Thursday, August 31, 2017
While traveling through Peru, Cusco could have been a great place to see a ton of culturally significant sites, but health issues took precedence and we only did a cursory tour of the town. I have been really struggling with the altitude to the point that all I want to do is sleep. Jeremy, on the other hand came down with a stomach issue and started running a low grade fever. Maybe the raw ceviche at the buffet at Machu Picchu wasn’t such a good idea, or maybe it was some raw veggies that were washed in tap water. Since it was a very nice restaurant, our hope was that everything was washed in boiled water, but as it turns out, that may not have been the case.
Our morning started with a breakfast in the main square. They didn’t have everything advertised on the menu, but the food was delicious and felt Peruvian. After we finished, we headed for the Compania de Jesus, which was very ornate and filled with gold, likely stolen from the Inca temples when the Spanish came to town.
Next was the Qorikancha, which was a fairly nice museum with some interesting examples of Inca architecture and other art from both Inca and Spanish times.
Jeremy was not doing well, so we headed back for the main square to see the Basilica Cathedral, which was now open and quite amazing! This is a type of cathedral you would expect to see in Europe. The difference perhaps was more gold, and a bit less sculpture than a European cathedral. It was very worth seeing.
One oddity was the famous painting in the cathedral of Jesus eating a cuy (guinea pig) at the last supper. Cuy is a great delicacy in Peru, so of course, they would have expected Jesus to have eaten it at this meal (note: guinea pig isn’t kosher). Looking at a culture’s art often gives insights into how people see things differently than you might expect.
Given the fever (fortunately, it ended up being basically just a 24 hour thing), it was time for some rest at the hotel. Given the hectic pace, the boys didn’t mind a bit of time off to rest and watch cartoons either.
At dinner time, Jeremy had little interest in food, but decided that his stomach could probably handle some McDonald’s food that he saw in the square earlier in the day. We also bought a cook book in one of stands in the main square. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a grocery store to get some pastries and cereal for breakfast. My apple strudel ended up being delicious!
Keep reading our travel blog for more travel ideas in South America!
Here are some more posts from this trip to Peru:
Adventures of the 4 JLs 