New Thing #88 - Peru (Day #6)

September 4, 2017

It's our final day in Cusco, with our flight back to Lima leaving later this afternoon. Since we didn't have anything specific planned for the day, we slept in, had a leisurely breakfast, dropped off our luggage and went for a walk. Our hotel had a lady who made eggs to order. I didn't realize that yesterday when I tried to peel a soft-boiled egg and ended up with most of the white stuck to the shell. Today, I opted for a somewhat runny omelet.

While Sandi and Brenda went is search of a Starbucks, I took the opportunity to explore the Plaza a bit more and take some more photos of the Cathedral.

DRINK ALL THE WATER!

My love of old doors is neverending.

I sat for about 20 minutes trying to take a photo at the perfect time with little to no people in front. This was the best I could get.

Henry had mentioned Qorikancha yesterday, so we opted to head there to kill some time. Without Henry there to guide us on what we were seeing, it didn't take us long to mosey through. I have no idea really what this place was. It's pretty to look at though.

As if we hadn't done enough shopping, Sandi and I both had one or two final items to knock off our list. I was determined to get some sort of Machu Picchu painting (I should have looked closer in Aguas Calientes), and Sandi wanted some watercolors. We kept wandering, a bit aimlessly, until I found a very unassuming market right off the Plaza. The front vendors were underwhelming, but towards the back were hundreds of oil paintings. I thought I had wanted watercolor, but after 45 minutes of digging, I found a gorgeous horizontal oil painting of MP. I was drawn in by the vibrant blues and the panoramic view. I had to have it. But, I had no idea how to get it home. It was already stretched around canvas, and likely would get smashed inside my suitcase. Brenda assured me that she could ship it if it didn't fit, and we'd make it work.

Found my MP painting here!!

I didn't need to worry, because after a bit of haggling on the price, the ladies quickly removed the canvas from it's frame, rolled it up tight and placed it into a cardboard tube. Genius! So much easier to pack, and I was finally set with most of my Peru souvenirs. Sandi wasn't quite as fortunate, as she was looking for some specific llama watercolors that she had seen near MP. They were smaller than the majority of watercolors people were selling, so she was having a difficult time finding what she needed.

This photo doesn't do it justice! I had a thin blue frame and the chunky gold frame added at Michael's. I'm in love!

Since Brenda and I were starving, we stopped in a place right off the Plaza just as it was opening and grabbed some tapas. Sandi came later saying that one of the guys selling watercolors had promised her what she wanted and to come back in an hour. Well, she did, and he pretended he didn't remember her. Another guy overheard and tried to get her to come around the corner with him. Um, no gracias, buddy. She hightailed it out of there and came back to join us for lunch.

Not potatoes. These were actually soft, warm bread that was delicious!

Creamy corn empanadas on the left and quinoa crusted chicken on the right. So. Damn. Good.

After lunch, we managed to find one final shop where Sandi found the watercolors she was looking for. But, the altitude, the steep streets and the exertion of the last week were wearing on me. Every muscle in my body was sore, and I was ready for a few days of relaxation in Lima. JC picked us up at our hostel and drove us to the Cusco airport. I do love small airports sometimes, because even though they don't have a lot of amenities, the lines are usually ridiculously short. We had no line for checking our bags or security, so we had some time to kill. Unfortunately, it was hot as balls inside the airport, making each one of us sleepy kitties. Add in the fact that our flight was delayed (no reason was given, but Brenda said this is really typical in Peru). At least the flight itself was just over an hour, so once we were ready to take off, it didn't take long to get there.

Traffic was surprisingly light, so our driver made fairly decent time. However, we were all starving, since the Cusco airport didn't offer much in the way of food, other than some Haribo gummy bears. So, instead of taking us to Brenda's, we had him drop us off at a restaurant popular among Brenda's friends. One of them assured us he could take us back home, and it was great to be able to eat almost as soon as we arrived.

They had ordered us chicken sandwiches (what they are known for) sans pickles for me, a few beers and then back to Brenda's. She had to get up early the next morning for work, and Sandi had to get to the airport for her flight back home. Luckily for me, I have nothing to do tomorrow until after lunch, which was good since I slept poorly with an upset stomach. I had done great all week with being careful of not drinking the water or using ice, but our drinks had ice in them. I'm wondering if that was the cause, or just perhaps the unusual diet for the past week.