Captured: Transit of Venus 2012
Today’s transit of Venus is the last one we’ll see in our lifetimes. We were lucky to have a fog-free afternoon to watch the small dot traipse across the sun. We still had our eclipse glasses from our recent solar…
Sacred and profane: Put a cross on it
Neither Todd or I are religious. Ask us if we believe in god, and we’ll tell you stories instead. About how, when we first moved to San Francisco, we hosted a combined Passover Easter party and a Hindu guest knew…
Drawing of Cusco’s Iglesia la Compañía de Jesús
The Jesuits of the 1600s sure knew how use a church to get all up in the face of others. Built to outshine the nearby Catholic church, La Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús, or Church of the Society of…
“Ring of fire: How to chase a solar eclipse” on Indie Travel Podcast
Todd and I got a little nerdy recently. Okay, hella nerdy.
Sacred Valley, Peru travel guide – The YEH, MEH, NAHs
If Machu Picchu vanished, retrieved by Incan extra-terrestrials, the Sacred Valley would still be a top Peru destination. We visited in mid-March, at the tail end of Peru’s rainy season. I can’t imagine a better time to visit. The valley…
Buzz kill bus crash in Peru
First, to our friends and families: We’re fine. We were not on this bus. Pisac, Peru is a small town with a central area of cobblestone streets fit only for tour groups, pedestrians, packs of dogs, donkey-drawn carts, and wheelbarrows….
The hills are alive with the sound of pan flute
“Where’s. That. Music. Coming. From?” I ask Todd as we pause our up up uphill hike to the ruins over Pisac, Peru. “Do you. See. Anyone?” “Nope.” “Wait. Is that, pan flute? It is. Ugh, pan flute!”
Drawing of drinkers at a nameless Pisac bar
After a long, hot day spent exploring the old town of Pisac, Peru, I persuade Lauren to share a beer with me at a nameless bar. At the next table, four men laugh hard and loud together. Their accents and…
Cebollas y choclo at the Pisac Sunday Market
Some people like to window shop on chic urban streets, imagining themselves rocking an outfit worn by a headless anorexic mannequin. Me, I prefer to un-window shop (hush, you try to figure out an antonym of “window”) out in the…
Eating on the cheap at the Pisac Sunday Market
I can’t recall how we got the notion in our heads, but Peru is not a bargain travel destination. After a few too many expensive and yet disappointing restaurant meals, Todd and I are thrilled by the food stalls at…
