Peru, Day 30: All in a Day's Walk

 People, readers, always seem to like pictures. So this post is entirely photos, with some words of explanation. These were taken one morning on my normal walk from my host family's house to the school. They are nothing special, just exactly what I saw every day for over a month.

The orange house on the left is the one in which I lived, this normal middle-class home is in a complex with several other identical houses with a main access gate to the road. It has 3 floors, 2 bathrooms, and 4 bedrooms - perfect for hosting international students.

Huayna Capac, my road. On a normal day the road would be full of motorcycles and dirt bikes for sale. Often businesses of a similar nature grow up next to each other and soon take over whole roads. The gate on the right is my gate. The black awning with the red insignia leads to a Mini Market where you can find anything from avocados to bottled water, you can reload the charge on your phone with either MoviStar or Claro, or just stop in for a bottle of Cusqueño - the local beer, and really, the only beer.

Avenida de la Cultura, one of the busiest and longest roads through Cusco. It's dirty and crowded (normally) and full of both touristy places and local businesses. It runs nearly from the City Center to the outskirts of town, passing the Mall, the University, the Hospital, countless Mini Markets, Pastelerias, Pollerias, Pizzarias, Topicos Tipicos, and Parederos. (Mini Marts, Bakeries, Chicken Restaurants, Pizza places, shops vending typical costumes, and bus stations).

Limac Pampa, one of the many, many, many little squares (circles?) or centers around which Cusco circles in hoards all day every day. Since this photo was taken one of the main roads in town was closed for maintenance and Limac Pampa is always extremely congested, waiting to get through or around this point in Cusco could easily be a 10-20 minute wait even late at night.

Just one block up the road from Limac Pampa is another Limac Pampa, but few spend much time here, and few even consider it a part of Limac Pampa. It's mostly just fountain in front of one of the Luxury, touristy hotels near the Historic Center.

Heading toward the Center from Limac Pampa. You have a choice of many, many roads, this happened to be the one I like...

Not everyone sees these. I got plenty of weird looks photographing the flowers outside one of the upscale shops, but why? Why not stop and notice them?!

By now I think you know me well enough to know that I can't stop myself from capturing the beauty that surrounds me.

The porch is strangely deserted, but then makes the perfect background.

Truly, no one could even guess why I was taking this one, but I think you see now what I saw.

Closing in on the Plaza de Armas, the true Historic Center of the city. The wall on the left is an Incan wall, you can tell by the tilt as it nears the ground. these walls withstand the earthquakes that plague this area of Peru the way we experience tornadoes in Middle Tennessee. This road uncharacteristically does not have a drain running down the middle. Most of the stone roads in Cusco (all the roads not used heavily) have these drains in the middle, most also have two smoother tracks on each side, in the case that a car and rider might wish for a bit of a smoother ride.

THE Cathedral. Yes, folks, this is the famous Cusco Cathedral. I haven't toured it, I don't plan to. I am certain the outside is more beautiful and majestic than the inside, so I'll stick with this view.

And after that view, I leave you with this one. My school. Yes, after walking through all that beauty, history, and majesty, I end up here for hours. Learning Spanish. Only we all know that the real learning happens out in the streets. So excuse me while I turn around and head right back out where I came from. Now you know where I spend my time, and I think you know why I choose to spend it there!