We Went to Peru! (Part 1)

Wow, epic blogging fail. This trip happened a whole year ago, and I'm only just getting around to writing about it... But at least I'm doing it, right? Anyway.

So for my mom's 60th birthday, the whole family (excluding kids! woo!) went to Peru for a week. It had been a dream of mine to go to Machu Picchu ever since I first saw photos of it, so this trip was a big deal for me. Little did I know that the rest of Peru would also be amazing. The entire country completely exceded my expectations. The sights! The food! Oh man.

Daniel and I took the train from Attleboro to Boston and then flew from Boston to Lima. Saying goodbye to the kids was hard, but it didn't make me as sad as I had expected. I didn't even cry! (Also, shoutout to my wonderful in-laws for watching the kids at our place for a whole week! They're awesome.)

Daniel wouldn't smile for me on the train. Is anyone shocked by this?

I, however, was chock full of enthusiasm.

Even though it was long, the flight there was a kind of vacation in itself. Flying without kids! It's a luxury, man. I was able to read AND sleep on the plane! I don't remember the last time I was able to do those things while flying.

First we flew to Lima, where we arrived just in time to have dinner at our hotel. It was literally across the street from the airport, which was really nice. The day we left was actually our 5th anniversary, so it was kind of nice to have dinner just the two of us before we met my family, who arrived later that night. I had lomo saltado, and it was delicious. In the morning, we got up and walked back across the street to take a small plane to Cusco. When we arrived there, we pretty much immediately got into a van to drive to Ollantaytambo. And since I was super excited, I started taking stupid photos like these.

I also took photos of Cusco as we drove, but after we passed through the city and into the hills, I started getting pretty car sick on the windy roads. It's too bad, too, because the scenery was beautiful!

Oh, and Kara was pregnant with Riley and had to use an oxygen machine. She did not appreciate me taking this photo. But I had to.

Thankfully, no one barfed in the car, and we arrived safely at Ollantaytambo. We had lunch at a restaurant near the train station. I ate an alpaca burger, and it was pretty good. Little did I know how good alpaca steak was. Nom. Anyway, we ate in a nice outdoor courtyard that we had all to ourselves. 

And it had beautiful flowers!

Mmmm, alpaca burger.

We then got on the train--it was a travel day, as you can tell--to Aguas Calientes, the little town that's closest to Machu Picchu. The train was really nice, and we got to see even more of Peru's beautiful Sacred Valley. I couldn't take enough pictures!

At one point we stopped (I can't remember why), and an old woman emerged from the bushes carrying a bouquet of beautiful calla lilies. I debated about taking a picture--I didn't want to be rude or insensitive--but I finally decided I had to.

We arrived at Aguas Calientes and made our way to our hotel. We had a great view of the Urubamba River. It was loud!

The rest of the evening was spent exploring the town. It's pretty touristy and not very clean (stray dogs everywhere!), but it was nice to peruse the shops and relax a bit. 

We had dinner at our hotel and then went to bed early in preparation for our early trek to Machu Picchu the next day. After waking up at the buttcrack of dawn and eating "breakfast" (Can you call it that if it takes place before 5:00 a.m.?), we got in line for the bus. We waited a good while, but it wasn't awful. And then it was finally our turn. We drove up and up, and the views were amazing!

Finally I was there, this amazing and mysterious site that--other than the pyramids of Egypt--was the place I most wanted to see in the world.