

Located in south-central Missouri in the beginning of the Ozarks is the small town of West Plains. After driving for 3 hours from St. Louis I stopped in a local McDonald’s to get some lunch. As I approached the counter my jaw dropped in amazement. There on the menu board, in bold lettering was the title “McCafe.” Underneath the title was a listing of the variety of coffee drinks – cappuccinos, lattes, espressos, etc. – available for purchase. Was I back in Buenos Aires, Argentina?! As I shared with the young woman working the counter, I had never seen a McCafe until I saw them in the McDonald’s in Argentina. She related that they were proud to be the first rural community to have a McCafe. As far as I know, they are the first McDonald’s in the United States to have one. (Although my brother who lives in St. Louis tells me they have been appearing in the St. Louis McDonald's restaurants for the last six months or so.) And just a few months ago, I thought I had discovered something unique which McDonald’s had added just for the South American culture!

That was not the only echo of South America I experienced on that drive, though. As I drove through the Ozarks in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas their appearance reminded me of the drive through the Sacred Valley from Cusco to Ollantaytambo in Peru. That landscape was intriguing because it was clearly an agricultural area, yet the colors were all various shades of yellow, brown and tan. Driving through the Ozarks I was greeted by a palette of various shades of yellow, brown and tan! The trees were bereft of leaves, except for the stands of pines. Mindful that it was winter time and the fields were fallow and dry here, it dawned on me that the fields in Peru were evidently dry and showing the colors of late winter, early springs, before the rains. More than that, though, the topography was also similar, for this was the foothills of the Ozarks with the road running along the tops of a ridge and gentle rolling hills spreading out all around. The Sacred Valley in Peru is a high plain located in the Peruvian Andes, providing a vista of rolling hills spreading out to the mountains that surround the valley.

When Dianne and I were experiencing the Sacred Valley I remember commenting to her how much the views reminded me of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Now I have been reminded of those views in another part of my homeland and it reinforces for me the truth of how much more similar our experiences are throughout the world than different; how similar are our lands; how similar are our dreams; how similar is our world. When we see wonderful sights in our homeland we often yawn at them. When we see similar wonderful sights in another land we label them exotic. Of course they are similar, for the same God created all the world, all people and nations, all the universe. Our similarities as well as our differences should be celebrated. Our common experiences should bind us closer together in common understanding. And we can learn to celebrate the exotic all around us and treasure the beauty we have right outside our doors.

The pictures above illustrate the similarity between the Ozarks region of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas and the Sacred Valley of Peru. The first picture is a lake in the Sacred Valley and the second picture is Lake Norfork in northern Arkansas. The third picture is the rolling hills of the Ozarks in southern Missouri and the last picture is the rolling hills of the Sacred Valley. As you can tell, my time in South America is still very alive for me.

Back in Miami!

All it took was a five and one-half hour airplane ride and my South American adventure was over! Yesterday Dianne and I had a rather uneventful flight from Lima, Peru to Miami and it feels like I have awakened from a marvelous dream. It was great to be greeted at the airport by my daughter, step-daughter and her husband, and my newest granddaughter. I have really missed family and it was a nice surprise to walk out of the International Arrivals restricted area to see them in the lobby and not have to wait for them curbside. It has been a full 24 hours with family as we had dinner with them last night and went back to their house for lunch today to visit with another long time friend who is almost like family.

But it feels strange to be back in my home in Miami. In fact, the initial feelings are that it doesn't feel like "home." It is the same house. My "stuff" is still here. My family lives here. But there was a "strangeness" to walking in last night. It is an early confirmation of what I was anticipating in South America that there will be a time of adjustment for me upon return. We are usually so caught up in the day to day "everydayness" of our lives that 8, 12, 16 weeks fly by and don't seem so long in the course of a year. Yet, in truth they are a significant passage of time. Twelves weeks is what I spent out of the United States, living in South America. It is a fourth of a year. Sixteen weeks is what I spent away from work on Sabbatical. That is a third of a year. A lot happens in those amounts of time. For me, a lot happened here at home that I missed. And a lot happened to me, that others, except through my blog, have not experienced with me. How all of this will mesh together to allow me to re-engage with my former life here in Miami will be a most interesting process. Probably as interesting, if not more so, as the Sabbatical experience itself.

For now, I plan to take my re-entry nice and slow. I do not plan to think too much about work or what I need to be doing when I return to work very much this next week. I plan to spend time performing some maintenance chores around the house. My wife and daughter did a great job taking care of the house in my absence, but some things, like taking down hurricane shutters put up as a precaution, they really cannot do. I also want to play at least one round of golf, it has been four months since I have swung my golf clubs. I plan to brush up on my Spanish lessons. Even though the last two weeks were spent in Peru, a Spanish-speaking country, most of our time was in tourist areas, where most of the service people we dealt with spoke some, if not a lot, of English and tended to assume we knew no Spanish. So, it was almost like being back in Miami two weeks early: in an environment where there was Spanish being spoken around us, but an environment where it was not necessary for us to know Spanish to function. In that regards, I am very glad I chose Argentina and not Peru for my Spanish language classes. I know I was surrounded by Spanish speakers and most of the 8 weeks I was in Argentina, it was necessary for me to know Spanish to function. It was truly an immersion experience that helped me learn the language. Based on my recent experience in Peru, I am not sure I would have found the same type of immersion experience there.

I also want to spend some significant time this week reflecting on my entire Sabbatical. I know this will be an on-going process, but I want to begin that process this week before work responsibilities begin to impinge on my time and attention. During the past 4 months I have done some reflecting on what I was experiencing, what I was learning, what it might mean for me moving forward. But now that I am nearing the end of the Sabbatical, I want to revisit those reflections, deepen them, and refine them. I want to begin to seriously contemplate what all this might mean for me moving into the future.

Final Post from South America!

Dianne is packing, and I am trying to hang on to my South America time by writing one more post for the blog. We had a wonderful final day in Lima, Peru. We began the day with a harrowing 30-minute taxi ride to Lima central and the Plaza de Armas. It is quite impressive, lined on two sides by yellow colonial buildings with Moorish balconies, on one side by the Cathedral and Archbishop's residence, and on the fourth side by government Palace. We toured the Cathedral, which was quite impressive and somewhat macabre. In the crypt below the central nave there is a display behind glass of quite a few human skulls and apparently the rest of the bones of the bodies buried there. No names, no indication to whom the bones belonged. There are also quite a few displays of religious art, including religious artifacts made from gold and silver.

Just as we were finishing our tour of the Cathedral, I heard music floating through the door from the main plaza. Emerging into the sunlight my gaze was drawn to brightly colored uniformed band members behind the bars of a wrought iron fence surrounding an apparent government building. Inquiring of the guard at the Cathedral door I learned that the music indicated the daily changing of the guard at the government building. It was about a 30 minute ceremony with lots of music, goose-stepping guards, trumpets, flags, etc. Unfortunately it all took place behind the iron fence and the riot police kept the tourists and school children gathered to watch, on the other side of the street from the fence. Still, it was quite an impressive ceremony.

Following lunch near the plaza, we caught another taxi back to Miraflores and visited LarcoMar, a shopping mall built into the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It is a stunning setting, but a sad place from my perspective because it looks as though it was clearly built and financed by American money. The majority of the stores are US brands and it feels it could be in Anytown, US as much as in Lima, Peru. But the gelato we enjoyed was delicious, as was the coffee. And both were even better as we were sitting at a table overlooking a beautiful spring afternoon sun shining over the Pacific Ocean.

After finally enjoying a dramatic sunset we made our way back to El Señorío del Sulco, where we had a gourmet dinner our first night in Lima. We wanted to ensure we had a wonderful final dinner and we were not disappointed as Dianne dined on a suckling pig roasted in a pisco sauce and I enjoyed a lamb shank along with a mashed corn side dish. They were accompanied by another fine Peruvian Tacama Blanco y Blanco wine and topped off by a very sweet, but tasty pudding desert. A fine way to close out our adventure in Lima, in Peru, in South America.

Tomorrow we board a Lan Peru flight for Miami and back to our normal reality. I am sure I will be processing and enjoying this adventure for months to come, perhaps years. I hope you will continue to visit this blog, as I will continue writing reflections as I reenter life in Miami and in my work as local church Pastor. I firmly believe that Sabbath Tango is not just a theme for my Sabbatical, but for my life and work and I will try to explore that theme in the days to come.

Eating Our Way Through Lima

Lima has turned out to be a very nice, very relaxing, very enjoyable final stop on our visit to South America. Dianne and I both had very low expectations of Lima based on what we had read or heard about it before we arrived, but we have been pleasantly surprised by what we have found. Perhaps it is the neighborhood where we are staying, Miraflores, which is clearly a middle to upper class neighborhood, but we have found it very clean, feeling very safe, and very attractive. There are lovely parks. There are gourmet restaurants with stunning settings. There have been neighborhood-type restaurants where we felt like we became part of the family in the time of just one meal. Plus, unlike Cusco, you can walk the streets and not be constantly accosted by street vendors and beggars. We even found a large handicraft market in Miraflores with pretty much the same crafts we saw in Cusco and we were able to shop at our leisure without too much pressure, even from the attendants of the different shops. It was much more relaxing and a much more enjoyable experience. (Plus we found some really nice bargains!)

Our time in Lima is definitely very relaxed with an emphasis on eating really good meals. Last night we ate at El Señorío de Sulco, listed as a three-fork restaurant in the Footprints Guide, yet written up as a "five-fork" restaurant, reputed to be one of the finest in Lima. We would agree. The food was delicious, truly gourmet, and the service was first-rate. Dianne had a very delicious roast duck marinated in a dark ale & corn beer sauce. Steve enjoyed a very traditional Peruvian Roast Beef dish, cooked in an interesting collection of herbs and served with sweet potatoes. We enjoyed another bottle of very fine Tacama vineyards Peruvian Tinto Wine. We had heard that Peruvian wines were not very good and while we would still rate the Argentine wines the best we have tasted in South America, the Tacama wines are very tasty and very good. We satisfied our desire for sweets with a very tasty flan with caramel & pecan topping.

Today we had a really fun lunch. We decided on a café/bar named Shehadi Pizzeria. It sounded very Middle Eastern, but the menu listed clearly Peruvian dishes. It turned out to be owned by a Lebanese-American from Brooklyn who has been in Lima for 3 years. There was a picture of the Brooklyn Bridge painted on one wall. The wait staff was extremely attentive and bent over backwards to be sure we had a good dining experience. The food was excellent. We both had dishes that were Peruvian, but with a Lebanese twist.

Finally, tonight we were able to finagle a table on the outside deck of La Rosa Nautica, a Lima dining establishment which is built on a pier sitting over the Pacific Ocean. The deck was quite comfortable and allowed us to hear the waves breaking on the beach while watching the lights of Lima blink at us from the towering cliffs overhead. La Rosa's main dining room was totally booked for the night (we did not need reservations the night before) but they had some tables available outside. The waiter here was a bit snooty, but the Sommelier was quite helpful in choosing a very nice Tacama Blanco y Blanco which was very delicious. The food, though, was wonderful. Dianne enjoyed a very tasty and smooth Fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp while Steve was delighted with the Sea Bass Rosa Nautica, baked in a delicious white sauce with shrimp and sea scallops and mashed yellow potatoes. We topped off the meal with an exquisite Chocolate Mousse pie with lacuma sauce, all of which was very rich and very delicious.

We have one more day in Lima, one more day in Peru, one more day in South America. Then on Saturday we board an airplane to fly home to Miami. This has been a most amazing, constantly surprising, consistently enjoyable experience for me and for Dianne. We are not ready for it to end and I know that the memories we are gathering will stay with us and unfold for us for years to come. From all the sights, all the delicious food, to all the wonderful people we have enjoyed a very rich experience. One more day to go! We don't plan to waste it.

Surprising Reactions to Lima

Gray skies that blend into a gray Pacific Ocean are the backdrop for our first day in Lima, Peru, yet our impression of Lima has raised our impression of Peru as a whole. While I still believe Peru is a country with tremendous poverty, it is clear there is money in this country from what I have already seen in Lima. Just the drive from the airport was through streets very busy with both automobile and pedestrian traffic. There was significant evidence of retail and commercial activity that looks much more like what I am used to in the United States than any other economic activity I have seen elsewhere in Peru or Argentina. Lima is clearly a city that is not dependent on tourism for the engine to drive its economic activity. It is also a city that, while still not up to US standards, is closer to those standards than even Buenos Aries, at least in terms of what I experienced.

As we drove to the little Bed & Breakfast where we are staying the next three days, we passed through the San Isidro district which is clearly a middle to upper class neighborhood, where there are many embassy compounds and clearly up-scale living accommodations. Our lodging is just two blocks from the road that run along the bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. After checking in we went out to get some lunch and walked along the bluff. There is a beautiful park complex, filled with walkways, play areas for children, beautiful flower beds all in bloom (after all, it is springtime here in Peru) and stunning views of the Pacific. Even with the horizon blending one level of grey from the water into another level of grey from the clouds in the sky, the waves breaking on the beach below were still impressive. Along the walk there were small well-kept homes squeezed between high-rise apartment buildings, with even higher-rise buildings popping up here and there. It is clear this is where some of the money in Peru lives.

This was further confirmed for us when we entered Francesco's restaurant for lunch. Escorted to the second floor, we were clearly under-dressed for the clearly businessman's lunch site. Sitting in our blue jeans and long-sleeve t-shirts, the waiter, sommelier, bus-boys, servers, everyone associated the restaurant, were nonetheless very helpful and very pleasant. Not wanting to over-eat so we could enjoy a very nice dinner later, we did "tapas", choosing from the appetizers and enjoyed more than enough for lunch. Dianne began with a traditional Peruvian Pisco sour and I had, on the recommendation of our Taxi driver that it would be could for clearing up my cough, a Pisco Puro (a shot of straight pisco). We followed with a shared Crab Meat Tamal and then Dianne enjoyed a Pepper stuffed with shrimp and melted mozzarella cheese while Steve enjoyed a baked potato stuffed with seafood (octopus, shrimp, scallops, and crab). The setting was first class, the service superb, and the food exquisite. An outstanding lunch. A great way to begin our stay in Lima.

While we have not ventured too far, our impression of Peru has improved dramatically already with our exposure to the San Isidro and Miraflores neighborhoods of Lima. We are both feeling better than the past few days, possibly due to our return to sea level from the heights of Cusco in the high Andes. It is another amazing aspect of this sabbatical for me that I began my time in South America on the Atlantic Coast in Buenos Aries in August and I am ending my visit on the Pacific Coast in Lima in October. And I did not have to fly as far to do so as I would have had to in the US. And in just three days I will be back on the Atlantic as I return to Miami. What an amazing adventure this continues to be.

Here is a link to a Kodak Gallery Album with a few pictures of the Pacific Ocean coast near our Bed and Breakfast here in Lima: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.bxf8wjty&x=0&y=3aijbm&localeid=en_US

Final Thoughts from Cusco

Thankfully El Balcon, the hotel where Dianne and I have stayed in Cusco, is very comfortable and quaint. Thus it was a very nice place to spend our last day in Cusco, just hanging out in the room. Dianne became quite ill last night after dinner (actually she said her stomach had been upset most of the day) resulting in a night of nausea and vomiting, with little sleep, and great discomfort. She has spent all day in bed trying to feel better, drinking a little tea and trying to slowly eat some food to keep it down. Several of the Cusco residents seem to think she is suffering from the altitude which can affect your digestive system in bad ways.

Having visited Cusco at the start of the week, seen most of the sights, and then gone on to Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu, a day of rest was very welcome and we really don't feel we are missing all that much. We did visit two museums yesterday which had nice collections of pre-Columbian art and artifacts, including quite a few Inca pieces. They were a nice completion of our tour of Incan lands and history.

We are both ready to leave Cusco. It is a beautiful little city, very quaint and antique-looking. A lot of the architecture is still a strong mixture of Incan and Spanish colonial which is quite striking, interesting, and beautiful. The main plaza and the several little plazoletas that we visited were quite lovely. But what detracts from the beauty of the city is the poverty. We have learned from several Peruvians that work is very difficult to find in Peru. That is quite evident from what you encounter on the street as a tourist. Evidently we stand out like sore thumbs and thus are constantly accosted. You literally cannot walk half a block without being asked if you want your shoes shined, do you want to buy a painting from my portfolio, would you like some of these finger puppets, or other handcraft items, do you want some coca leaves candy, postcards, etc. Anything you can imagine they try to sell to you and it is a constant gauntlet you must pass through on the street. It is worst around the plazas, and if you dare to eat at an outside table enjoying the sun and the beautiful plaza views, they walk the sidewalk and accost you at your table! It is quite annoying. It becomes very difficult to maintain an attitude of compassion for people in such dire straits that they must resort to this type of begging to survive. And it does seem to be only a small step up from outright begging, especially by those who are very aggressive and persistent in their approach.

Beyond this atmosphere in the tourist areas, the few times we have driven beyond the main tourist areas what we have seen indicates a country in extreme poverty and extreme economic difficulty. All the housing seems very poor, even the "new" construction (still mostly of adobe bricks dug from the ground.) We have not seen any area that appears "middle" class let alone an upper class neighborhood. That may change in Lima, but in the highlands around Cusco, that is our experience. Even so, the people are lovely, (with the exceptions of the street vendors, and even the few of them we have actually dealt with in purchasing anything [I did buy a work of art for my office] turned out to be quite personable) and they seem to maintain a spirit of hope and joy in life. They offer quite a testimony to those of us, like myself, who have so much more and for whom life truly is so much easier, and yet find myself many times complaining, whining, and taking so much of my life for granted. Somehow it seems they find the joy in the very fact of being alive and find blessings to count and hope to which to cling. There is a lesson here for me in my life when I return to Miami.

Tomorrow we board a plane for Lima. We have reservations at a lovely little Bed & Breakfast in the Miraflores neighborhood, two blocks from the Pacific Ocean. We plan to mostly spend our time there, relaxing, do a little touring and shopping, but mostly rest up and prepare to return to life and work in Miami. We fly home on Saturday. Dianne returns to work on Monday and I have one more week of Sabbatical before it is over and I return to work November 1. I can hardly believe that this time has arrived.

Initial Thoughts on Machu Picchu

What to say about Machu Picchu?!? It will probably be months, if not years, before I can fully put into words even half of what I experienced in my two days wandering this amazing mountain-top city. While it is not as high as people think (listed at 7,800 feet above sea level, whereas Cusco is 11,000 feet) it is still impressively located atop a mountain, with the sides falling steeply to the valley floor some 1,800 feet below. You can also climb several surrounding peaks, or up the Inca Trail to the Gate of the Sun (which Dianne and I did our second day here) which is another 1,000 feet above Machu Picchu for even more breathtaking views. (Actually, the climb itself also takes away your breath!)

Our first day in the ruins started out very cool, cloudy, and misty. While the clouds were not at city level, but above the closest peaks, they were still covering some of the surrounding peaks and deepened and darkened all the colors of the stone and vegetation. We hired an impromptu guide at the gate, Felix, who was very kind, fairly knowledgeable, and basically did what we hoped in taking us around in an orderly fashion to all the important spots in the city in about two-and-a-half hours. After that we had the entire afternoon to explore on our own. By that time the clouds had become the white, puffy cumulus clouds of summer afternoons with lots of sunshine and it actually became hot up on the mountain top. Unfortunately I was fighting a sinus infection wanting to turn into bronchitis, running a fever, and generally feeling lousy, so our exploring was somewhat limited. We did revisit some of the sites Felix showed us and took pictures and we did make the climb to the Watchman's Hut to take the classic postcard photo of Machu Picchu with Wayna Picchu rising up behind it along with some close-up photos of llamas grazing on the terraces. (We also played footsie with a llama as we were climbing down the 150 step stairway from the Hut to the exit level and the llama was climbing up and walked right past us.) We did head down to our wonderfully comfortable Eco-lodge, Rupa Wasi, in town a bit earlier than we might have if I wasn't sick, so I could take some medicines for my symptoms and take a short nap before dinner.

We awoke after a good, long night's sleep to raindrops on our roof and low clouds wrapping around the mountains. It did not look like it would be a good day to visit Machu Picchu, but I awoke feeling better than the day before and we had already paid for our tickets to enter the ruins, so after breakfast we boarded the bus for the 20-minute, winding bus ride to the top. By the time we reached the entrance the clouds had lifted and blue sky was beginning to show. So, we embarked on the 1,000 foot climb to Intipunku (The Gate of the Sun) which is the pass the main Inca Trail crosses and where travelers would get their first view of the city stretched out below. We took the climb slow and easy with several stops along the way to take in the view. There were also some interesting sights we encountered along the way - evidence that people are still worshiping in the ancient Inca fashion.

We came upon one spot where a huge rock jutted out over the trail with stonework below it that gave the appearance there had once been some sort of structure here, possibly a shrine. There were numerous small piles of stones, 3, 4 or 5 stones high, on top of the various walls all around this rock (which one could say bore a resemblance to a frog). Even more intriguing was the small group of women and a child, in a small shaded opening next to this area who were clearly praying facing the mountain (standing there with arms raised in quiet posture). A little further along the trail there was another group of stone structures which could have been some sort of outpost on the trail, or again, a shrine. Next to these structures was another large rock, this one laying on the ground, but clearly polished and shaped on top in one of the traditional Incan designs. Again, there were small piles of stones on this rock and in various other places around the area. But in addition, on one of the shelves of this rock were clear offerings left for Pachamama (Mother Earth), hard candy pieces and coca leaves. It is fascinating, and even a little heart-warming, to realize that despite all the Spanish conquerors and their Catholic priests did to try to wipe out the indigenous religion of the people, it still survives in some form.

While it is hard to describe, it is clearly evident when visiting, that Machu Picchu has a strong spiritual dimension to it. While the archaeologists have many, many competing theories about what purpose the city played, why it was built here, what are the meanings of the different structures, it is clear that the area held great spiritual meaning for the Inca people. It is clear that it was again, an area with a good water supply and a location that could be easily defended and would be difficult to attack. The fact that it survived in such good shape for so many centuries beyond the Spanish invaders is a testimony to the building skills of those who constructed it, and to its highly difficult to reach location. It is truly one of the wonders of the world.

(I have posted pictures with my previous two posts from Peru, so if you read them earlier, revisit them to see a few pictures. I have not had a chance to create Kodak Gallery Albums yet, so there are no links to more pictures, but they will be added in the next few days. Dianne and I are wearing down from all the climbing and walking, so we are going to be slowing down the "tourist type" activity the rest of this week and taking a more leisurely pace. I should be able to finally organize the Peru pictures and share more with you in a few days. So, keep checking back.)

Here, finally, are some links to Kodak Gallery Albums where you can see more of the amazing photos from Machu Picchu. This link will take you to pictures from Day 1 in Machu Picchu: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.bh2fuudi&x=0&y=-b3i3xa&localeid=en_US

From the "magical" Ollantaytambo

Sitting at a balcony window overlooking the Plaza de Armas (the main plaza) of Ollantaytambo with a huge mountain overlooking the town from the other side filling most of the window, I bring you another post from Peru! Dianne and I have truly been transported into another world, and it even feels, another time. This little town is at the juncture of two river, three valleys, would be extremely hard to approach in secret, and fairly easy to defend. It is completely sensible that this place has been settled by human beings for tens of thousands of years and still today. The mountains surround the town, almost embracing it in their arms, providing a true sense of divine protection.

We spent the morning climbing up and down more than 200 stone steps to visit the palace/fortress/religious sanctuary of Ollantaytambo. There is evidence of at least three different construction techniques, indicating most likely at least two other civilizations or cultures pre-dating the Incas in constructing this place. There are also marvelous examples of Inca construction, with the uncompleted Temple of the Sun and Temple of the Moon. We had a wonderfully informative impromptu history and archaeological lesson from Eugenio, one of the docents, or guards, at the ruins. The knowledge of the stars, the movement of the sun and moon, of geometry, algebra and other sciences involved in the construction is amazing. And so much of what they knew appears to have been lost! How sad for the rest of us.

After the morning climb and tour we had a disappointing lunch before visiting the local market with the people selling their handmade jewelry, woven crafts, etc. Much of the work is beautiful. Dianne purchased a few souvenirs and I practiced my Spanish. We then hung out in the main plaza waiting for the electricity to return so we could visit the Internet cafe and check email and I could post to the blog. Again, I am really sorry there are not pictures, but promise by late Sunday or early Monday there will be some added. So keep checking back for them.

Last night we had a truly gourmet dinner at the little Bed & Breakfast where we are staying. Dianne had a chicken dish that had a sauce which included the muña herb of which I wrote yesterday (the one that also is good for headaches!) I had an Alpaca Tenderloin in an elderberry sauce. It was pretty good (though not as good as Argentine beef, of course!) The meal was delicious and we plan to eat there again tonight.

The Bed & Breakfast is, literally, right on the train platform so when we leave at 7:00 a.m. for Machu Picchu tomorrow we do not have far to walk! Again, we have no idea what our Internet access will be in Aquas Calientes. Supposedly the town is very small and very primitive, although we did make hotel reservations on-line. But if there is no post until Sunday night or Monday, you will know it had been a difficult thing to do in that town. (Either that, or we were too physically tired after visiting Machu Picchu!)

Here are two Kodak Gallery Album links. The first takes you to pictures of the town of Ollantaytambo and the little Bed & Breakfast where we stayed: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.2avaio92&x=0&y=3ehek9&localeid=en_US

The second takes you to pictures of the ruins at Ollantaytambo: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.7i5a09ra&x=0&y=2ytn8q&localeid=en_US

Finally, word from Peru!

Ollantaytambo is the name of the pueblo from where I am finally writing a post. We left Buenos Aires 3 days ago (was it really only 3 days), landed in Lima, made it through immigration and customs and connected with our flight to Cusco, landed in Cusco and made it to our beautiful hotel, El Balcon, on the slope overlooking Plaza de Armas and Cusco. It was a long, tiring travel day (made longer by Alberto, a very nice tour organizer who met us at our hotel, greeted us as though he was the host of the place, and proceeded to talk to us about how long we were staying, what were we planning to do, offering us several tour options, catching us with his "used car salesman pitch" while we were still reeling from the flight!) We did book a half-day city tour with him for the next day, and arranged transfer back from Ollantaytambo train station by car upon our return on Sunday from Machu Picchu. Anyway, we finally made it to our room and collapsed! I took some beautiful night photos of the city from our balcony, including of the brightly lit white statue of Jesus high on a hill overlooking Cusco with his arms raised in blessing! (Talk about a neon cross!)

The next day we went to the Perurail Train Station to trade our Internet voucher for our tickets on the train to Machu Picchu, found a bank to change some dollars into nuevo soles, walked around some lovely squares visiting some shops for Dianne to browse and shop. We picked up lunch to take back to the hotel, ate and got ready for our tour. While we are not fans of group tours (yes, it is amazing that we took this tour!) the tour guide Puma (yes, that is his first name, he is Quechua, which is the proper term for the native people we know as Inca) was excellent and made the tour extremely worthwhile. Cusco lays claim to being the longest settled and populated city in the hemisphere, with its roots dating back possibly 7,000 years. The Inca Empire was only about 100 years long, though it was probably the high point of construction and settlement. Of course, most of what the Inca built was destroyed by the Spanish conquerors, beginning with Francisco Pizarro.

One fascinating fact we learned was that while most Inca structures have been destroyed or damaged, it was all by human hands, not a bit by earthquakes. The Inca, or their predecessors, figured out a way to construct stone structures that would move with the earth and not topple or crumble. So, for instance, in 1650, when there was a massive earthquake in the region of Cusco, all the Spanish buildings constructed on top of the Inca buildings crumbled, but the bottom portions of the buildings, which were the original Inca construction, all remained standing! To this day engineers from Japan, San Francisco, and other earthquake prone areas, have visited and studied the Inca construction but have not figured out how to duplicate it.

While it is only a small portion of the vast gold and silver wealth of the Incas, we were amazed at the opulence in the Cathedral. The vast usage of gold and silver plating on altars and various structures was stunning. Just the wealth exhibited in this one, huge, structure (actually it is three churches joined together, with the Cathedral in the center and two "smaller" churches on either side) is mind-blowing! Plus we saw the blackened Christ on the cross known as ¨Lord of the Tremblors" which was the crucifix they finally, in desperation, paraded around town in 1650 when the earth was shaking and the earth stopped! Finally, we saw the Peruvian version of Davinci's "Last Supper" which depicts Jesus and his disciples about to dine on cuy, guinea pig!

After the Cathedral we rode the bus up 1,500 more feet, to the impressive stone ritual site known as Sacsayhuaman. It is huge! With huge stones in the walls that are still standing. One Inca historian who wrote shortly after the conquest by the Spanish wrote how he got lost in Sacsayhuaman it was so huge and labyrinth-like. We also visited several other interesting Inca ruins before returning to the main plaza about 7 p.m. Growing tired, Dianne and I went looking for a "simple" dinner. We went to a restaurant recommended to us by the Hotel manager, La Retrama. Located on the second floor overlooking Plaza de Armas, it was a lovely, elegant restaurant. We were the only patrons for about 30 minutes before two tour groups (they sounded German) joined us. But the food was delicious, the staff extremely attentive. One waiter named Emilio, not our main waiter but very friendly, discovered I had a headache and brought me some sort of green herb in a small container to crush and deeply inhale the aroma. (Dianne just found the name on the web, muña.) And it worked! Not immediately, but within a half-hour or so my headache was gone! Dianne even shared and we both testify to this natural healing wonder!

It was not a "simple" or short dinner, though. The food was delicious, but more than I was looking for (actually Dianne was ravenous) and then about the time we finished a Peruvian musical group, with flutes, drums, a guitar and mandolin set up in tradition garb and began playing. They were then joined by four dancers in very colorful costumes, who were very energetic and performed 4 different dances. It was at least an hour-long floor show, and the musicians were still playing when we finally left! It was a much later night than we had planned, but extremely enjoyable.

This morning after breakfast I walked to the Instituto Nacional de Cultura to buy our entrance tickets to Machu Picchu before we were picked-up by Edwin who drove us through the Sacred Valley to Ollantaytambo. The drive was amazing. The panoramas, the vistas, the scenery, both fascinating, stunning, awesome, breathtaking, I could pile up the superlatives and not do it justice. I am sorry I do not have pictures posted (I took many of the last 3 days) but it turns out there is not WIFI at our hotel in Ollantaytambo so I won't be able to add pictures for several days. Maybe this weekend in Aquas Calientes, where we are spending Saturday night during our visit to Machu Picchu. Otherwise, I will definitely add pictures to whatever posts I share, beginning with this one, by Monday. Sorry! Know we are safe and having an amazing visit in Peru!

Here are the Kodak Gallery Album links with more pictures of Cusco. This first link will take you to pictures of some of the ruins in and around Cusco: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.ayd2yio6&x=0&y=n5wvig&localeid=en_US

This second link will take you to pictures of the Folklore Show we enjoyed at dinner: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.57sw3pfq&x=0&y=ky1jw8&localeid=en_US