So Far, So Awesome

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Okay, so don´t get used to getting an entry from me daily because I know for sure that I won´t be able to provide one for probably most days after we leave Cuzco, but in the meantime, I´ll keep you as informed as possible.

I also updated my previous blog with pictures so you might want to check it out - there´s only a couple of them, but they´re still worth looking at.

First things first, just to give you all an update, I heard from my mom that my grandfather is not doing well... Apparently he had a heart attack on Friday night and it´s looking like he could only continue to be with us a matter of days or even hours. Please continue to keep my family in your prayers...and I´m very sad to not be there as well.

Onto happier topics! Doing pretty well with altitude adjustment...I haven´t even had so much as a headache. I have noticed that I do get winded a lot more quickly than would be normal, and I also sometimes have trouble saying as much in one breath as I typically would (maybe some of you think that´s not such a bad thing...?). It´s also difficult to get a good, deep breath in when on the street as there seems to be a lot more exhaust in the air than I would have thought - I wonder if that´s just a feature of the thin air, or if they maybe drive more diesel fueled cars here...? Nancy´s been having a bit of a tougher time, but she´s also fighting a cold which I´m sure doesn´t help. I left her in the hotel room sleeping this morning - figured she could probably really use it...but it was such a beautiful sunny morning I couldn´t stand the thought of not going out, even for a short walk.

Last night we had dinner at a place called the Inka Grill right on the Plaza de Armas which is more-or-less the center of town. It´s an open square with a gorgeous fountain in the middle surrounded by cathedrals and little shops and restaurants. It´s really perfect. It was really beautiful when we got there last night. The weather was crisp and cool and everything was lit up like it was on display.

Our dinner was good, but the place was an obvious location for tourists - the fact that the menus were in English was a pretty good tip-off. But the atmosphere was great, and we even had some live music for awhile - a guy playing one of those Pan flutes (I can´t remember what they´re called). Anyway, Nancy got some sort of ravioli stuffed with sweet potatoes (who would´ve thought?) and I had some form of risotto with artichoke hearts, mushrooms, and sundried tomatoes. It was pretty good, but the rice really wasn´t risotto-y, but more Uncle Ben´s Converted Rice-y (as in not sticky and more rice-like than risotto-like).

We turned in early (relatively speaking). Even though we´d had that great nap in the afternoon, we were really pretty exhausted... Probably an affect of the altitude. From what we hear, the 3rd day in altitude is supposed to be the worst. We´re about to enter into our second full day, so I´ll continue to let you know how it goes. For now my time on the Internet here is about to run out and I want to upload some pics before I sign off.

Later all.

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Photos

From the Plaza de Armas
This is just one side of the Plaza - the church sticking up in the background is La Merced.