Eve of the Paris Adventure (30/12/2014)

Here I am the night before another incredible adventure with people I count lucky to call my family. We are heading off on another family affair to the most romantic (according to a liege of tourist blogs) city in the world, and we could not be more excited!

Not only will we be fortunate enough to spend part of our vacation with another family we hold dear, but we get to have one more adventure as our little family unit! We get to try delicious foods and drink copious quantities of wine all while spending our days amongst the splendor of Paris, or the home of Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod. [If you comprehend this reference, you should probably join my dear sweet parents for movie night as you will fit in nicely!]

I was reminded by a dear friend that all the best things happen randomly in life, so bring on the random! Paris, show me what you got!

Here's to an epic start of 2015; I will commence my New Year aboard a plan with complete strangers and I cannot think of a better way to begin my 2015!

xoxoEmma

Travel Rules

Rule #1: Life is not fair.

Rule #2: Nothing goes according to plan.

Rule #3: Everything will be fine.

These are the three basic rules that this year has taught me. So it goes. This next year requires another adventure. Being away from home, from what is comfortable/usual/"normal" allowed me to let go, to be truly content.

Lima: home sweet home (8/5/2014-14/5/2014)

Coming back to Lima after our life-changing experiences in La Paz, made me tht much more grateful for this amazing city. Experiences ranging from randomly learning Japanese from my Peruvian taxi driver to the most incredibly touching Día de la Madre celebration with our Peruvian family. After traveling for four weeks, eating a home cooked meal (causa and arroz con pollo anyone?) with a mom who hugged and kissed you like one of her own was amazing. Staying up all night salsa-ing with the master and eating what was probably the greatest ceviche of my life also did not hurt! I became an expert Lima taxi negotiator; Luis and Vanessa set goals for me, as a gringa, to negotiate down to when trying to get around Lima. When a driver accepts your terms for taxi fare by saying that the price is practically "un regalo", you know you have made a breakthrough.

Vanessa joked with me that Lima was "mi barrio" and you know, in some ways it is. I love that city. Sitting here in Fort Lauderdale waiting for my flight back to SF, makes me realize how much I already miss it. I even feel love for the reckless taxi driving! We definitely prayed to the patron saints of Peru, San Martin and Santa Rosa in our taxi on the way to the airport after the driver slammed on the brakes, ramming us into the front seats multiple times. 

I miss the beautiful artsy-ness of Barranco,with its lovers' bridge and multiple spots ideally situated for some serious PDA, Peruvian-style. You are so welcome, by ther way, for learning about PDA! I miss those bizarre art galleries with incredible and yet mildly disturbing art.

I miss playing kabu in random places and learning how to play pool using only Spanish. ¡Qúe chevere! I miss learning new words every day... "Te quiero como mierda" being a phrase of love and friendship. I miss my family and friends who are, at this point, scattered across the globe.

Most of all, I miss waking up every day without a care in the world, being able to decide what I wanted to do THAT day. And, as evidence by the fact that I only wro one blog post for my entire last week in Lima, should tell you that I was simply having too much fun to write!

Besitos,

EmBoss

From rough to amazing... Welcome to South America (7/5/2014)

Bolivian Immigration and Narcotics Police, and originally planning to not leave the airport. Being told that we would be booted our of the airport. That is all.

To eating dinner and drinking some Bolivian beer in La Paz with a bunch of New Zealanders until catching our 3:40am flight to Lima.

What did we learn class? In S.A. nothing ever goes according to plan but somehow it always manages to work out!

EmBoss

P.S. We do not have photos from today, but more to come in th future!

TCOB (6/5/2014)

We were exhausted after our week in Santiago, so we decided a calm day with catching up on all our business being the main focus. However, the primary focus of the morning was definitely finding an expresso. Santiago's preference for Nescafé was seriously causing problems in our lives. Real coffee please!

That night we headed to the Kiwi hostel, which was close to Mercado Central. We ended up walking through a sort of downtown area, and immediately decided that any late night transport would definitely occur in a licensed taxi! Dinner was amazing; we made the New Zealand version of nachos, which we enjoyed with delicious bottles of Chilean red wine. We also expanded our vocabulary; mince, skull it, and mean are now effective parts of my vocabulary. We ended up hanging out on the rooftop with an amazing view literally for hours, before realizing that we were all on the same flight the next day through La Paz, so we made plans to take the subway together.

Chip chip Cheerio!

EmBoss

Getting cultured (4/5/2014)

This morning was devoted to getting cultured, as Sunday is free museum day. We hit up the Museo de Bellas Artes, which had all different types of art, ranging from the 1800s to modern art. We really liked the Larco exhibit which was brutal and beautiful at the same time. His use of the color red was incredibly striking. We particularly enjoyed the faces of these young girls; weirdly innocent in these freaky scenes with blood of domestic animals etc. We enjoyed the Larco exhibit more than the others, although some of the more contemporary art was quite interesting.

The Museo de Arte Precolumbiano was also cool. Aymara metalworking is gorgeous and so detailed. Marisky particularly enjoyed the kipu, as this was one of five left in the world. The Spaniards destroyed most of them as they systematically conquered the Incas. Thoroughly enjoyable.

We took the funicular up to watch the sun set next to the Virgin Mary statue on Cerro Santa Lucia. This is the same location of Pope JP II's infamous mass in Santiago. The sky turned beautiful shades of pink and blue as the rays peeked over the tops of the cordillera. We followed up this ideallic evening with dinner at Galindo in the Bellavista neighborhood with friends from our hostel. I had this bean and corn stew with pumpkin and beef. Nomnomnom!

Here's to Valpo tomorrow!

EmBoss

Teaching the locals about Cinco de Mayo (5/5/2014)

So, we were super stoked to explore the glorious seaside city of Valparaiso, but little did we know the highlight of our day trip would be waiting for us on the TurBus. A lovely group of Kiwis was also on our bus! We spent all day with them, exploring the incredible street art on the hills of Valpo during our Tours for Tips walking tour. Our guide was exceptional, educating us about the history of Valpo and the pros/cons of Valparaiso being a UNESCO protected site. A hideous glass cube on top of an old building highlights one of the travesties that occurred prior to the UNESCO protection. Marsky also continued her habit of stepping in dog pooh and I definitely tripped multiple times on the terrible roads. I was particularly stoked to try a submarino, which is chocolate dunked in a glass of milk...Epic!

After our tour, we returned back to the Bellavista neighborhood to grab a bite and have a couple of drinks. The pisco happy hour special was simply too amazing to pass up so we literally were the the last people in the bar to leave. So amazing! I cannot wait for them to come to the states so we can show them around. We made plans to cook dinner the next day and continue our binge on the sweet Santiago life with our Kiwis.

Besos,

EmBoss

P.S. You are welcome dear Kiwis that you now know what a real San Francisco burrito and were able to experience the beauty of a nice Corona. We cannot wait for you to come visit!

Fresh market produce... And the most delicious salmon ever (5/3/2014)

So, we had, by all accounts, a very stressful day... NOT!

We (myself, Mariel, and our French friend, Christof) started off by waking up and heading to a winery, Viña Cousiña Macul, founded in 1868 is one of the oldest wineries in Chile. We were given a glass (hopefully I can bring it back without breaking it) for the tasting following a tour of the winery. Our guide, Alfonso, also happened to be a sommelier, Buenos Aires-trained chef, and quite easy on the eyes... A lovely combination. He made food suggestions with each wine... Apparently the vineyard's Syrah would go exquisitely with lamb, so we must all keep that in mind. On our walk back to the subway, a mother-son duo pulled over and asked us if we were headed to the metro and offered us a ride. We accepted, as this is a common and quite safe practice in Chile. The mother blasted Elvis music and we all sang along, which was positively hilarious!

Our afternoon plan consisted of finding lunch (headed to the fish market, where I had razor clams with Parmesan cheese yum!) and purchasing dinner. Christof chose and incredible piece of fresh salmon from this morning and while we waited for the fishmonger to de-scale it, the other man at the counter explained to me in Spanish how to tell real Ray Bans from fake even if the fake has all the correct marking. Learning something new every day! We then purchased some of avocado, onions, cucumber, and fruit for our feast. Fast forward to our dinner: holy moly... It was absolutely delicious! Salmon was perfectly cooked and positively melted in your mouth, the avocado was pertly creamy, and Christof's ceviche-making experiment turned out beautifully! I definitely wanted to try to make ceviche at home; it's so easy.

Fast backwards before dinner: down the street from our hostel one of the top 25 ice cream shops in the world is currently located, offering flavors such as raspberry mint, green tea mango, and spicy chocolate. I chose chocolate with pepper and banana, which was absolutely delicious, although I'm not sure exactly what top 25 ice cream should taste like so I cannot judge that. We were pretty full so wed decided to cross the river to th Bellavista neighborhood, where we discovered a little artesian market (I finally bought a scarf, YAY!) and droves of outdoor restaurants and bars. We decided we had to return the following evening, as the weather for the rest of the time we are in Santiago is supposed to be spectacular. 

Tomorrow is free-Museo Sunday so we are headed to get some Santiago art-culture and wander the weekend flea markets. Stoked!

Besitos,

EmBoss

Muy linda... Eres muy linda: Santiago (5/2/2014)

So grateful for our flight from Arica to Santiago; we arrived ready to grab some food and go to sleep. As per usual we made friends with out roommates and convinced two of them to come on the Tours for Tips walking tour of Santiago pop culture. It was an incredible tour of the Mercado Central (full of fresh fish... Strangely the market did not smell particularly fishy), Mercado Vega (there were fruits and vegetables that I did not even know existed), and the cemetery (literally a city of graves and mausoleums). We learned all about the division of both the city and the cemetery by class; the poorer part of the city is known as "la chimba". We visited the mausoleum of Jose Manuel Balmaceda, who was the Chilean president from the late 1800s who committed suicide in an Argentinian consulate. He created lots of schools, so students often pray to him to do well in school-related activities. We both sent Jose our own little prayers.

We then enjoyed our first TERREMOTOS at a local bar. All I am going to say is that the name for this beverage makes complete and total sense... After half a glass... Wowzers! So we continued on our merry way, made a metro transfer, and headed to Barrio Brasil, where we planned to get lunch and visit the Museo de las Memorias. Lunch at la Peluqueria Frances was pretty neat: French-ified Chilean food and a museum-like restaurant full of cool antiques. The museum was incredible, so well organized, with so much to learn. Literally, we spent 3 hours in the museum. 

Anywho, plans for tomorrow include wine and the fish market. So. Excited.

Buenas noches,

EmBoss

¡Hallo, Blonday! (4/30/2014)

We decided to make a group effort to head to the plaza in the city center if Arica, a mere 15-20 minute walk from our hostal. This area can only be described as the wannabe Promenade of Santa 

Monica. Not only was it an all pedestrian shopping strip, but there were street musicians and people selling random things all over the place. We greatly enjoyed the craziness of it all. 

The highlight of the day was definitely the empanada lady. Holy moly, these were the tastiest empanadas we had enjoyed yet in Chile. Mine was carne with potatoes, carrots, and a slightly spicy sauce. It was definitely delicious with a fresh avocado from the fruit and vegetable market near our hostal. I think the greatest thing about our hostal, Sunny Days, is the spectacular market nearby. They literally sell everything, including the greatest mangos of my life and car tires. Do not worry, I did not buy any tires on a whim!

As per usual the day progressed from a foggy morning to a warm and sunny afternoon, so we enjoyed the sunshine as we composed emails and read books. Strangely, most hostals have book collections that are mostly in German, so whenever there is a book in English it is cause for excitement!

Anywho, tomorrow we head off for Santiago!

I cannot wait to see the capital city!

EmBoss

Parque Nacional: Lauca (4/29/2014)

So, after much pushing and prodding from our German dorm-mate, Lisa, I decided to accompany her to the Lauca, which is the national park about 2-3hours outside of Arica in the Andes Mountains. Now, for those of you that are unaware, much of the western coast of South America is desert. In fact, Lauca is home to one of the highest, driest, most arid deserts in the world: Atacama. So, you can imagine I was a smidgen concerned that my great Chilean adventure would consists of mountains, sand, and rocks. I could not have been in for a better surprise.

Not only was the journey up to the park gorgeous (picture massive candelario cacti greater than 3m in height and rolling hills with the sun peaking over the tops), but the actual park was even more breathtaking. There were multiple snow-capped volcanos, perfectly blue Lago Changará, and desert scenery. At the peak of 4500m, there were only the sounds of the birds and the wind to keep you company. No photo can do it justice.

Now, if the scenery was not enough, we were also able to see multiple animals during our Great 

Chilean Safari. We saw loads of vicuñas, which explained why we saw so many "vicuña crossing" signs. A group of friendly alpaca approached our van; I was able to stand so close that it could have spit on me! Absolutely amazing! Of course we also saw llama, another member of the camelid family. We were lucky enough to spot several "viscachas" which are basically a cross between a bunny and a chinchilla; they are apparently very shy and run away at the sound of many startling noises. One member of our group, an older Chilean gentleman, seemed unable to comprehend our guides constant instructions to be quiet. We also saw an Andean deer, which is very rare as they fear human interaction. The Andean goose was quite neat looking with its vibrant orange beak. Such an incredible day!

We also visited some of the smaller villages in the park (population 11) and ate at the local restaurants... Yum! I was also able to drive down a famous international highway, CH-11, which is also pretty cool!

Anywho, I am so stoked I decided to see the national park. I was not only able to learn about the three ecosystems if the Atacame desert, but I was also able to practice my Spanish and try alpaca jerky ("charqui" as the locals call it).

So happy!

EmBoss

P.S. I still have not seen any flamingos!

Chinchorro Mummies/Playa (4/28/2014)

We took a colectivo from the bus terminal to Azapa where the archaeology museum is located. The museum was absolutely incredible, with an incredible, modern design and wonderful explanations for all the exhibits. It was incredibly fitting that there were three anthro majors (Lisa also studied cultural anthropology in university in Germany) touring this museum. 

The mummies were awesome, albeit a little freaky. You could literally see the finger nails and hair in improve if these mummies. The Chinchorro people had elaborate funerary and burial processes that adapted over time. We could literally see the skin on some of these people's faces. "So metal!" We wandered around the little village, discovered that Hotel Azapa was sadly no longer a working hotel, and then headed home via a colectivo. 

Obviously we took a turn in the fruit and vegetable market and stocked up for the day. Then it was straight to the beach we went, where we frolicked in the waves like the happy youth that we are! Chip chip cheeio!

Besitos,

EmBoss

Bienvenidos a Chile (4/27/2014)

So, crossing una frontera on foot was definitely an experience... Hectic and chaotic are definitely two words I would use to describe the experience. But we arrived in Arica safe and sound via colectivo to Sunny Days Hostel, run by a New Zealander and Chilean couple. After the last couple of weeks of busy traveling we have earned some beach time in Arica.

Looking forward to Chinchorro Beach, markets, mummies, and Chilean wonderfulness!!!

Besos,

EmBoss

El último día... (4/25/2014)

Today was our last day in Cusco and is aptly described as being very bittersweet. To add to our stress levels, we realized our timeline of events was not going to work with the Peruvian bus schedule, and we were going to have to lose a couple of things in order to get enough time in Chile. As we are champions, we finagled with the lady at Cruz del Sur (lo siento, Vanessa... Oltursa no tiene nuestro ruta), and were able to change our tickets to Arequipa. We the. Use a different bus company, Flores, do go from Arequipa to Tacna, where we will cross the Peruvian-Chilean border by colectivo. It was imperative that all this border-crossing be done by the light of day, and obviously we are masters of the Peruvian bus system and were able to do this. 

We shared a taxi back to Centro with a young Mexican fellow and his female German friend. We spoke entirely in Spanish, wandering our way into the Plaza de las Armas, where una sorpresa awaited us. Today all the estudiantes cusqueños were presented to the provincial officials. Again, a delightful display of nationalism that we thoroughly enjoyed. EmBoss of course could not resist asking one of the little Peruvian girls about the presentation. She wanted us to come to her home in Calco to meet her family, but sadly we were forced to decline because of our travel constraints. We headed back to our hostel to deal with the rest of our errands: lavanderia, hostals, checking out etc.

Feeling stressed by all this and our multiple failed attempts to buy plane tickets from Arica our Santiago (shout out to Momsky for all your help!) we realized we needed food pronto. We headed up to this little cafe in San Blas, known for its gringo breakfast all day and it's book exchange. After spiritedly discussing feminist theory as it relates to the Twilight series and the 50 Shades of Grey series (a cute Dutch woman was shocked that a book with such pornographic material would be available in a book exchange. Turnout the cafe and it's book exchange supports local children by providing hem with school supplies and a backpack. We ate our little breakfast taste of home, knowing our funds were going to a good cause, while putting a couple of Washingtonsin the tip jar.

We loaded up on snacks (the lady at Supermercado Orion thought we were insane for buying seis mini-loaves of ciabatta bread) in order to avoid the nasty bus food. This time tomorrow we will be in Chile... So stoked!

¡Hasta luego, Cusco!

EmBoss

So this is weird... (4/23/2014)

Ollanta is incredible. We just boarded our train to Aguas Calientes [Machu Picchu, Boss and Marsky are coming for you!] and we just finished talking to this old lady who lives here in Ollantaytambo. We had a conversation entirely in Spanish discussing how tourism affected her day-to-day life and what foods she recommended... As our taxi driver in Lima commented, we are gonna "pesan mucha" after all the incredible foods in Peru entice us in all their glory. "Mi nueva abuelita" gave me a goodbye "besito" and wished me health, happiness, and good travels. Why is it in the U.S. we always say "safe travels" and in Spanish we say "good travels"? Are Americans simply a more scared group of people culturally? An interesting linguistic thought to pursue.

It's strange because we are obviously outsiders to Ollanta; two tall blonde girls definitely stick out amongst the locals. And yet, we weirdly fit in. We saw that older American couple at breakfast this morning, and the cafe owner kissed us both goodbye after giving us free cookies, wishing us a "buen viaje" and telling us to speak more in Spanish to one other. We met a lady in the same cafe who works for this non-profit, Awamaki, that helps locals sell their textiles, and she made me want to come back to Ollanta. There are so many service opportunities here, and the people of the town are so welcoming. There is actually a health education program that I am going to seriously look into, because I could see myself living here for a bit. My photos simply do not do it justice! It feels like home in a strange way.

Anyway, hasta luego, Ollanta, y hasta pronto Machu Picchu...

Besos y Abrazos,

EmBoss

P.S. The dude at the ticket check told me my passport photo was beautiful, so thanks Mom and Dad for the genetics... I miss you both a lot and thanks for letting my bestie and I go on this crazy adventure! 

Once again, making friends like it's our job... Ollantaytambo (4/22/2014)

We were able to catch a luxury ride to Ollantaytambo in a sedan for about 20 soles. Upon arrival we had absolutely no idea where our hostal was. However, the good karma from picking up Jonas' laundry that morning was intact (although why he chose a street with a zillion lavanderias, requiring me to go into each one asking if my ticket was for that particular store, I will never know) and we happened to literally be standing in front of our hostal's doors.

We walked around the little town; we were literally able to walk from one end to the other in under thirty minutes. It was gorgeous, and the ambience provided by the little creek was lovely. We found a fair trade store that had been recommended to us by the group of Brits staying at our hostal in Cusco, and the girl managing the the shop that day was the absolute sweetest, offering us advice about Machu Picchu and where to eat in town. 

Classic us, we following none of her advice and chose a hole in the wall place where we noticed several "Policia Nacional" officers were eating named "Bar-Restaurante Sergio". For 6soles we were able to have a corn crema soup and this delicious plate of veggies, rice, meat, and potatoes. Heaven. Perfection. Chelsea vs. Madrid Athletica was playing on the T.V. so we were also able to simulataneously get our fix of watching fútbol with the locals. Me being me, obviously started a convo up in Spanish with the lady sitting next to us. It was an ideal meal to start off our countdown to one of the great wonders of our world!

We then decided to hike to the "free ruin" up on the hillside. The "gratis" factor completely makes sense as it is rather treacherous getting up to the steep hillside ruins. We agreed that we both experienced mild vertigo when climbing down the hillside, because you could see clear over the ledge. However, it was absolutely gorgeous at sunset and completely worth it... We had established a strict rule that neither of us were permitted to get sick or injured prior to Machu Picchu, so no unnecessary risks were to be taken. The view of the town was stunning and we were able to see clear over the valley to see the "not-free" ruin on the opposing hillside.

We rewarded ourselves with a tea, learning that "ginger" was not, in fact, "jengibre" as we originally thought, but "kion" in Peru. [Lesson learned: never let a Frenchman eat each you words in Spanish!] The mint tea was delicious, the plum brownie even more so. We ended up people-watching and observing (and cursing) the insane, loud, honking, photo-taking tourists and their absurd number of tour buses in the Plaza de las Armas. Real dinner was in order, so we decided to try the soups at this little corner restaurant called "La Esquina" ironically enough. The owner insisted we only speak in Spanish to him so we could practice, and was extremely supportive of our Spanish education. The quinua (as Peruvians spell it) soup and the zanahorria/kion soup were superb and satiated our craving for cooked and sterile vegetables. Eventually this sweet older American couple sat at our table. They asked about our trip and our lives and told us about their daughter who was working for a medical fellowship. It was kind of like having a mom and dad at the table, discussing topics ranging from life advice to locations we wanted to travel to taking the ritual ayahuasca plant (we now have a documentary to watch about this particular ritual once we return home]. There is something nice about talking to travelers who have enough life experience to make me actually want to listen to their advice. We ended up sitting with this couple for almost 2 hours as the lady drank two cappuccinos, claiming they were the absolute best she had ever had. All in all, Ollanta, as the locals call it, definitely treated us well, but I am practically antsy with excitement for Machu Picchu!

Buenas noches,

EmBoss

P.S. This hostal, Chaska Wasi, is our first official hostal that requires us to turn the water on/off in our dorm's bathroom in order to shower or use the servicios... Super random and hilarious!

Little known fact... (4/23-4/24/2014)

Marsky and I were immediately struck by Aguas Calientes, and not in a good way. Our first complaint was due to the "touristy-ness" of the pueblo (there were seriously only pizza restaurants), which in itself is not wholly unexpected as Aguas Calientes is also known as the "Pueblo de Machu Picchu". It was the poverty of the local people in a town that literally exists for tourists, specifically tourists that have money. Seeing these swanky hotels right next door to these flimsy shacks was completely shocking. 

While we had afternoon tea, we observed several children playing in the train tracks, which might I add have actual trains that come into town frequently. There were no parks in sight for the children to play in. As we walked down the street, to hopefully find some redeeming quality of the town, we came along a protest. We wanted to take pictures, but police were standing around so we decided it was best not to. The people were carrying signs demanding workers' rights for the people and to abolish the "monopoly" in the area.

Later that night, we were talking with our roommate at the hostal and mentioned the protest to him. Turns out, several wealthy families control all the profits in the area, with workers putting in 12hour days for an earning of about $4 per day. Even the people who owned the businesses were unable to make a profit because of the controlling interests of these families, who owned large mansions across Peru and Europe. 

So, if you ever find yourself in Machu Picchu or Aguas Calientes, remember to tip well, because these people are treated so unfairly. Also, if people have any ideas how to combat this type of monopoly, suggestions are most welcome!

This being said, Machu Picchu is incredible, and the fact that many of the children who grow up 25minutes by bus from the citadel and will possibly never see the walls of this incredible Incan feat of engineering is completely unacceptable. This is their local history and they should be allowed to experience Machu Picchu and have a say in how their history and culture is presented to the world. 

EmBoss

MP (4/24/2014)

So, attempting to describe Machu Picchu is quite a task. Instead of attempting, because let's be honest, I am no poet, I am going to use a couple of words and pictures.

Huge. Magical. Awe-inspiring. Insane. Grandeur. Green. Jaw-dropping. Gorgeous. How? Foggy. Mysterious. Awesome. Hills. Cliffs. Tourists. Dumb-struck. 

Ambulancias en Perú... (4/21/2014)

So after a delightful morning, involving freshly squeezed juice at the Mercado de San Pedro and some shopping (yay I finally bought a leather notebook... Gorgeous red leather with the Incan calendar in the front), we took Refael (yay I finally learned how to spell his name properly) and Warren to Juanito's. Needless to say it was epic although I did get us super lost and made us to up multiple extra flights if stairs, which was completely unappreciated by the group; Refael had this epic omelet that can only be described as a protein gut-buster, Warren had this huge BBQ chicken deal, and we had our durazno, nueces, y curried pollo sandwich. After devouring our fries with hierba buena sauce and spicy recoto sauce.

So after this rather tame day, involving our epic llama/alpaca vs. Jesus game, we returned home to find an ambulance outside our hostel. Turns out, Jonas had gone to the doctor and was now being taken to the travelers' hospital via ambulance. Poor kid had malaria from his travels in the tropics and a parasite in his stomach. Anywho, this ambulance was definitely an experience. The driver was wearing jeans and a denim jacket, and driving just as recklessly as every other person on the road. We sat with Jonas for a while and then left him so he could sleep. 

We returned again to our favorite cafe for yogurt with fruit and a small fried egg sandwich for dinner... As always it was delicious.

Besitos,

EmBoss

Bus Adventure to... (4/20/2014)

Today, our goal was to see the rumored "Sistine Chapel of South America". We began by asking the hostel how to get to Andahuaylillas, which is a small town about 45 km outside of Cuscohat is home to the "templo" to locals. It involved getting on a bus to take us to another bus, which would then drive us along a road where we would magically know when to get off.

Bus #1: largely uneventful, mostly because it was so short, costing us only 0.70 soles

Bus #2: we gave up our seats to some older señoras who thanked us profusely, a woman breast feeding, crazy bumping/turns, Yonas by some miracle did not vomit, packed bus, luckily getting off at the correct stop

Now, the Sistine Chapel of South America was obviously beautiful with its gold leaf, Cusco-style paintings, and elaborate yet brutal religious art, but we also noticed a celebration going on in the town square. By complete happenstance, we ran into Lola and she introduced us to several people in the community. We partook in a traditional round of beer drinking and then danced around in a circle to traditional music. We all paired off with individuals in the community; unfortunately for us ladies the men of the village were definitely on the intoxicated side, so we ladies all banded together for the rest of the song. One woman even sang an Easter song in Quechua, which was awesome. Yonas was feeling particularly horrible, so he headed back to the Cusco, and Lola led us to other churches in the area. We utilized a taxi... Each time I thought we would not be able to fit more people in the cab, we added several more passengers until 11 people were jammed in this little cab. 

The other churches were beautiful, albeit less ornate, but lunch was particularly special. In this beautiful, green paradise we ate a delicious meal of pork and chicken, served with multiple types of potatoes and a salad. We drank pear juice made from pears that grew in the restaurant's garden. It was all absolutely amazing and delicious. We finished off our adventure in Urku, the capital of a neighboring province, by touring the Sunday market. We were probably the only non-natives in the area, and it was fabulous.

I definitely experienced an aspect of Peruvian culture that I had not seen before. The city's Urku was crowded and some of it was in poor condition. The busses were packed and the taxi drivers drove like maniacs down one-way highways.

I freaking love it here! But best of all, we made it back to our hostel all in one piece, utilizing only public transit once in th city of Cusco.

Besitos,

EmBoss

Juanito's sandwiches and the "sexywoman" (4/19/2014)

After a leisurely morning, we met up with Vanessa's friend, Cristo, who he volunteered to take us around the city by car. Th day ended up being mostly about food and a couple of ruins. I started with an empanada de queso de Cusco, which was warm and toasty. We then drove up a hill and were able to see the entirety of the city from above; it was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately it began to rain, but fortunately, Cusco being Cusco, the rain cleared up as soon as we drove underneath a different cloud. 

We headed to Sacsaywaman, which is an old ruin overlooking the city. Luckily for us, a woman was still selling choclo con queso (corn and this salty cheese) despite the less than stellar weather. After hiking down to Sacsaywaman, which we jokingly call the " sexywoman", we stopped to take pictures. Because the ticket to walk around the actual site is ridiculously expensive, we were merely able to take photos from afar, but that did not diminish how stunning the ruins are in the green Peruvian hillside. Jesus Blanco is next to th site so we also took pictures of the white Cristo and our Peruvian friend, Cristo. 

Finally, we headed back to the city for Juanito's sandwiches. Madre de Dios... These sandwiches were amazing. We chose the VIP (chicken, curry mayo, raisins and walnuts) and the Chicharrones with tamales. This led an epic food coma. When we became even remotely hungry many hours later, we headed back to El Ayllu for some delicious coffee, yogurt with fruit/granola, and pastries.

Yummy!

EmBoss

El Ayllu... Lengua de Suegra (April 18)

Because this week is la Semana Santa, there was a special food fair in la Plaza de San Francisco, which we were dying to sample. We wandered around el Mercado de San Pedro, developing an appetite as we toured the goodies the locals were selling. We saw fruits and veggies that remain a mystery to us, various cuts of meat including the heads oftentimes, and herbs/flowers of every type imaginable. There were also gambling stations, which people crowded around. It was utter chaos as we squeezed through the horde of people; one woman advised us that " hay muchos ladrones... Cuidate tus cosas". We lost Rafael in the chaos, but we shrugged it off; as a recent graduate of the Israeli army, he could handle himself in a market. 

Turns out he was truly fine; he found 5 s/. ceviche which was served on a mountain of rice and veggies. We started at the picarones stall, for 3soles for 4 picarones. Picarones are like sweet potato donuts with a hint of anise... Aka to die for. We then found Marsky some causa con atùn, which was also delicious. EmBoss and Vanessa finished off their meal with a cremolada.

I later met up with Vanessa and her friends (Lola, Claudia) and we walked around Cusco, visiting Qorichanka, the old Incan Temple of the Sun, which had been converted into a church by the Spaniards. We wandered to the 12-sided stone, which was in the wall of a church; these stones were held together by pressure alone. Our final visit was to one of the oldest cafés in Cusco, El Ayllu, which I had been dying to go to. Needless to say, the coffee and lengua de suegra pastry did not disappoint. While practicing Spanish and enjoying my dulces, I also learned how to tell fake soles billes. We said goodbye and headed back to the hostel.

Rafael taught us how to play an Israeli card game, so we literally played cards and drank coca tea for a couple of ours until we were entirely famished and made a return trip to the mercado for food. Dinner was anticuchos (beef heart), potatoes, and fried egg with rice. All for literally 5 soles. Epic and delicious. Entertainment for the evening consisted of the religious procession, which was absolutely beautiful. The young boys of the town played music behind each "float" and we laughed when we noticed that each child had music clipped to his back so the one behind him would know what notes to play. We then headed out for some te pisceada, and were delighted to find that all the bars had wifi that kicked our hostel's wifi outta town! All in all, a hilarious night!

Ciao!

EmBoss

RIP Gabriel Garcia Marquez (April 17)

Today the world of literature lost an incredible author named Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the man who penned the great novel Cien Años De Soledad (100 Years of Solitude). Ironically enough, I read it for the first time in a Spanish literature class at UCLA, and had begun re-reading it in English last night. Anywho, this rather not so great piece of literature I am composing right now, is dedicated to this great Colombian Nobel Prize winner.

Today we had originally planned to visit the churches, but as it is La Semana Santa all of the religious institutions were closed for religious ceremonies. Not a problem, we met this Peruvian girl from Lima at breakfast, named Vanessa, who asked to visit around town with us. Our little group, [EmBoss, Marsky, Vanessa, and Rafael,] headed out into Cusco.

Our goal was to find all the free museums. We started at el Museo de Arte Contemporareo. It was awesome to see the work off local Cusco art, including paintings, sketches, and sculptures. We then visited the Museo Choco, which was the seame museum we visited in Lima. This time we had our tour in Spanish. We sampled copious quantities of free chocolate as expected! We then headed up to the San Blas district, which is the artsy, hippy part of Cusco. And when I say "up", I mean up several flights of stairs which made us all feel winded. We found a yoga studio, so we are planning on going to free mediation and yoga this weekend.

As we wandered around San Blas we found the workshop of Hilario Mendivil, which housed a small museum and a workshop dedicated to his style of sculpture. The people had long necks, which the tour guide attributed to the long necks of the llamas in the area. It was absolutely awesome. We then found this lunch place where I ate pollo a la plancha with huancayo sauce and salsa de aji. I warmed up with an appetizer of crema de maiz... So good! Included in our meal was a drink, chicha morada porfa, and a pisco sour. 

Much to our surprise we exited the restaurant to find copious quantities of lluvia raining down on us. We raced like small school children back to the hostal as taxis honked us in complete disbelief that these turistas locos would actually be running around in the rain. 

With plans to go out when/if the rain stops and shop at the local market.

Besitos,

EmBoss

Bienvenidos a Cusco (April 16)

I literally can think of any experience equal to that of spending 16 hours on a bus on roads bout a windy as those to Stinson Beach. The roads were surprisingly good, but that did not stop us from getting jostled about a great deal. We arrived in Cusco exhausted and shocked by the spread of the city. We lucked out in choosing our hostel, Dragonfly, because it is near to the main square, Plaza de las Armas, and all the sights. 

As neither of us could stomach any food other than soda crackers and bananas on the windy, bumpy roads of Andean Peru, we were both starving for real comida and caffeine. Cuscoffee House enticed us in with its delicious smells. We both ordered cafe americanos and a sandwich: tomato, lettuce, and avocado for EmBoss and chicken for Marsky. It was the perfect amount of food, and I especially appreciated some fresh veggies. We met some Australian retirees in the cafe and they told us all about their trips through Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru. 

So anywho Cusco is amazing. It's mildly hectic like Lima, but without the constant honking and yelling. Th city has beautiful one-way cobblestone streets, which remind me of the streets in southern Spain. We returned to our hostel for a well-earned shower and made plans to grab Peruvian soup for dinner at a restaurant nearby. We have numerous plans to tour the city and see the markets, with Machu Picchu all booked for April 24th.

The South America adventure continues to delight!

EmBoss

P.S. The soup was delicious and EmBoss tried mate coca for the first time and it definitely helped with the physiological effects being at such a high altitude. For dessert, we tried tea with pisco, which was absolutely amazing. It also allowed us both to get slightly intoxicated, which enabled us to conk out at 9pm. 

P.P.S. Sorry no photos today, but there will bet so many tomorrow after we visit the iglesias y conventos y monasterios!

Ica: making friends like it's our job

So we stocked up on snacks for our 7hours of fun in Ica. WOW!!! Not what we expected at all. The city was absolute chaos, with so many people and these mini-cabs racing around everywhere. We attempted to take pictures, but decided preserving our lives was more important than getting a quality photo of these insane drivers, who paid no attention to any road laws... We nicknamed it the "tuktuk clusterf***". Regardless, it was definitely an adventure trying to cross the street to the bank to get more soles and "PlayaVea", a sort of Peruvian Target.

Now we had several hours to kill, and we hadn't idea what to do. We ended up hanging out in this random park for several hours, reading and goofing off. We arrived at the bus station 3 hours before our journey with plans to take advantage of the free wifi. We started off by facetiming with out friend Kari, whom we both miss greatly. It's weird how nice and comforting it is to see a friend's face; our tradition of facetiming someone while in bus stations is definitely a worthwhile tradition. 

A little while later, a woman came into the station with 2 young daughters, a son, and 2 older daughters. She noticed we were a watching the t.v., attempting to learn Spanish from the evening news. She jokingly asked me if I wanted to buy her daughters, which led into a quite normal discussion of where we were going. She was returning home to Iquique after the earthquake. The little girls started asking me questions about my name, age, where I was from etc. and eventually became comfortable enough to curlup on either side of me. It was positively the cutest thing. Before the mother boarded her bus, she asked if she could take a photo with me and her children. Ahhhhhh! I love making friends! The little girls hugged me and kissed me on the cheek and the brother shook my hand and gave me a hug... I guess I got some of my Baba Anne's charm and ability to make friends with randoms regardless of how well speak one another's languages. 

Currently we are on our overnight bus to Cusco, watching one of the "Hangover" franchise's movies. I am fascinated by the level of profanity and nudity allowed on these buses. In the U.S. this would all be bleeped out. We were also able to try Inca Kola, which is best described as being a highlighter yellow color, smelling like bubblegum, and tasting similarly to Coca Cola. 

Anywho, here's to waking up in Cusco and beginning our journey to he Sacred Valley!

Besitos,

EmBoss

Paracas: Problems in paradise (April 14)

Needless to say, we were not entirely stoked about our trip to Ica based on what we had heard from people, so we attempted to book a connecting bus directly to Cusco. Unfortunately for us, everything at Cruz del Sur was booked. Luckily for us, Marsky had been guano-ed on during our tour of the Islas Ballestas, so we knew we had a stroke of good fortune come our way. The lady at th bus station not only appreciated the fact that EmBoss attempted to speak Spanish, but also appreciated the fact that she was able to crack jokes with the staff about how difficult some British English was to understand. She went above and beyond the call of duty and called down to Oltursa, another long distance bus company, and was able to find us tickets. 

The dude at the Oltursa ticket counter was nice enough, but really good have done without that last 5 spritzes of cologne. I thought I was going to pass out; it did not help that we were positively starving. Long story short, we were able to book some tickets, albeit, not cheaply. No matter, we were stoked for Cusco.

We went to our favorite corner store and bought some pasta and vegetables for dinner. We invited our new Belgian friend, Wout, to joing us for some wine and pasta. Thanks to Marsky's intense psychological fear of getting sick, we ate the most sterile pasta ever and it was amazing! An Italian girl, named Floriana, arrived to the kitchen so we invited her to join as well. This led to the most fabulous evening ever, drinking wine and beer on the beach in Paracas, discussing gender roles, world politics, and racism. It was awesome to hear their perspectives on issues that are causing so much discord worldwide. I now have people to visit in Freiburg, Germany and in Antwerp, Belgium. 

So far I have found this trip to be (1) so educational and (2) so humbling. I am so lucky to be here with my bestie as we muddle our way through South America.

Besos,

EmBoss

 

El Primer Bus (April13)

We woke up determined to have a quality breakfast before heading out of Lima. This was rather difficult as Peruvians do not have the same affinity for large, egg-based breakfasts that we have in the US. Nonetheless, we came upon Manolos, which turned out to be a restaurant suggested by our Lonely Planet travel book. We left feeling satisfied by our huevos fritos con jamòn y chorizo.

We attracted a taxi outside our hostel with some difficulty... Why is then when you have no need for a taxi they appear in abundance and when you require one there are no taxis in sight? We were rewarded for our wait with one of the greatest drivers of all time. Not only did he refer to us as "angeles" he spoke to us in slow, clear Spanish. We told him about all the museums we had seen and the food we had eaten, and he gave us numerous suggestions for foods to sample while encouraging us to ask any question we wanted. Again, this taxi driver reinforced our belief that Peruvians are some the kindest and most helpful groups of people on the planet.

The Cruz del Sur bus station was exceptionally clean, and for all the warnings we had been given, not sketchy or concerning at all. Peru has this bus system on lock and we were easily able to print our tickets. The bus was incredibly comfortable, with seats that leaned back almost horizontally. The food, however, was not as pleasing, so the first thing we did when we arrived in Paracas was head to the local corner store.

A giddy young man sold us some mangos and bananas along with our Peruvian saltine crackers; it was not a gourmet dinner, but it was what we both needed after our day. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing outside on our hostel's patio and planning our adventures to the Islas Ballestas and the Paracas nature reserve tomorrow. 

Besitos,

EmBoss

" I'll get the next rounds museum tickets..." (April 12)

We had a rather late start after last night's festivities, but after some coffee we moved to the 10 person dorm, sadly separating the dream dorm room's occupants. No matter. We had plans to taxi to El Centro with our Canadian friend, Martin, and see some Iglesias. 

We began at the Plaza de las Armad, arriving at the exact moment as the change of the guard at the Palacio del Gobierno. We lamented our own lack of nationalism in the United States as we watched soldiers and the Naval band ceremoniously march about the palace's front courtyard. We took numerous selfies and panoramic photos of the plaza. ¡Què preciosa! There happened to be a wedding ceremony in La Catedral de Lima, so we respectfully stood at the back to observe the ceremony while discreetly taking photographs of the art and stained glass in the cathedral.

The Monasterio de San Francisco was completely awe-inspiring. It was our tour guide's first stay and he nervously asked us if he "was easy to understand". He was absolutely amazing and led us through the monastery pointing out tiles from Sevilla, the carved ceiling made from Panamanian ceder, and the original paintings done in " Lima-style", meaning the painting was entirely done in dark colors with the only light shining on the character of importance on the canvas. The catacombs really took the cake of everything we saw on the tour. Hundreds had been buried underneath the monastery, preserving many of the long bones and skulls. A 50m hole had contained the bones prior to the arrival of anthropologists and archaeologists, who identified and organized the remains. People continued to be buried under the foundations until the late 1800's when local governments became concerned with the hygienic nature of rotting bodies underground. Sadly, photographs were forbidden so EmBoss has plans to buy a book with photographs of the monastery.

We ate lunch at El Cordano, a restaurant founded in 1905 and located next to the Palacio del Gobierno. We got completely lost trying to find it, and kept asking locals for directions. They had all heard of El Cordano (many of Peru's presidents have eaten here) so we were determined to find it. We sampled some ceviche, pollo saltado, and bistec with some chica morado, a local drink made from dark corn, pineapple, and cinnamon. It was delicious, and we made plans to return.

Finally we arrived at at la Iglesia de Santo Domingo, home of Peru's patron saints, Santa Rosa de Lima patron saint of nurses, and San Martin de Porres patron saint of nurses and barbers. We delighted in the fact that Peru's saint were a man of African American descent and a woman. The grounds were stunning, with four remaining gardensand incredible architecture similar to La Alhambra in Spain. The catacombs were not quite as impressive as the Monestario de San Francisco, but we greatly enjoyed them nonetheless. The colors, blues and reds, were gorgeous, and many of the paintings were unrestored originals in incredible detail. Many were done in "Cusco-style", meaning the red colors were incredibly vibrant. 

We headed back to the hostel with plans to spend the evening relaxing and enjoying our time before heading on a bus to Paracas the next day.

Best day EVER!

EmBoss

Masajes, jugo, y ruinas (April 11)

This morning we had plans for massages at an "Andean spa" at 10:30am which was an ideal, relaxing way to start the day. After our shoulders had been dug out (yay for EmBoss/Marsky messed up shoulders!) and our whole bodies rubbed down, we headed back to the hostel to meet up with our dorm mates to plan the day. Martin, the charming Canadian decided to accompany us to lunch and our afternoon activities.

EmBoss was determined to find this sandwich shop known for their chicharrones, which were ideal for fixing ones pisco-induced ills according to Lonely Planet. Not having a hangover did not lessen EmBoss' hankering for some delicious pork and some "papaya, strawberry, guava" juice. Marsky enjoyed a grilled chicken plate with some strong coffee and a not-surprising side of patatas fritas. The three tourists ate lunch at the corner counter of El Enana before heading to Huaca Pucllana in the residential area of the Miraflores district.

We expected Huaca Pucllana to be more of a tomb, but it ended up being the site of a sacred temple. The Lima people were the first to inhabit the area around 400AD, followed by the Ichsma, and finally the Inca, who merely used the "hill"as a lookout point. There were several crypts on the site containing human sacrifice of babies (chosen for their purity) and adults, some of which were decaptiated. There was also a lovely garden on site with numerous native plants and animals, such as alpacas and cuy.

Due to the massive quantities of jugo consumed at lunch we required unos servicios after the tour and decided to utilize the extremely fancy bathrooms in the Huaca Pucllana restaurant. We received copious strange looks from he restaurant patrons as we dusty, sweaty tourists traipsed around the fancy restaurant.

All in all, it was a wonderful day!

¡Tengo el mundo a mis pies!

EmBoss

Bienvenidos... Por serio (April 10)

 

So last night we basically passed out, but so far Lima has treated us well. I woke up to a jolly [and exceptionally attractive] half-naked Australian asking me how I slept. Awesome. Our hostel, Dragonfly, serves homemade jam and coffee, so we enjoyed a quick breakfast and headed out into the Miraflores District. We found a church nearby, Iglesias Medalla Milagrosa, which also operates a cat adoption service out of its premises. Obviously, EmBoss was obsessed with all the kitties lounging about the church and neighboring Parque Kennedy.

We then decided to walk down to the PacificOcean, receiving a mere three whistles and a couple "hola señoritas". It was foggy yet so beautiful, looking eerily similar to Santa Monica, minus the homeless folk and litter on the street. We enjoyed an early lunch/brunch of atùn, patitas fritas, and aguacate. ¡Què deliciosa!

We realized our hostel was muy cerca del Choco Museo, so we took French-native Vincent's offer of cacao tea (uh-mazing), tried several pisco infusions, and took an extraordinarily in depth guided tour of the manufacturing of chocolate, which we realized was entirely due to the fact that we are two fairly attractive young females. I wish is could bottle up the scents wafting about the Choco Museo!

We returned back to our hostel where we socialized with out dorm-mates (a Canadian guy, an Australian surfer dude, and two Dutch girls) and rest up before heading out to the Huaca Pucllana tomb. We arrived at HP only to realize it closed in an hour so we decided to return back tomorrow.mon our way back to the hostel we stopped by Metro supermercado for some fresh bread, cheese and empanadas. We ate on the rooftop of our hostel and made plans to have some of our own hostel's brew that evening with some of our fellow travelers.

Hasta luego,

EmBoss

Layover of a Lifetime: Fort Lauderdale (April 9)

We arrived in Fort Lauderdale at 7:30am with a 10-hour layover between us and Lima. We headed to the beach [with an overpriced cabby might I add] with plans to wander around Las Olas and hopefully find a pulled-pork sandwich and some mojitos. Swimming in the warm Atlantic Ocean was a new experience and we gleefully swam about actively trying to keep our hair relatively dry while tourists and locals with abundant and obvious plastic surgery procedures exercised across the sand. This was all lovely and charming, apart from some vomit spewed unceremoniously on the sidewalk, and we even managed to figure out the local bus system [FL PLEASE supply bus transfers in the future]. BUT, we hit a slight snag when we attempted to seek out our pork and mojitos.

 LESSON #1 of the adventure: do not have expectations! Sadly, Las Olas did not have many restaurants that were either affordable or open. We ended up finding a little breakfast place, where Marsky enjoyed a crepe with strawberries and EmBoss scarfed a spinach/tomato omelet, along with copious quantities of coffee.

We proceeded back to the airport using the Broward County public transit with a bus full of McDonalds employees, and enjoyed our absurdly expensive mojito at the Food Network Kitchen bar. This mojito was now a Marsky/EmBoss necessity, as the FLL TSA was the most inefficient/slow/rude airport security either of us had experienced thus far. 

No matter, we proceeded to our gate to nap and read our travel books. 

¡Lima, espera para nosotras por favor... Estamos viniendo! 

Besitos,

EmBoss and Marsky