Day 392: One last day in Mancora

Ready for us to go yet? Tired of Mancora? While I wasn’t tired of the freshly pressed strawberry juice, and the warm afternoon sunshine, I was starting to get a little itchy to go myself. As much as I have enjoyed Peru, I am looking forward to seeing and experiencing a different, new country. We spent our last day lounging by the pool. I occasionally ducked back into our room to see if pictures and videos had any success uploading to the internet. (I didn’t really.) We got one last ceviche (Peruvian style that is) and one last order of calamari before we packed everything up to catch our bus across the border into Ecuador in the morning.

Day 391: More of Mancora

More of Mancora… means more of us doing not a whole lot in Mancora. I give you the other side of the street. The one street that runs through town. Technically, I guess, you could say there are a couple more that connect the main street to the beach… but they aren’t big, sometimes they aren’t paved, and most of the time cars are not allowed on these little streets leading to the beach! The beach was super windy, again, which was perfect for the kite-surfers flying across the water. Unfortunately, we’re not certified (yet) to kite-surf, so we stuck by the pool falling asleep in lounge chairs or extra wide hammocks if the sun wasn’t too terribly strong

Day 390: Mancora

There’s not a whole lot to do in Mancora. There’s our hostel with a pool. The beach. A handful of restaurants and souvenir shops. And that’s about it. Somedays I find myself recording “a day in a minute” for the sake of the project, not exactly for the sake of anyone who might be following along. This is one of those days. We slept in late. We lounged by the pool (it was less windy than the beach). We walked through town for fresh fruit juice (strawberry is my favorite here). We were lazy, and it was awesome. I’m pretty sure I’ve said this before, but what might be boring to you is probably awesome to us because sometimes we’re simply in need of a couple of days like this.

Day 389: Hello Pacific!

The latest overnight bus landed us in Mancora, a small beach town in Northern Peru this morning. Neither of us slept on the bus very well and were exhausted when we arrived around six in the morning. We slept for most of the day, except the hour or so we went to the beach to have a late lunch. It’s surprisingly cool on the beach and more windy than we would have liked, but it was nice to see the ocean again, especially considering that this time it’s the Pacific!

Day 388: Bboys in the streets (of Trujillo)

Our last afternoon in Trujillo was spent walking around the city. A few blocks away, I saw these two busting a move in the crosswalk during red lights. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen some street entertainment during a red light, but it was the first time I was able to get a few photos, and video of the action. The boys were really sweet, telling me to wait for the next light when they were going to flip across the street for more dancing, and even jumping up on a nearby street sign for a pose or two.

Afterwards, we headed to El Palacio Iturregui, a nearby colonial house to check out the interior (or the interior that we could check out). Most of the ground level doors were open, and featured some impressive rooms, but we weren’t allowed to go in them nor upstairs to check out more. We tried to find another, however failed when we couldn’t find it, and settled for a snack before our overnight bus to Mancora instead.

Day 387: Chan Chan

Chan Chan is the largest city in South America that is known to have existed before any European settlement or influence began. It was built by the kingdom of the Chimú around AD 850. I read that date, and almost cannot even wrap my head around it actually existing so long ago, moreover still being (somewhat… mostly…) intact since then! It’s an adobe walled-in city that once held 30,000 people. Today, the walls still stand largely to the lack of rain in the area- much like how the Nazca Lines have managed to stay intact as well. We took a public bus out to the site and got dropped off in what felt like the middle of nowhere. We chuckled a little bit at how strangely familiar we are with this scenario in a completely foreign country. “Well, at least it’s in the middle of the day, and we know where to wait to take a bus back to our place…” Andrew said as we thought back to the night we were dropped off in the middle of nowhere in Mozambique.

A taxi driver got out of his car parked near what we guessed to be the entrance to the ruins. He told us that he could drive us to all four different sites around Trujillo, but we weren’t sure we were up it, and told him we’d check out Chan Chan on our own first. Little did we know it was about a 1-2 kilometer walk from the main road. At least we had some banana chips (my favorite snack since this trip began) and water with us. We probably should have gotten a guide, or even one of the books that we saw one of the guides reading to those she was leading around… But we didn’t. Now that we’re nearing the end of our trip, we’re content to explore on our own and look things up afterwards if we’re so inclined (which I usually am).

What I was most interested in were the people of the Chimor Kingdom. According to some online research after our visit, I found out that they ruled the northern coast of Peru from 850 to 1470. They were the largest kingdom of the “late intermediate” period, in other words, the largest in the time period right before the Incas ruled. I think (I’m not sure at all) that the Incas incorporated some of the Chimu metalwork into their own.

After we walked through the site, (which took about an hour or so) we walked back out to the main road and waited for a bus back into the city. It’s a little like hitch-hiking, only you flag down a speeding bus full of passengers. It’s cheap. It’s easy. And it makes for excellent people watching.

Day 386: Trujillo

Despite clearly planing our trip to hop so many countries, and see as much as we have this past year… Some days it clearly catches up to us and we’re simply tired, overwhelmed, or in need of a slower day (and at least one soft serve ice-cream cone from McDonalds). Today, in Trujillo was one of those days. We arrived in Trujillo early in the morning, and thankfully were allowed to check into our (very) modest room immediately. Most people nap in the afternoon. Our naps are usually between the hours of 6:00 and 1:00 in the morning and very early afternoon. It’s become almost routine. We indulged in a longer nap than usual before walking around town, an early dinner, some ice-cream, and an early night in.

While I wouldn’t change a thing about how and where we’ve traveled this past year, I might not do it quite the same way next time. Yes, we’ve already discussed next time. You are welcome to roll your eyes and think we’re crazy. We roll our eyes, often at each other – and we think we’re crazy – quite often. However, aside from knowing I’d like to change up our next jaunt around the world, it really burns my britches when other travelers (especially those who are on a different schedule, have a different budget, or even have different goals) make backhanded compliments like “I don’t know how you travel so quickly!” or ask questions like “Are you actually staying in one place for more than a couple of days?” and “Don’t you get tired?”

Instead of kicking them in the shins, while they are sandwiched in between their backpacks, I generally smile and try to explain that it’s simply what I wanted from my trip around the world. What I really want to say is usually saved for Andrew’s ears only. He humors me (or tunes me out, I really haven’t been able to discern when he does which) while I lecture the air in our room for the night about how my fellow travelers should know better than to be judgmental of anyone who simply wants to see the world, regardless of how they do it! Really, sometimes I just want to say:

“The only thing worse than a judgmental person is a judgmental traveler, and that judgmental traveler is you!”

Too harsh? Maybe. But, my point is this: Every traveler is different. Every trip is different. We’ve traveled so quickly this past year because it’s what we wanted to do this time around. We do actually stay in one place for more than a couple of days, but sometimes we don’t, and we’re ok with it. And yes, of course we get tired.

Do you know one traveler who doesn’t get tired ever? No, I didn’t think so.

When I get tired, I take a nap. When I get overwhelmed, I order pizza and watch a movie (or several episodes of American tv) in my hotel room – unless we’re in Africa and I watch a movie – if we have power – without the pizza. And when I need to slow my roll (like today) I walk around for a couple of hours, maybe take some pictures, maybe not, and then (especially if it’s not the most exciting city in the world- like, maybe Trujillo) I call it a day.

Day 385: Ica to Trujillo

On the road again! Just can’t wait to get on the road again! Yay! Another long day and overnight on a bus for us! There really isn’t much to do in Huacachina other than sandboard – and in all honesty, we were anxious to get to the coast and relax on a beach for a few days. We could have split up the trip, but we decided to push on through from Ica to Trujillo. And so we did, stopping shortly in Lima, and then continuing on our way. 

Day 384: Sandboarding in Huacachina

Not many people can say they spent the first year – the entire year – of their thirties traveling around the world. I am one lucky, very lucky girl. On Day 19, I turned 30 in Saigon. Today, I turned 31 in Huacachina. My only wish for this birthday was to not visit a war museum. I wanted to do something fun, like sandboarding in Huacachina! Which is how we ended up on an 18 hour bus ride from Cusco to Ica a couple of days ago. Well, that, and we had to start making our way up north someday, somehow…

Dune buggy and sandboarding in Huacachina is more fun than you think it will be. About 12 of us climbed into a dune-buggy an hour or so before sunset with an older man who clearly loved his job (driving visitors around in the desert at incredibly high speeds). He flew across the desert, going up and down dunes so fast, it felt like we were on a roller-coaster. And then, just like a roller-coaster comes to a smooth stop in the end, so did our driver pausing to let us out for a a few photo opportunities, and then a few more times to let us sandboard down some steep, some not so steep, and some I-never-knew-a-sand-dune-could-be-this-steep sand dunes.

Everyone had trouble sandboarding down the dunes standing up. We could stand up, but many of us were inching down the hill because the sand just wouldn’t cooperate. In the end, everyone, well, most everyone laid down on the their board and suddenly we were flying down the dunes. It was a lot of fun, but the boards aren’t exactly the safest, and the metal bolts holding the shoe straps to the board cut up my arm a little bit. Our last dune was the steepest and fastest. I hit a few bumps going way too fast and went airborne more than once. I can assure you, sand is a lot harder than snow, and it wasn’t the most comfortable feeling in the world. Huacachina is in need of some saucer sleds. By the end of the excursion, everyone was covered in sand, some more than others, like the dude pictured above. My favorite part about this picture is that I unfortunately have no idea who this guy is! He kindly allowed me to take his portrait, and was excited to see his picture on the blog. I think I told him I would email him a copy as well, but then after we dispersed for some much needed cleaning up, I didn’t see him again! After sandboarding down four or five dunes, we made our way back (again at high, very fun speeds) to the oasis. The sun was setting and it was the perfect ending to our stopover in Huacachina and a wonderful birthday.

Day 383: Huacachina

Huacachina is a teensy town just outside of Ica. When I say teensy, I mean it’s a handful of hotels, hostels, restaurants and homes built around a natural oasis in the middle of the desert. It’s become pretty popular with tourists for the dune buggy rides and the sandboarding you can do in the desert surrounding the town. We had planned on going for a dune buggy ride this afternoon, but Andrew and I felt like we had just gotten off of a serious bender (symptoms of altitude sickness include feeling like you have a hangover). We went for a little walk around the oasis and halfway around (it’s not very big. at. all.) I had to sit down. Three quarters of the way around, I had to lie down. So instead of spending the afternoon crashing around the desert in a dune buggy and sandboarding down steep dunes, we crawled in bed and didn’t come out until the next morning. You win high altitude, you win.

For some reason, I really liked these (what I’m guessing to be) old-fashioned personal changing rooms. Obviously, they are no longer in use, but I thought they had so much character and that it’s a shame they weren’t maintained. That didn’t stop the locals from enjoying the “beach” and the water though! It’s not necessarily advised to go swimming in the oasis, and there weren’t any foreigners indulging in the activity… but Peruvians were all about it. Forgot your sandboard at home? Don’t worry, this little guy will rent you one of his!

day 382: Cusco to Ica

Surprisingly, Andrew nor I (nor my Mom for that matter) really suffered from any serious altitude-sickness during our time in Cusco. That is, until today. For some reason, the 18 hour bus ride from Cusco to Ica took both of us down. And we went down hard. The bus ride wasn’t nearly as miserable as it sounds. I mean, it wasn’t in Mozambique juggling babies and live chickens, waiting for the mud to dry so our bus could get towed out of the ditch it was stuck in on the side of the road… So, despite our big reclining seats, personal televisions, and even some weak wi-fi signals at times, we just weren’t feeling so well. I told myself I would study Spanish, but I wasn’t feeling up to doing anything other than sleeping or watching really terrible movies dubbed in Spanish… which is kinda like studying. At least the view (and this is when we were stopped in traffic for 45 minutes) was beautiful for most of the ride!

Day 381: Puna Tienda Galeria featuring: Jorge Flores

You know what’s awesome? Walking into a new city, or making a new friend, or visiting a creative space and being completely swept off your feet inspired. Which is a little like being swept off your feet in love for the creative types. At least, for me it is. Anyway, I was certainly swept off my feet when we stepped into Puna one night on our way home this week. Not only was I immediately nostalgic for all of my art supplies, sewing machines (I have two. I think. In my sister’s room and/or somewhere in my mother’s house…) and a permanent space to be creative, but I also wanted to stay in Puna forever. Or buy everything I loved so I could at least take it with me. Instead, I asked the two wonderfully sweet girls working if I could return the next afternoon to photograph the space and perhaps learn more about what fueled something so creative and contemporary in a city that seemed to (rightfully so) embrace it’s traditional culture(s). Fortunately, Berenice and Stephanie excitedly agreed and when I returned the next afternoon, I was not only lucky enough to have the store mostly to myself, but to meet local artist, Jorge Flores as well! In the end I wanted to take the store and all three of them with me. Instead, I settled on some pictures, a “day in a minute” and in the end a print that I simply couldn’t live without.

When I returned to Puna, Berenice Diaz, the manager (below on the right) explained the objective of the gallery while Stephanie Guerra (below on the left) patiently helped translate when I didn’t understand. With only a few days of formal Spanish lessons under my belt, I was surprised I could follow along as well as I could, but there were some gaps that I was grateful to Stephanie for filling in the blanks for me. (Muchas gracias, Berenice y Stephanie!)

Practically everywhere else in Cusco (and from what I noticed in Peru) embraces traditional arts, especially the beautiful weaving so much so that it was almost a surprise to see a place with such modern and contemporary art on display. Berenice explained that Puna’s objective was to be a gallery and a store. While some stores (especially of this kind of variety- in my own opinion) look down on visitors wandering through simply to look, and not buy… Puna welcomes the chance to simply inform others- especially visitors to Peru of Peruvian art. I can’t emphasize enough how warm and friendly both Berenice and Stephanie were, and how grateful they seemed at my interest in Puna! I’m not the only one who thinks so highly if this little burst of contemporary culture in Cusco either. Trip Advisor has nothing but wonderful things to say, and to rate a “store” so highly has to say something, right? Right. I will say that most items fall outside of the typical backpacker budget, but if you can’t live without a piece, then the price doesn’t really matter. At least, that’s what I tell myself when I linger in front of an editioned prints with a price tag over $100.

Puna is modern art (and style) that meets traditional Peruvian culture. Currently 150-200 Peruvian artists have work on display and for sale in Puna. Traditional woven styles have been integrated into purses and even little clutches that I wanted so badly it hurt. Instead of wool llama ornaments, chic leather llama keychains were for sale. And the artwork, oh, the artwork. Where does one even begin? I’ll let the pictures -of beautiful pictures- speak for themselves.

Before I had met Jorge, I fell in love with another Peruvian artist’s work, Fito Espinosa. You can see some of his illustrations in the picture directly above. One print (not above) in particular plagued my mind for the next few days. I would have purchased it immediately had it not been for my backpacker budget. Andrew kept trying to talk me into getting it, and of course, the night I make up my mind to get it, we arrived to the store after it had closed. Good thing Andrew loves me so much because during our break from class the next (and our last) day, he ran across town to pick up the print for me! No easy feat in a city that is 11,200 ft above sea level.

Who is this Jorge (above) you might be wondering? Just another fantastic Peruvian artist who happened to stop by Puna to drop of some new work. It’s his work Berenice and I are talking about in the “day in a minute” above. And just like Berenice and Stephanie, he was so sweet and so talented that I felt so torn not taking some of his art home with me. (To make up for it, I’ve promised myself as soon as I’m gainfully employed again, I’ll be messaging Puna for several pieces of art, jewelry, a clutch or two…) Jorge is such a perfect example of a Peruvian contemporary artist who is absolutely unafraid of tapping into his cultural heritage yet making a statement with modern issues. He was dropping off some framed pieces of TEN, an installation of a grid of old Peruvian bank notes with different words painted over them. The individual pieces were striking, but seeing the photo of the installation on his website makes me want several pieces to have a small grid of my own!

You might hear him say “It’s my lucky day!” at the end of the “day in a minute” but I couldn’t express enough to him, Berenice, or Stephanie that it was my lucky day to be able to meet and talk to them all!

Day 380: San Blas Artisans

The San Blas Artisans surround the Church of San Blas, creating a neighborhood that is also known as the District of the Artists. These artists, and the families of these artists are Olave, Merida, Aguayo, Aguilar, Alvarez, Segovia, Saloma, and I’m sure there are a few more. We were told if a door was open, or in some cases unlocked, we were free to walk in and look at the art. We checked out Merida’s work by simply wandering in what felt like a private courtyard. Later, we were able to check out Mendivil’s long-neck pieces by sneaking down a long covered corridor leading to a couple of courtyards, some artisans working, a museum, and even a shop to take a few pieces home if you were interested.

Edilberto Mérida’s daughter actually greeted us when we peeked our heads into the courtyard wondering what there was to see. She warmly ushered us in and grabbed a set of keys to open up a museum/show room. The huge statue (above) in the courtyard, is a perfect example of his work. All of the ceramic pieces were incredibly expressive and included a lot of religious work- Jesus on the cross, and various nativity scenes seemed to be his favorites. I couldn’t get over how lovely his daughter was, although when she explained how easy it would be to ship any items home I became a little more understanding. Regardless, the museum/showroom entrance was (is) free with the minor exception of a small donation that we were told would go to a local charity. If you’re interested in visiting, Mérida’s work can be found at Carmen Alto 133, San Blas, Cusco (Phone: 084/221-714)

Hilario Mendívil is arguably the most famous of the San Blas Artisans. I found his long-neck sculptures really interesting especially given that the long-neck tribes (Kayan Lahwi) are typically from/in Thailand and Burma, not exactly close to Peru… I couldn’t figure out what inspired his long-neck sculptures until I researched it online and found a great description on Fodor’s here. According to the description, Legend has it that Mendívil saw llamas parading in the Corpus Christi procession as a child and later infused this image into his religious art, depicting all his figures with long, llama-like necks.

There’s a small gallery/museum and a shop selling Mendívil-style work- I’m guessing his descendants were the ones working in the adjacent studio.

If you’re interested in visiting, Mendívil’s work can be found at Plazoleta San Blas 634,San Blas, Cusco (Phone: 084/240-527)

Day 379: La Casa Concha + Inca Museum

Neither museum lets you take photographs inside. So, there went my plans for today’s minute. Luckily there are what feels like a bajillion women and young girls milling about Cusco asking if you want to buy something, or get your picture taken with them. Andrew and I were sitting in the Plaza of San Blas soaking up the sun after Español, when this woman decided to join us. She tied her portable loom (not womb, like I almost say in the video) to our bench, sat down, and went to work weaving a new belt. She had a bag full of them she was trying to sell. We humored her, watched for a little while, and gave her a little tip before we left for La Casa Concha, or more informally; The Machu Picchu Museum.

We actually went to La Casa Concha and the Inca Museum on two different afternoons. We heard the Inca Museum wasn’t great, so we decided to check out La Casa Concha first, mostly after reading this Peru Travel post about the museum dedicated to Machu Picchu raving about how much better it was than most museums in Peru. It has a more modern feel to it, thanks to the life-like dioramas, videos, and English descriptions. However, despite having ten exhibition rooms, the rooms are often bare and while the museum suggests two hours for your visit, I think Andrew and I were in and out in an hour tops. It was nice, but I cannot stress enough how bare we thought it was and definitely not worth the entry fee.

Another afternoon, we decided we may as well check out the Inca Museum. When in Cusco… This museum was much bigger, had a lot more to offer than ten half-filled exhibition rooms… but it’s in desperate need of some updating. I wish these two museums had combined forces to make one really great museum. Neither is better than the other… they are just different. La Casa Concha is more modern however, offers less. The Inca Museum is quite large and has a LOT to offer, but it’s poorly organized, poorly displayed, and at times even dusty! It kinda felt like a school science fair with an Inca theme. Some displays were great, you could tell the smartest kid put forth some effort… But others weren’t so great and I felt sorry that such an interesting culture was being displayed so poorly. I almost wished I would have spent my money on a really great Inca and Machu Picchu book instead of entry to the two museums. If only I had spare room in my bag!

At least our dinner more than made up for the lackluster museum visits this week. Yep, in case you can’t tell, that’s not Peruvian you’re looking down on… Andrew found a Korean restaurant for us to try! And it was spectacular. By far the best Korean food we’ve had on this trip. If you’re in Cusco, you have to take a night off of eating ceviche (I know, it’s a hard thing to do) and try Sa Rang Che Restaurant. My mouth was blissfully burning just like it would in Seoul. Before we left, the owner came out to talk to us about a problem with the credit card machine. She was Korean, speaking to us in Spanish. We in turn, told her we understood, and wished her a Happy Chuseok, in Korean. Then there was a flurry of Spanish, Korean, and even a little bit of English. We walked out, and Andrew and I exchanged a look that somehow summed up how incredibly strange it was to be in Peru, speaking Spanish and Korean simultaneously.

Day 378: Studying Spanish in Cusco

Oh how I wasn’t looking forward to climbing this steep hill (in a high altitude city) to study Spanish everyday… But, we decided San Blas Spanish School was our best bet for our first round of intensive Spanish lessons, even if it did mean a hike across town before school started. I thought it might be fun for today’s “day in a minute” to film the walk! Also I don’t yet know how to say “I have a blog and I make a short video for each day of our trip around the world! Want to be in it?!” en español. I didn’t think a teacher would be so inclined for some video action first thing on a Monday morning either. Despite the rain, we made it to class on time and found ourselves in separate cozy classrooms (given that I’m a beginner and Andrew is intermediate) for four hours of the morning. While Andrew had four other students in his class, I only had one classmate and a very sweet Peruvian woman for a teacher! I usually enjoy language lessons, but today’s lesson flew by faster than usual (especially given that it was four hours long)! When classes were over for the day, I was really satisfied and looking forward to the week of learning some more español!

Day 377: A self-guided walking tour of Cusco

Traveling around the world is oftentimes being in a constant state of flexibility. Again, we were going to finish the Cusco Free Walking Tour today, until we woke up and remembered there isn’t a tour on Sundays. So, Andrew found a self-guided walking tour that we could do on our own instead. It wasn’t the greatest, nor the most informative, and it covered pretty much everything we already saw on our own and/or heard about on the portion of the free walking tour we already participated in… but… it gave us something to do, and we were thoroughly entertained by our attempted pronunciation of the many Incan names.

The self-guided tour began in the San Blas neighborhood, more specifically, the Church of San Blas. We read up about it outside, and then Andrew confirmed that my Mom rubbed off on us and we didn’t want to pay to enter a church. I’m sure we missed out on seeing a beautiful interior, and the pulpit that is carved from a single tree trunk… but I just don’t understand why the churches of Cusco all have entry fees! We wove our way down through some different streets that we hadn’t been through before and found ourselves in front of the Incan wall that we’ve walked past at least a couple dozen times since we first arrived in Cusco.

At least we finally figured out why everyone was stopping at this exact spot to get their picture taken. This rock is the perfect example of how incredible Inca stonemasons and architecture was (and obviously still is today). This stone has a record 12 different points on it, and at any given time there is a line of people in front of it in a tour group, or posing for pictures, or even touching it for good luck. Our guide on the Cusco Free Walking Tour told us each stone took 13 months to carve. I’m curious if that length of time applies to this 12 point stone as well.

Check out this intricately carved balcony. It’s beautiful, don’t get me wrong- but there wasn’t much information given to us about who built it or perhaps who lived in the building, or why it’s worth a stop on a tour…

Next stop: Cusco Cathedral, or more formally; The Cathedral of Santo Domingo. We probably should have sprung for an entry ticket here, but we decided we would finish the walking tour first and then see if we had enough time to go into the church after.

We made a small loop around another smaller church and convent, through some Incan ruins, then past Quirikancha before heading back to finish the tour at Plaza de Armas. By the time we returned, some kind of shoot (either for a movie or simply a modeling shoot of some sort) was getting a lot of attention outside of Cusco Cathedral. It seemed as though every early evening or night something was going on in the Plaza. One night there was a car show of some sort, another night a giant stage was constructed, but by the time we passed through the square the next day, it had already been removed. I’m curious what the calendar looks like for the square, is it always so busy?

Day 376: Starbucks again?

This is what happens when you move to a new hotel, and you discover that it too, doesn’t have decent wi-fi. You decide to go back to Starbucks and continue planning the last month of your trip and uploading a few more photos. (At least the new hotel does have hot water, a great breakfast, and a nicer room!)

Day 375: Rain, Rain, Go Away!

We had big plans for the day. We were going to finish the Cusco Free Walking Tour, we were going to check out a field where you could frolick and play with llamas, and probably something else really fun and outdoorsy- and then en route to get a coffee before we met the walking tour where we left off, it started to rain. And it kept raining. So forgive me for another very boring post.

Day 374: Starbucks is the only place with decent wi-fi in Cusco

It’s a fact, Jack. I used to loath Starbucks, and then I went around the world and I have had to listen to Andrew complain about tiny cups of coffee that he would down in one sip… or how he asked for “black coffee” and was served coffee with copious amounts of milk and sugar instead… or how he can never find coffee with ice in it anywhere. Usually, Starbucks has a decent wi-fi connection, regardless of what country we’re in… So, off we went in hopes of Andrew having a coffee he was happy with and both of us having an internet connection strong enough so we could finally decide on a Spanish school, upload photos and videos, and possibly book some tickets home. Sometimes I feel bad for posting such a boring “day in a minute” and then I remind myself that the purpose of this blog is not to fool you into thinking that travel is awesome all the time. Because, as I’ve said before… it’s not always awesome, it’s not always super exciting, and sometimes it can be pretty boring -for you. For us, an afternoon of good coffee and an internet connection that doesn’t tempt me to throw my computer out the window is super exciting.

Day 373: Movie Day! I mean, Check out this parade!

Full disclosure: my mission for this day was to not leave our hotel room. And then late in the afternoon, I failed said mission… But only to go grab a pizza for dinner. Instead of forcing you to endure a boring post, including a video of us watching… videos… I’m cheating a bit and posting some video and super fun pictures from a parade that we stumbled upon a few nights ago. Because, really, it’s way more interesting. And if you’re a fan of drum-lines (like I TOTALLY AM) you might appreciate this parade because it seemed to be made up of drum-lines and dancers and it was awesome. We have no idea what it was for, but it was fun, and I can only hope we stumble upon another parade like this one before we leave!

Now, as for Day 373 and what we actually did, well, it was a whole lot of:

followed by:

then:

and, finally:

and it was awesome.