We have arrived!

We have made it safely to Venezia! It feels like we've been traveling for days, but in reality it only took us about 24 hours to reach our first destination: Venice. It started a little stressful with Barrett being told in the Columbus airport that he had no ticket and would need to contact the person who had booked the ticket (which was himself). The lady then told us that the ticket had been reserved for the same dates in 2014 and had marked him as a no-show, also interesting considering we didn't book the tickets until February 2015. After about 15 minutes of stress, they finally figured out their mistake and gave us our boarding passes. We flew from CMH, to Dulles in Washington, D.C. then Toronto, and finally to Milan! We arrived around 11:15 am local time in Milan. All five of our bags came out at the same time! The only problem was, we had checked 6 bags. Phil's bag didn't make it. The lost and found was unable to locate it so we're hopeful that they're able to track it down and get it to us tomorrow.

 We then went through the ordeal of getting SIM cards for our phones. 7, this part is for you! Previous to the trip, we'd contacted Verizon about getting our phones "unlocked" so that they would be usable in Italy. We had been assured by international services of Verizon that our phones were ready to go and would work by placing a SIM card from Italy in our phones. For my iPhone 6 it worked perfectly! The SIM card cost 15 Euros for 2 GB of data, 500 minutes of calling, and 500 text messages (we opted for a Italy use only plan). Once we put a SIM card in Barrett's Samsung Galaxy, we discovered it in fact was not unlocked and therefore not compatible! So frustrating! We ended up just buying another Nokia "dumb" phone for 30 Euros that will work for our purposes just fine.

We then took a 2.5 hour trip from Milan's central train station to Venice! The weather is warm and beautiful! We took an almost sunset vaparetto ride down the Grand Canal and were met by a women who took us to our apartment, which is also lovely.

We just got some pizza and wine and vegged out for a bit. Now it's about 10 o'clock and we are headed out for an evening walk (and possible our first bite of gelato!) I feel like I could pass out, since I've slept in very sporadic increments on the various flights and train rides!

We are happy to be hear!

Lima: the almost last leg of our trip

Named after a city in Ohio, Lima was our last stop on our Peru adventure. After not seeing a cloud for almost 2 weeks, it was quite an adjustment when we got to the hazy coastal city of Lima. After having a short period of SAD (seasonal affective disorder), we had a fun time exploring the capital. We stayed in a B&B that was on the twelfth floor of a building that's on the cliffside and overlooks the park that stretches along the cliff side and in the Miraflores district. Miraflores is a very beautiful, clean, and safe area.

view of the park along the cliff side

After settling in, we headed to Larco Mar, a mall that is built into the cliff side. We had been told by the B&B owners that it had lots of great restaurants, but when we got there we were met with TGI Fridays, Tony Roma's, Burger King, and Starbucks. It also had many stores that we have here in the US. After that, we walked up the main street to Kennedy Park, which was filled with dozens of stray cats. We also scouted out the Inkan Market nearby for souvenirs that we want to bring home.

This cat reminded us of Bandit!

For dinner, we ate a nice restaurant called Panchita, which is famous for the grilled kebabs. I ordered conservatively and just got a chicken and veggie one. At the front of the dish, you can see the giant corn kernels they serve all over Peru. They are so much meatier than the corn we have here.

The following day, we headed to the historical center of town, which was a 30 minute taxi ride from our B&B. We wandered around Plaza Mayor and then watched the changing of the guard at the palace there. It was the most absurdly long changing of the guard I've ever seen, though very fun to watch. It is an almost hour long spectacle that includes high kick marching, lots of music performed by a 40 person marching band, and even some singing. 

Plaza Mayor

how about those kicks!

After lunch, we went on a tour of the San Francisco Monastery and Catacombs. They weren't nearly as impressive as the Paris catacombs, but interesting none the less.

Birds outside San Francisco Monastery

 After this we walked to the Plaza San Martin where we enjoyed a Pisco Sour from Hotel El Belivar, a famous hotel where Hemingway supposedly drank record numbers of Pisco Sours. Pisco is a strong brandy made from distilled grapes. A pisco sour is a foamy drink made from pisco, sugar, lime juice, egg white, and finished off with aromatic bitters. To us, it tasted like a strong but refreshing margarita.

Barrett enjoying his Catedral pisco sour

We then took a cab to the Barranco district, which is artsy and has very nice houses. We stopped for churros con chocolate at LA 73 and that is where I checked my email and saw that I had been recommended for a 6th grade mostly science teaching position at Jones Middle School! We definitely cheers with our churros!! The rest of the day basically felt like a cloud of happiness.

Cheers!

 We walked back to Miraflores along the park on the coast/ cliff.

That night we had dinner at Costazul, where the owner gave us something called octopus mushi, which is thing slices of octopus, that they reccomend you eat atop of a cracker with avocado and tomato. For our entrees we got a shrimp dish and a sea bass tacu tacu which rice cooked with pinto beans and tastes amazing. The owner gave us free anise shots for dessert. An all around great evening!

View of the coast at night from our B&B room

The next day we headed to the Incan markets to stock up on souvenirs which involved lots of haggling. We then had lunch at a Punto Azul, which is famous for its ceviche. Ceviche is raw fish that is cured in lemon juice and chili peppers. Our was served with corn and shaved red onions. It tasted really good once you got past the fact that it was raw fish. I had a delicious fish tacu tacu. Oh, and the frozen lemonade was out of this world.

Tacu Tacu

Ceviche

We then headed back to the B&B to shower one last time, and attempt to fit all our many souvenirs or scarves, blankets, and tablecloths into our suitcases. It was a struggle but our bags managed to fit everything!

We then walked down to the beach to collect some rocks because our bags weren't heavy enough already. Here's me picking up one for my dad (what a great father's day present, right?)!

After that, we got some more churros con chocolate at Manolos, another favorite dessert place. They are delicious.

We then headed to the airport for out 11:10 pm flight to Miami, then another flight to LA, where we enjoyed my cousin Amber's beautiful wedding!! 

Random closing thoughts: Peru has opened my eyes to yet another way of life that is so different from ours. There aren't (as far as I could tell) daycares. That's not to say that women stay home and raise kids, but they work and bring their children with them, often times on their back! Flushing toilet paper down the toilet is a luxury we only experienced at two nice hotels we stayed at. Although many people are what we would consider to be poor, they are happy and kind. People in Peru seem to sell anything anywhere. Popcorn at 10 pm in an ally? Coca leaves by the bag full, a cow head and donkey snouts on the side of a busy street? Why not! The food is so different, and while I didn't enjoy everything I tried, I enjoyed the fact that it wasn't so processed and modified to look pretty like our fruits and veggies are. It was fun to be more off the grid than most places we've visited. Communicating with natives almost everywhere was a challenge because sometimes they spoke no English. Barrett and I got very good at charades and enjoyed being the only people each other could talk to and fully understand. We are very blessed to have had this enriching experience, and have made so many memories that we will enjoy looking back on. Peru is fun. Peru is fantastic.

Under the Arequipan Sun

View from the top of the Catedral De Arequipa; Misti Volcano on right

Our second to last stop on our Peru vacation was Arequipa. We LOVED Arequipa! Located below the stunning Volcano Misti, the city is the second largest in Peru. At 7,661 ft above sea level, Arequipa gets some of the most solar radiation of anywhere in the world, hence the title "Under the Arequipan Sun." We stayed in the most amazing hotel, La Plaza Arequipa, which has only been open a couple of months and is right on the main square of Plaza de Armas. Of all the cities we've been to, this one feels the most like a European city. We got to enjoy breakfast on the veranda both mornings we were here. On the first morning, there was a military parade that lasted about an hour and a half .

In our two days here visited a few neat historical museums, churches, and casas, but mostly just enjoyed walking around the city and exploring. Our first lunch in Arequipa we ate at Hatumpa, a potato place that served all sorts of dishes atop of sliced potatoes. Barrett got the Rocoto Rolleno, a specialty in Arequipa that is spicy and delicious. Mine was served over 6 different types of potatoes, three of which are being celebrated this month as part of their potato festival. The way the owner explained it to me, this variety of potato will only be around this season and then gone forever.

We then visited the Catedral and where you had to have a guide, but the guide was not included in the ticket price. This happened a few places and seemed weird at first, but it wasn't too expensive and the guide got us student tickets which were half the price. She guided us throughout the cathedral, its museum, and the rooftop. It was a nice way to gain some historical perspective of the city as well as had some great views.

That night, we ate at a steakhouse and got a wide assortment of meats to share. The meat was served and kept warm by a bowl filled with hot coals. As adventurous as I am in trying new things, I can't say that I really enjoyed the flavor of most of the cuts we had. We had some mystery "house" sausages, beef heart kebabs, pork loin stuffed with cheese and bacon, and alpaca. The alpaca was my favorite, and Barrett loved the beef heart.

The next day we went to a museum that's main feature was Juanita the "ice princess." She was an Incan child sacrifice to the mountains and had been perfectly preserved by being frozen on top of the highest mountain in the area for over 500 years. While it sounds ghoulish, evidently it was a huge honor to be chosen to be sacrificed and you would be raised especially for the task. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed.

We then had lunch at a creperie which was of course, delicious!

After that we headed to the Santa  Catalina monastery which had around 300 nuns at one time. It takes up a whole city block and was completely walled off from the rest of the city until 1974 when the government forced most of it to be open for tourists.It was a maze of narrow streets, squares, and cells. Each cell had it's own kitchen of sorts, which always included at least one oven, sometimes more.

We found it funny that in a Monastery there would be a special trash pot allocated especially for batteries 

After this, we stopped at a chocolate cafe to enjoy some amazing hot chocolate and watch the sun set!

For dinner in our last night in Arequipa, we went to another fancy restaurant where Barrett got a "meat trilogy" as the menu called it. It was served on a sizzling vocanic stone and as you might be able to tell from the pictures, it was duck, alpaca, and cow. It came with several dipping sauces as well to make for some fun combinations. I was meated out from the prior night, so opted for the gnocchi made with potatoes and quinoa and served with a pesto sauce.

Meal complete with special bib

The morning we were leaving Arequipa, I had the strange but extremely exciting opportunity to skype with a committee for a teaching job. Technology sure is fantastic!! As you can see, Arequipa is a gorgeous and a place to gorge yourself with many different foods!

The Cathedral view from our balcony

The Colca Canyon Experience

After taking a plane from Cusco, then a taxi to the bus station, then a public bus for 4.5 hours, we finally were dropped off at dusk in the main square in the quiet canyon town of Yanque. We walked four blocks on dirt/dusty streets to our Bed and Breakfast, MiskiWasi, which has just four rooms that open to a private garden.

Flying over volcanoes on the way to Arequipa

The deserted, yet beautiful main square in Yanque

After checking in, we walked to some local hot springs that were just a bit outside of town. The scary part was that you had to cross an old rope bridge that crossed the ravine, straight out of Indiana Jones movies.

Swinging rope bridge

We then headed back for dinner cooked by the co-owner, who had gone to culinary school. We had a quinoa soup, then chicken or grilled trout, then crepes for dessert. After a rough day of travel, it really turned our anniversary around.

The next morning, we had a guide take us around the Colca Canyon area. We had met him the previous day during check in when he served as an interpreter for us. He took us to the Cruz del Condor, which is a great viewpoint for condors as well as flocks of emerald green parakeets.

flocks of green birds

He let us hike along the rim to this point and we actually saw some foxes who were scavenging some dead cows or alpacas nearby. What a treat!

Fox enjoying life

Woman next to road with her Alpaca

Looking down the great Colca Canyon

The condors were magnificent! We saw several fly just overhead and just watched in awe as the floated gracefully through the sky.

Condor taking off

We then headed back on the most bumpy road I've been on, other than when we've gone four-wheel driving in Utah, back toward Yanque. We stopped along the way to take in more views, and in a town to visit an old church and of course, get our pictures taken with an eagle and alpaca.

After a picnic at our B&B, we headed for a 2.5 hour hike to some pre-incan ruins. After we got back, we went horseback riding until sunset for a couple hours. We are all kinds of sore from the trotting! It was a packed day, but when you only have one day in the Colca Canyon (which is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon), you've got to take advantage of every moment of daylight!

This is quinoa before harvest, with volcano in background

Horseback riding!

The Cool Co. (Barrett and I) go to Cusco!

Hello again! Although we are just finishing up our time in the Colca Canyon, I continue to be one stop behind in my posts. Barrett had a cold during our time in the beautiful city of Cusco, but is doing much better now. After a train and then van ride to Cusco, we got to our first actually nice hotel, Tierra Viva. The king beds here are out of control huge. They are basically the size of two queen beds put together. I have no idea where they get sheets for these things!

After settling in, we headed out for a late lunch and then just wandered the main squares deciding what we'd want to do the following day.

Plaza De Armas in Cusco

We then had dinner at this amazing vegan restaurant called Green Point (no we're not turning vegan...yet). Our waitress spoke the best English of anyone we've met yet. It turns out she's from Venezuela but had been living in Canada for quite some time. While she was traveling around Peru, all her money got stolen from her hostel so now she's had a get a job and apartment and is trying to get enough money to go back to Canada.

The next morning we woke up and had a great breakfast at our hotel. It was a strange mix of things, including tamales, spinach bread, all sorts or fruits and breads, and an assortment of juices. We then headed to San Pedro Market which is huge and well worth a walk through. We saw all sorts of fruits, veggies, bread the size of old records, but the most interesting isle was the innards isle.

Seeing women with kids on there back is a cute and common sight all over Peru

*Caution* the next few photos might be graphic.

After wandering around some more we arrived at the Koricancha/Santo Domingo convent. It is a mix of architecture, as it has some buildings from the Incan Sun Temple, as well as a convent built around it during the colonial times.

We also hiked to the top of a hill that overlooks the city to take in some great views.

After that we shopped at markets and then had dinner at Nuna Raymi which was a very delicious meal. I had the Lomo Saltado, which is a traditional Peruvian dish with the most amazing marinated beef strips served with red onions and tomatoes and with rice and french fries on the side. Barrett got the alpaca steak served over mashed potatoes and served with two unique sauces. Our general thoughts of Cusco are that it's a fun city with plenty to do and places to eat!

Cusco Cathedral in Plaza De Armas at night