Call me “Captain,” because I’m eating beef heart
Marinated, char-grilled skewers of cow heart schmeared with hot pepper sauce, bought from a smoke-shrouded street food vendor. If that vision of Peruvian anticuchos doesn’t get your lips smacking, you may not be ready for this.
Cusco’s offally interesting Mercado Central
Though I’ve explored the aisles of markets all over the world, the meaty bits on display at the Mercado Central (Central Market) in Cusco, Peru challenge even my steady stomach.
The cult of saints, live and in person
Back in a college class about early religion, I read The Cult of the Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity by Peter Brown. Stay with me here…
The Incan slide at Sacsayhuamán, or Why your tour group and guidebook suck
Having poked around Sacsayhuamán, Todd and I head for a bouldery hill just across the site’s broad, grassy field. It looks like a sweet spot to relax and take in the whole of the extensive Incan ruins and the views…
Sacred and profane: Put a tout on it
We avoid making eye contact with most everyone in Cusco‘s Plaza de Armas. Being so shifty eyed makes chilling out on one of the main square’s park benches a little awkward. We want to people watch, because there are just…
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…
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!”
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…
