Archive for February, 2007
Monday, February 19th, 2007
Peru Update 1
Hola everyone,
This is the first of my travel updates, yay! It has been about a month now that Damon and I have been in Peru and Toronto feels very far away. We started out in Lima, Barranco actually – a beautiful neighbourhood in Lima right on the ocean. We had intended on only spending a day or two there and making our way toward Cusco but the dreaded traveller’s illness had us grounded for about 4 days. We were staying in a hostel with a very nice
woman named Doris who cleaned the rooms and helped me buy antibiotics for
Damon at midnight. With her limited English and my limited Spanish we were
able to communicate with the pharmacist and the transaction was completed
through the locked gate of the pharmacy. Damon started feeling better
right away but we were still ill for a few days and resorted to eating
bland rice and quinoa.
No Comments » - Posted in Travel by Melanie
Saturday, February 17th, 2007
Inca Food
When in Cusco, Peru, heart of the ancient Inca empire, it would be hard to find a restaurant name more generic than “Inca Food”, yet on a friend’s recommendation, Mel and I found ourselves tucked in a corner of this far less than generic restaurant in Cusco’s historic San Blas neighborhood. Just half a block from the central art museum, itself a Spanish construction on a base of precise Incan stonework, we’ve found one of the few restaurants in the neighborhood that actually plays peruvian music—every other restaurant we have attended so far has had their radio pinned to one of the handful of 80s stations.
“Inca Food” offers a variety of traditional and modernized dishes, including this gorgeously prepared Alpaca meat breaded not with wheat but with whole quinoa.
Mel continues to be surprised at how much food one gets for so few Soles. Here, the set menu includes a beef stew, a main dish of either Chicken or fish, and a small dessert for under US$3.
The peaceful ambience is complemented by rather attractive contemporary and traditional art. Unpretentious and inviting, this was a good night out and a good find.
