Cusco - Navel of the Earth

Sometime around the 12th century A.D., the god, Inti, looked down on Earth and found the people in need of some serious organization.  So, the first Inca, Manco Capac, and his sister-wife, Mama Ocllo were created on Isla Del Sol (Sun Island) out on Lake Titicaca.  Manco Capac was given a golden rod.  Inti instructed him to find a place where he could plunge the rod into the ground until it disappeared.  This place would be the world's navel or qosq'o in the native Quechua language.  Manco did as he was told, and obviously, he had a long walk from Lake Titicaca to find this place. He subdued the local natives, and founded the longest inhabited city in South America: Cusco.

Incan history is fairly well documented, first through oral history, and then with the writings of Garcilaso de la Vega, the son of an Inca princess and a Spanish military captain.  The Spanish entered Cusco on November 8, 1533 headed by Francisco Pizarro.  The Spanish kept their own chronicles and history, and added Inca history as it was told to them.

Cusco, a mixture of Inca and Spanish traditions, is a vibrant city of about 400,000 people.  It is a city that is not for the faint of heart.  If a person wants a spa vacation, this isn't the place! (Although, there are plenty of places to get a much needed massage!)  However, I am an adrenaline junkie, and  love frenetic places.  Cusco was like Heaven to me!

This is an example of Colonial (Spanish) architecture. For those of us who have lived in  the Middle  East, this is familiar architecture.  The Moors brought this to Spain

The architecture is a combination of Incan, Colonial (when the Spanish came), and modern building.  Many buildings are built on Incan ruins.  Several of the Catholic churches are built with stones pilfered from Incan temples and palaces.

Cusco sits at 11,000 feet above sea level.  I left Lima, which is at sea level, and was in Cusco in an hour - by jet.  By bus, it takes 24 hours of driving through the Andes.  I could feel the lack of oxygen as soon as I got off the plane.  As I type this, I still have a splitting headache, despite my Tylenol,  Gatorade, and two servings of coca tea-yep, I have cocaine in my system! (Not only did my pulmonologist insist I bring my sleep apnea machine, she also insisted on using the coca tea within reason.  It tastes like an herbal tea, and I am not high. I have asthma, and the last thing I need is to end up in the hospital.)

La Catedral

I met up with my group of nine people, and we went with our guide to have lunch and to see a nearby cathedral- known as La Catedral. The Spanish started to build this church in 1559. To either side of this cathedral are the churches  of Iglesia del Triunfo (1536) and  Iglesia de Jesus Maria (1733). I was not allowed to photograph the interior, but it was very beautiful and ornate. The above mentioned  Garcilaso de la Vega was born in Cusco in 1539 and died in Cordoba, Spain in 1616. In 1978, King Juan Carlos of Spain had his remains returned to Cusco, where they are interred in La Catedral. My biggest regret is not buy postcards of the interiors of these churches as we left them.  A few days later, when we returned to Cusco, the postcard vendor was nowhere to be found. One of the paintings we found was of the Last Supper with cuy (guinea pig) as the main meal.  Serving cuy as a holiday meal is an important part of Quechua culture, and this painting was done by a native Quechuan.

Detail of Iglesia del Triunfo

Outside the cathedral, a festival was going on.  Children from different groups-schools were dancing in native costumes.  Women were selling handmade items, and I got a chance to practice my bargaining skills, getting two presents at a very nice price.  By this time, we all went our separate ways.  I went back to the hotel to blog.

I am told it does not snow here.  While we are high, we are also close to the equator.  The days seldom get above the sixties, and the nights are almost always freezing.  The next morning as I was walking through the hotel courtyard, I could see my breath.

Tomorrow, we leave for the Sacred Valley.

party plane

i am typing this post on a peruvian keyboard, and i haven´t figured out how to do capitols.  capitals?

my journey to peru would start in salt lake city, then on to atlanta, and then on to lima.  i had a three hour layover in atlanta.  after getting from my arrival terminal to my departure terminal, i had lunch with two utahns that i met in salt lake who were also traveling to lima, and on to cusco.

the flight to lima was entertaining to say the least.  we were delayed about 30 minutes on the tarmac due to wind.  the pilot would later inform us that we were one of the last flights out before the airport was closed to to bad weather.



the lady in front of me was 76 yrs old, and on the same tour as the teachers.  she was a retired stewardess for delta.  notice i said stewardess.  she rolled her eyes at the term flight attendent.  the lead flight attendent also stated she was a stewardess and then amused us with stories of when she was first starting out.  she had to wear a wig and tuck her long hair under it.  she also had to wear a girdle, and was pinched by her female supervisor to make sure she was wearing it.



anyway, we watched glee together.  the retired teachers told me they wished they could get away with some of the stuff sue sylvester says to the students.

we arrived in lima about midnight.  after passport control, luggage-which took a long time, and customs, i was able to walk across the street to my hotel, take a shower and get some much needed sleep.

today, i am on to cusco!

The Sixth Grade Social Studies Book

     When I was in sixth grade, we studied South America.  I should really say we read about it, because I don't recall Mrs. Westover, my teacher, ever really teaching us.  But, I digress.

      One day I found a picture of Machu Picchu in the textbook.  The picture fascinated me.  I would look at it often and vowed to myself that one day I would go to Peru to see this place. And, I mentioned this to a few classmates, who laughed at me.  Twelve-year-olds can be so mean.

     "Some day" has finally come!  For about two years I have been planning and saving for a trip to Peru for my 50th birthday present to myself.  Since I have never been to this continent, and do not speak Spanish, or more precisely Quechua, I decided to go with a travel group.  I researched many, and settled on Adventure-Life.  I found a tour that was short, easy to save for, and would get me to Machu Picchu.

      Then I began the everlasting hobby of accumulating frequent flyer miles so that I could cash them in for a free plane ride.  The only planes I am paying for are LAN Airlines trips within Peru.

    And because I enjoy maps, please enjoy mine!

South America, and where Peru is on it.

I will fly into Lima (purple nail) and then fly onto Cusco.

Detailed map of the area I will be in.

Not so detailed map of the area I will be in.

Incredible Journey

I loved every moment I was in The Netherlands, and I will surely return.  I say good bye with a few videos of the hyacinth fields and a Deftware artist, and of the crooked houses along the Prinsengracht, where I stayed.

Painting Delftware

                                                             Hyacinth Fields from the Train

As I would walk down the street each day, I would notice the houses across the canal from me.  They seemed a bit crooked, like a person's teeth - first thing that came to mind.  I kept staring at them until finally I took pictures.  People actually live in these houses, and I wonder if things roll around in their homes.

                                                               

Den Poezenboot

I love cats.  I love them so much that I pictures of Padawan, "my" cat, on both my computers.  (I say 'my" because he belonged to my niece.  Then she got married to someone with cat allergies. So, now, Padawan lives with my brother and sister-in-law, but he knows me, and I am his human!)

On the Singel Canal is the Poezenboot, or cat boat. This floating refuge is home to about 30 cats until they can be ready for new homes.  Some cats are brought in by people no longer able to care for them.  Some are found on the street.

Some were very friendly with me, and other hissed at any human.  I had a fun time with those that wanted to be petted.  Enjoy the pictures.



Cat boat mascot, she has her own daybed outside the boat, near a bench.  Sit on the bench, and she will come and welcome you!




Very friendy




Scared of people.  It will take a long time to get her adoption ready, but he has come along way. 




People take pictures of us every day!



For the Love of Tulips

Tulips - the word is Turkish for turban. A wildflower from central Asia, they were first cultivated by the Turks. (Turkey has its own Tulip Festival near Istanbul each spring.)  Tulips are now known to be a great export of the Netherlands. The first bulbs  in the Netherlands came to be when botonist Carolus Clusius planted some bulbs in the University of Leiden's research garden.  It was fall 1593. By spring 1594, tulips were beginning to bloom, and this once wildflower would forever change a nation.

Tulipmania

By 1636 tulip trading and speculation was at its zenith and getting out of hand. Some bulbs were more expensive than an Amsterdam house!  Regular people were sinking every penny they had to get their hands on a bulb. In 1637, a single bulb of the legendary Semper Augustus fetched the outrageous price that equaled 10 year's of an average person's income.  By 1637, the bottom fell out of the market, resulting in many bankruptcies.

The Semper Augustus Tulip, shown above, was the most expensive tulip ever traded/bought during Tulipmania.  Ironically, the beautiful stripes and varigations so sought after were actually the result of a tulip virus.

Tulipmania even made it into literature.  The acclaimed French author, Alexandre Dumas wrote La Tulipe Noire ( The Black Tulip), a novel of intrigue written around Tulipmania.

The love affair is still ongoing with this flower. The Netherlands is the world leader in cultivation, and most of the bulbs grown here are shipped to North America and Europe. The above picture of a tulip field is courtesy of curiousphots.blogspot.com

Keukenhof Gardens

I have always wanted to see the tulip fields of Holland.  Since I am currently teaching in year-round school, and will most likely be transferring to a new school with a traditional calendar, I knew this would be my last chance in a very long time to go to the Netherlands to see the tulips.

Keukenhof Gardens is the world's largest bulb garden covering 32 hectares of ground with around seven million bulbs (tulips, crocus, daffodils, hyacinths).  It is located near the village of Lisse, which boasts the Museum de Zwart Tulp, the Museum of the Black Tulip, where a person can learn everything possible about tulips, including why black and blue tulips do not exist.  If anyone can cultivate those two colors, Tulipmania may begin again.

I would arrive just as Keukenhof would be opening.  It opens for only about 10 weeks a year.  It was possible I may not see the tulips in full bloom.  But, there would be other flowers in bloom, and I knew I could always go to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving point in April, although it would not be the same.

It was a crisp, sunny spring day.  Most of the tulips had not bloomed, but Keukenhof has pavillions where spring came early, and I wasn't disappointed. The garden also has a petting zoo of farm animals, and a playground - because when you are a little kid, looking at flowers is only interesting for so long!  (The bunnies were also a favorite of some Chinese visitors, who asked me to take pictures of them with the bunnies.)

There got to be a point where I got lost. I didn't care! I wandered around until I found a place that served hot chocolate. Dutch hot chocolate is to die for!

I am going to leave you now with just a few of my pictures. (I took over 100 pictures!)  Enjoy!