Ahnalira
Posts: 17091
Joined: 7/6/2002
From: where Magic is real
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DAY 7 - Cusco Kingdom
One of the many qualities I appreciate about Adventures By Disney tours is the flexibility. While every day is filled to the brim with activities, the guides are happy to accommodate those of us who want to veer from the planned schedule. This was our day for that With a good internet connection, we opted to spend the morning at the hotel catching up on a little 'business' while the group explored Sacayhuaman, an Incan fortress. Cusco was the capital of the Incan world and intentionally built in the shape of a puma (Puma represents the present and Mother Goddess in the Incan cosmology). The fortress was built as the head of the Puma.
We left the hotel for from Cusco exploration on our own and discovered a "city" with quite a bit of technology... quite a juxtaposition to the Sacred Valley and our understanding of what Cusco was in Incan times... not to mention: How does civilization exist at 11,000+ elevation?! In our part of the world, trees won't even grow at that altitude
Here's an example of the architecture we saw there. The bottom is Incan, and the top is Spanish:
We found an elegant little restaurant (all of the restaurants in Cusco are 'little' by American standards) for lunch
and the food was exquisite! I had stuffed chicken (Peruvian style) with sweet potatos
Marion had a vegetarian entree
And Alan chose a spicy pasta
All of us raved over the flavors in our particular dish. Then we cruised the square to do a little shopping before heading back to the hotel to meet up with the group for Plaque Painting. This is billed as one of the children's activities, but I am a devotee of this activity (there is some form of it on almost every tour we've done). We were set up with paints and brushes and a painting 'surface' and told to express our experience
For me, it is an hour of bliss, immersed in color and an oppotunity to create. Alan chose a symbology designs to decorate his plate:
and for me it was all about Pacha Mama (She lives in Macchu Picchu)
We gathered for a meal and a game with the White Elephant gifts we purchased at the Pisac market that evening. It was raucous and so much fun, I forgot to take pictures... So, you'll just have to go on the tour to find out what this about
Day 8 -Adios
It's a day of transitions - flying back to Lima. While I think all of us were eager to get back to sea level, nobody wanted the adventure to end. Fortunately for us, we had quite the finale awaiting us in the city. We were let out of the motorcoach right next to the President's home.. See how that is?
and taken to the first president's best friend's mansion a block over where we were allowed to explore
This was the master suite bedroom... people were smaller in those days, eh?
Drinks were served and h'or deurves passed while we watched a show in this beautiful courtyard
The live band was uplifting and delightful with a display of purely Peruvian sounds.
Lunch was served buffet style while the music continued to play.
My plate was vegetarian
and Alan's included the Chicken Cordon Bleu
The show continued after lunch, too
Afterward, we joined in the parlor for coffee and tea and an opportunity to share one more time with each other the highlights of our adventure together. We visited amazing and remarkable places. We experienced a culture that expanded our world view. We explored the 'far reaches'... but all of it was made "more" because we were together.
This is the piece of doing an Adventures by Disney tour that is almost impossible to put to words. I have graduate degrees in Psychology and I did my focus work on Group evolution and development; some would say I know how to 'facilitate' a group And I stand in awe with my hat off to the system Disney developed and the attention to bringing the group together as 'family'. It works every time! We are a month returned from our trip now, and I still bask in the wonder of Macchu Picchu and the remarkable people and places we found in Peru. Mostly, though, I still feel connected to the folks we traveled with, and on some level I always will. Together, we made the magic happen
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Beauty and wonder everywhere I look. I am my dreams come true
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Sacred Valleys and Incan Cities Part 7 - Cusco and Finale - 
