I returned from a 10 day trip to Peru to find the work in my office piled to the rafters.   Ugh!  Whatever iota of relaxation I felt during those ten days left rather quickly.   But what won’t ever leave are the fabulous memories of Peru, Machu Picchu and the wonderful Peruvian people.

We flew into Lima, the capital of Peru and spent a couple of days wandering around this very interesting city.   It is on the ocean and has a beautiful coast and a fascinating historical center with wonderful colonial architecture.   We then flew to Cusco, high up in the Andes mountains.  At 11,200 feet you have to take it slowly the first day.  For those of you who may live in the mountains, this may not seem like a big deal, but for us sea level dwellers, we experienced shortness of breath and headache.  A few cups of coca tea (yes, THAT coca) put us right.

The second day in Cusco we climbed to Sacsaywaman, also known as Sacsayhuaman which almost killed me.  Damn, those Incas loved steps.   A fascinating tour with Mario, a local shaman had us up there for over four hours. It was exhausting but well worth the trip.

I won’t bore you with ALL the details of our trip, but will show you some pictures of the main attraction...Machu Picchu. This ancient Incan site was magical and amazing and fabulous.  Here are just a few of the 1400 + pictures we took:

And look at this….the tiredest pre-colombian Peruvian that ever lived:

Oh,  the platters on the very top are a couple I painted for some very special people.  Cousin Tommy and Chrissy for their 25th wedding anniversary and the other for a couple that just got married.  Since I haven’t given it to them yet, I don’t want to spoil the surprise.

No matter how much fun vacations are, it’s always good to be home, with friends and family and in this case, back at sea level.