Due to the absurd altitude, I could not run this morning and probably can't all week. I guess it is good to give my legs a rest but it is drivibg me insane. I try to workout a bit when I wake up in the morning, but nothing helps the constant bloated feeling that comes from eating a diet of bread, potatoes, rice and chicken. I said it before and I will say it again, I cannot wait to go grocery shopping and to run in Boston.
Nonetheless, Cusco is beautiful. Toda, we all got together after the hotel breakfast and toured the city. Mom, you would love it, there are alpacas, llamas and goats everywhere. Also, rainbow flags are ubiquitous throughout the city. At first, we thought Cusco was just a very progressive city celebrating gay pride, however we soon learned that that was simply the flag of Cusco. In fact, the Incans celebrated the sun and saw rainbows as sacred signs from the gods, therefore it is fitting that the flag is a rainbow. Also, all this month Cusco is prepping for the celebration of their special day on June 24, so it's a party 24/7 here.
Today's tour was filled of various different places. To start, we the Templo del Sol. The architecture here was simply beautiful. In the past it served as rooms for the Incans to live and worship. The original beauty however is perfectly preserved. In the middle of the stone rooms, there is a stunning courtyard surrounded by perfectly sculpted arches and intricate paintings. On the outside of this temple, there are terraces that overlook the mountains and city. Also, the influence of the sun is very apparent here as well as there is a sun in almost every painting and even sculpted above every door way. I saw many good designs that would make great tattoos (sorry dad).
The second stop of the day was another church: la Basilica de Catedral Cusco. If I am being completely honest, it reminded me of all of the other cathedrals that we have visited complete with catacombs and all. Of course, the artwork and architecture were stunning, especially the façade. When we finished the tour of the three different parts, we headed for lunch. I found a salad and it was great: a real day maker.
After lunch we headed to Sacsayhuamán (pronounced "sexy woman). This national park was a large open field with terraces in the grace. When we got there, there were a bunch of llamas/alpacas roaming freely and we decided to chill with them for a bit. Then, as we sat down for the lecture, the dog herding the llamas came and sat right in my lap. Yes dad that's right, I almost brought home a new friend. As we left Sacsayhuamán, we went through a tunnel that was very small and dark and I did not like it. It only got worse as I accidentally almost picked some random guy's nose as he headed in the opposite direction through the dark.
Next we went to the Tambo de Puca Pucara which was basically a spiral with tombs inside. It was cool inside of it, but there was not much to see. We ended the day at Templo de agua de Tambomachay. Again, it was interesting to see the natural fountains and pose like penguins on the rocks, but the visit was quick.
Upon our arrival to Cusco, a group of us headed right to the tattoo parlor. I was determined to get one, but I made the boys go first so that I didn't get infected. Kaleb got the Andes mountains on his foot and Jake got the chakana and Caral design I picked out on the inside of his left heel. They didn't have time for me, and I was still deciding, so we just headed to Paddy's Pub from there to watch the basketball game. Oh that's another thing, the boys decided they needed to take an Always Sunny picture because the bar had the same name, but they needed a Dee. Apparently I was blonde enough to play the part, but as time went on they thought that "the analogy was falling into place." That's about it for today.
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