Somehow the Free Walking Tour Cusco escaped us! We didn’t know there was such a thing until we saw a flyer for it in the Choco Museo the day before. Given that we usually love free walking tours, and do them often, we figured we had to take Mom on one. Even though we had to cut it short to get to the airport in time, and it might have been more useful to have gone on at the beginning of our time in Cusco… it was probably the perfect ending to Mom’s tour of Peru! The tour wasn’t our absolute favorite (kudos, Andre in Brasov, that title still belongs to you!) but it was nice and it included free food (ok, a tasting), sunscreen, a lot of information, and even some sunscreen before the tour began!
We actually had been almost everywhere that the Free Walking Tour Cusco took us, we just didn’t know everything about the streets, or the restaurants, or the Incan architecture we were standing in front of. It was nice to get a little bit more information and to hear a different perspective about Cusco through our guide. Although, I have to admit, this was the first time where I was a little overwhelmed by our guide’s energy. At times, I wanted to tell him to take a deep breath, but overall I think everyone will agree that too much enthusiasm is better than too little, right?
From where we were staying in Cusco, in the Barrio San Blas, we would take the same route to and from the main square, Plaza de Armas. Part of the tour covered this route, and the area around where we were staying. Our guide equated the neighborhood to Greece, because of the white walls and blue doorways and shutters. I had to chuckle a little at his comparison, ok maaaybe a little, but it doesn’t feel like Greece just because of a few white walls and blue shutters- at least not to me. It is a charming neighborhood, and quiet too! I was glad to hear about the artisans who lived in the area and made note of our guide’s suggestion to duck into one of the open corridors to see what kind of art and handicrafts were being made. We climbed up the hill, and took in this beautiful view of Cusco before we ducked out to head to the airport to drop Mom off. Luckily, Andrew is used to me getting emotional over goodbyes, and held my hand in the taxi back into town as I tried not to cry, knowing I would see her and so many more in just a couple of months!
