A day in Cusco
Trip Start
Jul 07, 2011
1
6
12
Trip End
Jul 18, 2011
Where I stayed
Cuzco, Cusco, Peru
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
After a not-so-restful night at Girasoles, we were more than excited to get to Andenes al Cielo, in the most PERFECT location in San Blas - Not up the hill in the square, but rather about halfway between the plaza san blas and the plaza de armas.
The manager of Andenes let us move into our room early (9am!!!) to get settled. We immediately made our way up to the roof deck to check out the view. I wish we had pspent a little more time on the roof deck, but there was just so much to do I couldn't sit still for long!
Cusco is a very walkable city with a lot of little streets to explore- dozens of cafes and souvenir shops.
We purchased a boleto turistico, which I'm not really sure was a good deal, considering we didn't go to the Ollantaytambo ruins (just looked at them from our hotel balcony) or the other ruins. We went to every museum in Cusco on that ticket as well as Pisac. I didn't really do the math, and don't care now.
If you have a student ID with a date on it, don't forget to bring it! You can get a great deal on the tourist ticket.
So - July 12 was our Cusco day!
Step 1 : book horseback riding tour with Ninos Hotel. See tomorrow's post for details (DONT GO ! It was terrible!!)
Step 2: hi up a lot of museums
Step 3: go to the traditional dance concert included in the ticket
Step 4: eat some tasty food for dinner!
We accomplished all 4!
We bopped into a few museums and visited Ninos Hotel (
http://www.ninoshotel.com/ ) - I bet this place is amazing... what a great cause!
The plaza de armas has a number of eating options with great views. We settled on a place (can't remember the name) looking straight at the main cathedral.. great people watching! We split a couple of snacks and had a couple of beers.
In the afternoon, we visited another museum and then headed on a walk (it's about 20 minutes from San Blas) to the Cusco Cultural Center for the dance show that's included in the boleto turistico.
There aren't a lot of food options over there, but we did find a little coffee shop place that looked geared towards working professionals and daytime crowds. I don't know the name, but it was directly across the street from the show. We had 2 pisco sours (when in peru..) and got to the show about 10 minutes early.
The show was in a little theater that was similar to a school auditorium in the US- pretty comfy and easy. I really enjoyed the show. It was pretty informative, in both English and Spanish (which I love, because it helps me practice my translation and then I can hear whether I was on or way off right away! ) and was jusssst long enough - not too long. I would highly recommend attending the show because aside from heading to bars for music/drinks, there aren't a ton of nighttime alternatives!
I recall going to a show that was pretty early - 6:30 or 7? It was about an hour or so long - so the timing was great for a later dinner.
We decided to go to Cicciolina,
http://www.cicciolinacuzco.com/english/cicciolina_home.html because our book (Moon, the best book ever) recommended it. It was on the pricey side (for Cusco) but we thoroughly enjoyed the scene. We sat at the bar because there was a wait for tables. I prefer the bar in situations like that anyway, because you increase your chances of meeting people and getting some local tips from the bartenders.
It was more of a shared plate/tapas place... spanishy/italianishy.... GREAT dessert - I'd recommend this place even to stop in for dessert/wine/good vibe. It is on the upscale side, but not snooty (I don't think snooty exists in Cusco)
We didn't stay out becuase we had to be back at Ninos for horseback riding in the morning.
Solid, action-packed day!
