Note: So this post is full of approximately one million photos. As I was going through them, it was so easy to just be overwhelmed and for them to all look the same. But… I really enjoy taking the time to pause and look at at least a few of them really closely. I was there, in that spot, looking out at this wholly unimaginable landscape before me. It looks like a cartoonish green screen. The colors and images look enhanced. But this is how it was. Greens and blues and mountains and valleys and ruins. I have to take the time myself to pause and truly appreciate these moments,…
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Valle Sagrado – Llama time!
Today is the day I leave Cusco and visit the Sacred Valley. This valley lies between Cusco and Machu Picchu and must be traversed in order to get there. It is an absolutely breathtakingly beautiful valley, with enormous mountains on either side, fertile farming villages in the heart of the valley, and terraces and ruins dotting the mountain sides. Llama Time I begin the day with hotel breakfast. I actually got up early enough to slow down and enjoy breakfast before today’s guide arrived. I really enjoyed the various quinoa items, a yogurt parfait and quinoa pancakes. They also have a honey comb dripping fresh honey into a bowl. I…
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A Day in Cusco
Photo Walk For my second day in Cusco, I got up early and met with a local photographer to take some artsy shots around the scenic streets of Cusco. We met at my hotel, took a taxi to the San Blas neighborhood, and walked back, taking photos along the way. It was fun, but a bit stiff. He had a translator with him, as he is Italian and now lives in Cusco, so he speaks Italian and Spanish, but not English. The translator was a lady from Argentina I think(?), and she was very helpful, mostly at holding my purse while we took photos. We walked through the narrow streets…
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Cuscotopia!
Leaving Lima Today, I leave Lima at 7 a.m. to catch a plane for Cusco. Now, I have heard from my tour guide yesterday that the Starbucks here makes a lúcuma frappuccino. However, when I walked past the nearest Starbucks, about a block from my hotel, there is an armed security guard at the door. Now, either there are so many people out there doing bad stuff that every single store, bank, and restaurant needs armed security, or there are a lot of overly armed security guys out there, and either way, it feels very intimidating and not welcoming to me. So I was quite relieved to arrive at the…
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Landing in Lima
I arrived in Lima at 6:30 a.m. on the red-eye from Dallas. And boy were my eyes red. We boarded at 10 p.m., but our 10:30 take-off was delayed for an hour, so we didn’t get into the air until 11. I eagerly waited for us to reach altitude, reclined my chair, and promptly went to sleep before (and during and after) dinner was served. I know tomorrow will be a long day, so I need all the rest I can get. By the time I got through customs/passport control, it was 7 a.m., but my driver was there ready to go. We hopped in the car and drove. And…
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Diekirch – Carnival Cavalcade
Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to see the Carnival Cavalcade in Diekirch, Luxembourg. This was such a fun and unique experience. There are about 100 photos in today’s post, so this will be a long one. Getting there I started my day by accidentally sleeping until noon. Thanks, rolladen and jet lag! I sprang from bed, got dressed as quickly as possible and grabbed my things, before running out to catch the train. We’re a little outside town, so I have to take a bus to the train station. There was, unfortunately, only 5 minutes to get from the bus to the train, once I got to the central station,…
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Final Day in Cologne: 1 more Christmas Market
For my final day in Cologne, I am going to visit the final Christmas market that I missed out on yesterday. There is one market, the Harbor Market, that is down the river a bit from the others. I start out by walking through town down to the river, passing more beautiful old churches. I planned to stop at the Angel market and have a coffee and tree-cake for breakfast, but the market opens at 11, not 10, so I just keep walking. Harbor Market and Chocolate Museum I get to the Harbor Market at about 10:45 and wander around, waiting for things to open. The market is in…
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Cologne Christmas Markets
Today, we visit the Cologne Christmas markets. This is a long day! There are so many of them. I am staying on the west side of town, and almost all of the Christmas markets are on a straight path from here to the river. So I decide to forego the public transport and just walk from one to the other, seeing the sights of the city along the way. Cologne is much, much bigger than I expected. This is not a quaint German village; it’s a huge modern city. The buildings are tall. There are so many people. There is an abundance of restaurants and shopping. There’s also lots of…
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Köln’s Grösste Weihnachtsfeier
My first day in Cologne was a bit short because I had to get to Cologne, and that in itself is a bit of an adventure. I looked up train tickets on the Deutsche Bahn website, but couldn’t get them online for reasons. So I walked to the train station the day before to get the tickets. However, I didn’t realize that the automated ticket machines are specific to each train company. And so I ended up buying my tickets to Cologne through the SNCF (French) train line and not through the DB (German) trains. So my trains ended up being about half an hour longer each way, and I…
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Final Day in Luxembourg and Final Thoughts
My last afternoon in Luxembourg, I made my final journey to the Christmas markets and had my final takeaway fondue and gromperekichelchen. I finally tried a feuerzangenbowle. It was actually pretty tasty. There is a special mug with a little metal wire over the top. They balance a brown sugar chunk on the wire, then squirt it with rum. Then, they light it on fire, and the rum and sugar burn into caramel and melt into the wine. I think the fire part of it burns off some of the alcohol in the wine, so it’s not super alcohol-heavy. I sipped on it while eating a fondue and wandering the…
