Around Cusco...

Before continuing with stories from our trip to Peru, there is a small amount of information that I feel I must give you so that you all can truly understand what the heck you are seeing in these pictures.

1. The Inca's were conquered by Spain.
2. They are referred to as the "Romans of South America."
3. When the Spanish conquered a town they would destroy the Incan buildings down to their foundations and then erect their own buildings on these foundations.
4. If a temple was found it was destroyed and a Catholic Church was built on it's foundation.
5. Preserved in Peru = Reconstructed in the United States...more on this later.

Okay that should be good for now...here is some more from our trip to Peru!

After our first night in Cusco, we had planned to take an eight hour bus ride to Puno. However, transit strikes prevented us from being able to leave the city.

The people on strike marching through the Plaza de Armas.

So with no chance of Greg and I getting out of the city we decided to make the best of it and set off to see all the wonderful sites that Cusco has to offer.

Our first Incan ruins...these are "preserved" ruins, complete with llamas and alpacas.

Convenento de Santo Domingo, Del Cusco

This Catholic Church was built on the Incan Sun Temple, luckily some of the interior Incan walls were left untouched...

The rooms inside the convent that were left from the Inca's, were used for various meetings.

After leaving the convent we set off walking around the city, here are some pictures from our day spent wondering around Cusco.

A typical Cusco street, extremely narrow...

This man was making guitars, and was kind enough to let us take a picture.

Police truck...FYI it is illegal to photograph police in Peru.

We learned very quickly that if you take a photo of someone in Peru you are expected to give a small tip. Greg got caught taking this woman's photo and she quickly ran up saying "¿Propinita? Cinco Sol's." (Tip? five Sol's.) To which Greg replied "Un foto, un Sol." (One picture, one Sol.) While not grammatically correct, she understood and happily accepted her one Sol.

A stray dog in Peru...

Most of the strays are small dogs. However, a stray in Peru becomes everyone's dog. People feed, brush and look out for the dogs. The entire time I was in Peru I never once saw a dog being mistreated.

Clearly this dog was not a stray, but he was HUGE...and I loved how he was just hanging out of the window!

This picture says a lot about Peru...if you ever go there DO NOT drink the water!

San Blas, this was one of the most beautiful churches I have ever been in.

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside. The tour guide said that when Pope John Paul II visited Cusco he stated that San Blas was his favorite church. I can see why, I have never been in a church where I have felt such a strong sense of strength, love and community.

The view from San Blas.