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A free day! What
on earth do we do? We lie in and have a late (well,
8:30 seemed quite late by now) leisurely breakfast,
is what we did first.
Afterwards, we walked through the
three squares in the town centre: when the Incas
built Cuzco, there was one enormous square. The
Spanish decided to break up the space and create
three squares. They are elegant: the largest is
the Plaza des Armas on which the Cathedral and other
churches stand; a smaller green square and the Plaza
San Francisco with the market by the eponymous church. |
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We then walked
back to the main square and on up a hill past the
Museum of Religious Art, again built on Inca foundations
including the remarkable and justly famous 12-cornered
stone. |
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We decided that
one can see so much South American religious art,
and we have had our fill in the churches we have
seen, so gave the museum a miss. A small boy tried
to sell us post cards and when we refused, introduced
himself as a city guide. We solemnly exchange names
and he shook our hands, then started to lead us
off. We refused his kind offer and gave him 5 Sols
(20p) for his enterprise. |
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We climb up the steep
street (the altitude making itself very apparent
- we stop frequently to catch our breath)
to the Church of San Blas. Another example
of a S American Baroque and yet another gold
altar made from stolen Inca gold. |
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Walking back down
we find the Inca Museum and wander round absorbing
some of the history of this short-lived people.
In the courtyard of the museum women were weaving
fabric and we found one nice old lady who has produced
some lovely table runners. We buy one for Ros’
birthday. |
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In the nearby market
we bought T-shirts for ourselves.
We lunched at the inauspiciously-named
"Norton’s Rat" – a bar run
by an American which does a good hamburger and was
recommended by Nick and Susan. Two of those and
a beer and a Coke cost is 25 Soles - £5. |
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We mooched back
to the hotel and watched as a crocodile of kiddies
crossed the road. |
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We are accosted at
the hotel by a shoeshine boy who tells us he is
called Alexander – Bruce says that is his
second name and he takes this as an invitation to
clean Bruce’s shoes. His companion, Egbert,
wants to take us on a city tour. We pay them a few
coins to go away.
Time to visit another church –
the Compañia de Jesus, apparently the most
beautiful in Cuzco and one stage the Pope had to
decide which, this or the Cathedral, should be Cuzco’s
leading church. He chose the Cathedral. But the
Compañia de Jesus is indeed remarkable. It
has a huge silver altar.
We got back to the hotel to find
it besieged by screaming teenagers. The doorman
explains that a Peruvian pop/film star is staying
there. Later on the evening, we ate in the hotel
alongside Tony and Christine & Ron and Chris
and were entertained by a very good Latin American
Band: very laid back music. Chris was having a conversation
but suddenly the band stops and the end of a sentence,
"...he eats like a pig!" rang out across
the diners. The musicians looked surprised: I think
they felt it was a criticism levelled at them. Chris
wished the ground would open up beneath her feet.
She had in fact been talking about the pop star! |
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