After taking a boat ride from Lake Amantani back to Puno, we then hung out in Puno for 6 and a half hours so we could take a bus that night to Cusco that would arrive at 4:30 the following morning. When we arrived to Cusco, it was cold and we were tired – so naturally, we were excited to get in to a bed ASAP to sleep it off and explore the city. We had previously booked a hostel with only one requirement, really – being that there was 24 hour reception, so that we could check in once we got there. Our taxi driver dropped us off that morning in a dark alley way at the door to the hostel. After ringing the bell – no one answered for a while. We continued ringing the bell at 5 in the morning and no one came to the door, so we sat and waited ringing the bell madly every 20 minutes or so. Nothing in Cusco opens until at least 8, so we had no other place to go. Needless to say, we were both frustrated. We waited and waited until …3 hours later, a little girl let us in the door and told us that the owners were probably still sleeping and had not yet arrived. Another 45 minutes or so sitting in the outside alleyway and finally the owners walked in very apologetic, to let us in and give us some breakfast until our room was ready. We were just happy to have a couch to sit on and I was happy to be out of the cold because I don’t handle the cold well – to say the least. We stayed a couple nights there, but were looking for something more fitting. We knew we wanted to be in Cusco for at least a week, especially solely to chill out after all the back to back travel. A kitchen was key. I had been missing Mike’s home cooking and when you’ve been traveling for a while in a country where the familiar American food is something that isn’t easily accessible, you start wanting some and you’re ready for something that makes your stomach feel at home again. Peruvian food is awesome – but by the first two weeks in, you’ve eaten every optional dish there is, so you’re ready for something different. My first request was French toast and scrambled eggs – with milk. If you’ve been to Peru you know that breakfast isn’t like it is in the states. The Peruvians eat Lomo saltado (steak, fries, onions and peppers) for breakfast or papas rellenas or other hardy dishes that if we did eat in the U.S.- it would be for lunch or dinner. If you want a breakfast similar to one back home, it’s hard to find – and if you do they call it the American continental, which includes two pieces of bread (possibly toasted), juice and some eggs that are not cooked with milk and frankly just aren’t awesome. (If you don’t cook your eggs with milk – you’re not doing it right). Bacon is expensive to buy here, and if you order it, it doesn’t taste anything close to bacon back at home – which is very unfortunate, but anyways, you get the point. We wanted some French toast and properly made eggs. Scrambled eggs mixed with a little bit of condensed milk – because you can’t buy jugs of milk here in Peru (only warm milk or milk in a bag) and there you have it: eggs like home sweet home.  With that said, we kept coming across this awesome little place on Airbnb with a kitchen, in a little neighborhood called San Blas, which was uphill from the plaza de armas. (The Plaza de Armas is the main square and you can find one, big or small, in every city in Peru.) Mike contacted the guy, JJ, to see if we could check it out. We met JJ at the San Blas square that evening and he walked us up to their guest house where we would be staying for what we thought would be the next week – if we liked it enough. And that we did. Other than the few hundred stairs leading up to this place. You had to walk uphill to get there and when you’re in that high of an altitude, you’re immediately gasping for breath and feeling insanely out of shape than you ever thought you were with each step you take no matter who you are. You couldn’t have the killer view without this walk though, which is what made it worth it every single time. Once you get to the top of those stairs you then have a view of the city and at night or in the day it is absolutely beautiful. I had multiple moments looking at that view where I would stop for a moment, smile, take it in and the factor set in once again – We are actually doing this. I’ve had many of this moments when I see a different perspective of something such as a city so spectacular as Cusco and it reminds me of how fortunate we both are to be living our lives exactly how we want to in this moment. I think it’s safe to say not everyone gets this liberating feeling of feeling free to just be, to make your own decisions without feeling held down by a single thing in the world. It’s a truly beautiful thing and the most incredible experience I have ever had. I wish it for every one. Once we saw the place, and the view from the top floor where we would be staying – we were sold.

Now, back to JJ – our host. He is from London and has such a stellar accent – all of you back at home would just love it. He’s the kind of person that lights up a room when he walks in it. He has lived in Cusco for almost 3 years and everyone who lives within the square of Cusco knows who he is. You can’t really walk anywhere with the guy and it not take at least twice as long to get there because everyone sees him and has to say hello and strike up a conversation with him. It’s quite great to watch actually. We spent a good amount of time with him in Cusco and I’m so grateful that fate led us to him. He showed us some of the best places in Cusco and the experience there wouldn’t have been the same without him and his beautiful girlfriend, Cat. She wasn’t there for the first few days once we checked in, as she was away on a retreat in the jungle, but as soon as she returned and we met her – I instantly knew why JJ loved her. They are two spectacular human beings and are a big part of the reason we extended our stay a few days before leaving to Machu Picchu – the two of them and another guy, Robin, that we met from Switzerland, who we also spent much time with while we were in Cusco.  After all, one of the things you learn while traveling is that two of the greatest things about it are the people you meet along the way and the food : it’s all about the food.

One of our favorite places to eat in Cusco, (other than the house kitchen), was this little place outside the square, a place enough for about four tables with a lady out front in her chef jacket cooking up tons of papas rellenas, (fried mashed potatoes stuffed with vegetables) rocoto rellenas (stuffed peppers) and arroz chaufa (fried rice). This place was – hands down – one of my favorite meals in Peru and it was fresh every time – which is something you can’t always expect in Peru. For both of us to eat here – including a pitcher of freshly squeezed juice – we would eat for about 10 soles total (less than $4) – so naturally, we went there about 5 or 6 times plus in our time in Cusco. We also ate tons of ice cream at this place called Qucharitas, where they have the most incredible ice cream either of us have ever tasted (and we are ice cream conneseirus). They make it in front of you from scratch on top of this cooler with cream and whatever fruit you want. We went so many times that you can get this stamp card and once you buy 10 ice creams – you get a free one. Yeah – we filled that thing up and then some. Along with food, ice cream and a liter or so of freshly made fruit juice a day from one of the markets – we walked a ton. We explored the San Pedro market multiple times, which, I must add – the markets here in Peru are definitely one of our absolute favorite things about Peru. They are unlike anything you would see in the U.S.. In fact, the U.S. would NEVER let a market like these fly back home and that is what makes them so spectacular. In these markets you can find anything from touristy brightly colorful handbags, handmade blankets, jewelry, and a world of colorful souvenirs. Everything in Cusco is very colorful. There is every kind of raw meat for you to purchase that you could ever want, including guinea pigs, chicken heads and feet, alpaca skin, and pretty much any body part of just about any animal you could think of (even if you never thought about actually eating it). They’ve got the juice ladies: which I know we’ve talked about before – that have stands filled with fresh fruit for you to pick from and they will make you the best juice you’ve ever tasted which instantly makes you feel like a healthier human being after you drink it. There are also ladies located in the back cooking all kinds of meals for you for less than $3-4 a meal and most of the time, it’s fresh and delicious. These markets  aren’t the cleanest places to set foot in, but let’s face it, once you step in to Peru, unless you’re staying at really expensive places and eating out at the expensive ones – which isn’t the way to do Peru while getting the true cultural experience – you’ve got to get over the whole sanitary thing. It’s a different world here where health inspections at restaurants don’t exist and you don’t know what exactly is going on back in the kitchen – but it doesn’t even matter because 90% of the time, the food is going to be fresh and insanely delicious once it hits the table. Anyway, I could go on and on about the markets – we pretty much don’t go a day in a city without visiting them. The streets near the market are filled with similar things, such as raw meat and fresh fruits and vegetables, along with knock off Nike’s and tons of clothing stores with clothes that were definitely passed down through generations, yet they still try to sell them to you as if they were new. There is a religious parade going on every now and then on the streets throughout the day and at all times of the day – whether it’s 6 in the morning or 11 at night – there are fireworks going off, to celebrate something. We found this one place filled with live ducks, chickens, guinea pigs and many other animals waiting to be bought to be freshly cooked – which definitely made me question my life decisions and made me toy with the idea of vegetarian, but as of today – I’m still eating meat. We cooked a ton (well, Mike did) and I ate so many home cooked meals by request, I was a very happy girl – to say the least. And yes, we love to eat. Don’t judge us.

We would go out at night, JJ is a London/Cusco famous DJ, so we would go where he would and listen to him play at this local spot while he did his thing and we drank beer, hung with Robin and enjoyed the night life of Cusco. We took a free salsa lesson one night, which was loads of fun and which has also become a new goal of ours: to become pros. You buy beer in this bar upstairs and learn Salsa for a couple hours for free with people from all over the world there to have a good time just like you are. I could go on and on about Cusco. We learned our way around and began to feel so at home that we contemplated staying longer – but knew we had to move on to see other things – and I wouldn’t be surprised if we find ourselves going back sooner than later. Who knows what the future holds: and isn’t that the beauty of this all? Before we left Cusco we found ourselves returning for a few days including a night of about 6 hours of karaoke with Cat and JJ, where Mike sang back to back 70-80s hits for hours – I’m really sorry you all missed that and I know you are too – but in between that we had to make the infamous trek to Machu Picchu…because why does everyone go to Peru – Machu Picchu? 😉