Peru (day eight)

The magnificent travels of Megann Phillips: a journal

Day 08 in Peru

March 22, 2013

Goodbye, Jungle... Hello Again, Cusco!

        Today began with what seems like twenty or so itchy mosquito bites all over my hands, ankles, legs, and arms. Apparently I should have worn more deet, but changing the past is a hopeless endeavor. All I can do is avoid scratching them and hope they disappear soon. I am happy to say, however, that an enormous green rhino beetle (three horns in its ugly face) distracted me from my annoying bites this morning at breakfast. It fell with a loud crack, from the ceiling on to the table right in front if the woman sitting next to me. Needless to say, it made us both jump, but it was good for laughs a couple of pictures in the moments to follow.

        After breakfast, we caught a very delayed flight (Cara says this is all too typical in Latin America) from Puerto Maldunado back to Cusco. I was sad to leave the Amazon Basin behind, but somehow nostalgia for beautiful historic Cusco had already gripped me in the few days I'd been gone elsewhere. I missed my sweet little room in the Orquidea Real, which I think has become my favorite place in the world. I missed Pachamama's luck-bringing bulls on the rooftops everywhere, and I missed the pizzerias that line almost every street.

        It's funny how there are pizzerias everywhere here; I didn't want to eat at any if them when I first arrived in Cusco because I thought of them as simply too foreign... too Italian. I wanted Peruvian culture; "If I wanted pizza and pasta, I'd have gone to Italy." But as the idea of the way-too-many pizzerias marinated in my mind, it grew on me. Maybe pizza can be as classically  Peruvian as it is classically Italian! (Okay, that's a stretch...) Regardless, we gave an adorable pizzeria in La Plaza de Armas with checkered table cloths a try. I loved it, and so did Dad and Cara. It became, without a doubt, my favorite pizzeria in Cusco, without even giving any of the others a chance. Earlier this evening we paid that pizzeria a second visit. The pizza was just as delicious as the fist time we ate there almost a week ago, and the white river fish ceviche was a sublime appetizer... Of the three times I've eaten ceviche, this time was by far the best.

        Sadly, I have to say goodbye to Cusco and its charming pizzerias much to soon for my taste. I would have loved to spend a few more days here, but I also want to see as much of Peru as I can in the limited time I have here. We leave for Puno and Lake Titicaca in the morning.

We returned to Cusco after night had set in, but the darkness didn't succeed in obscuring any of its beauty!

In the morning, I was so very happy to re-discover my familiar street-corner food stand.