Come to Peru for the...pizza?

Good evening dear readers!  It's been an eventful, and long, day.  Let's get to it, shall we?

As much as I love our hotel, the walls aren't very thick. I woke up around six this morning to people screaming at each other on the street.  I figured I'd just roll over and go back to sleep, but then at seven, one of those bands I mentioned in my previous post started up and did not stop.  Despite my aversion to getting out of bed early in the morning, I decided that there was no way I was going to sleep through the music.  So I got up and grabbed some breakfast.

The first thing Mike and I saw today was the Iglesia y Convento de la Merced.  We were the only people there, which was great.  I love exploring places when no one else is around. The ceilings were pieces of art in themselves and there were Cusquena paintings that lined the cloisters.  The most amazing thing we saw there was a monstrance that had over 600 pearls, 1500 diamonds, and about 22 kilograms of gold.  It stood a meter high and was absolutely stunning.

 The Monstrance (via)

After we finished exploring there, we decided to head back to the Plaza de Armas.  Thoe bands I mentioned earlier were there, along with dancers in beautiful costumes.  It looked like a continuation of the Corpus Christi festival, which was (and still is) confusing to us. We were under the impression that Corpus Christi ended yesterday, but from what I gathered from a Google search, at dawn the day after Corpus Christi ends, there is another procession of five virgins and four saints around the square.  The Saints then go back to the cathedral to receive homage.  I think that the band and the dancers tie into that.  Honestly, I'm still not quite sure I understand all this, so if I'm totally wrong, please feel free to correct me.

Confused or not, the costumes of those passing by us were amazing.  Since the video I took wouldn't upload, here are some pictures:

After the parade was done, we headed a little bit north of the Plaza to check out the Museo Inka.  It has 10,000 artifacts, including mummies.  There were pieces in there that were as old as 8000 B.C.  It was pretty neat to see since I haven't really seen many artifacts that old from this part of the world.  Then we headed over to the Cathedral in the main square.  Let me tell you, the cathedral is much, much bigger than it looks.  There are three parts to the church, and ten smaller chapels in the nave that were incredibly elaborate.  It was one of the more expensive sites to get into, but it was well worth it.

Outside the Cathedral.

After doing our fair share of walking, Mike and I got lunch.  Between a food coma and sleep deprivation, we came back to the hotel to take a nap.  Of course, as soon as we got to lie down, the cleaners came in to tidy our room.  We vacated the room, drank some coca tea, then got bored.  We decided to go check out the Convento de Santo Domingo del Cusco, or Qorikancha, since it's across the street from where we are staying.  Honestly, we didn't expect much.  But to our surprise, it ended up being our favorite place that we went to today.

Qorikancha was the Inca sun temple and one of the most important temples in the empire. The walls used to be covered in gold, but that didn't survive the Spanish's conquest.  The Spanish then decided to build the Church of Santo Domingo on top of the Inca foundations, after destroying the temple they found there. Mike and I had a lot of fun walking around and exploring the Inca ruins and the gardens outside.

Some of the Inca stonework.

The gardens and Cusco in the background.

We came back, took a nap, and then decided to go out for dinner.  After referencing my TripAdvisor app, I learned that one of the best pizza places in Cusco, La Pizza Carlo, is down the street from our hotel.  Fun fact about this part of Peru - the people here love their Italian food.  I've had pasta twice and just about everywhere offers pizza.  So we made the three minute walk to dinner and were not disappointed.  This restaurant only had room for four tables and you got to watch as they made the pizza and put it in the clay oven.  If you're going to Cusco, I highly recommend this place.

It's been a long day.  Mike is currently asleep next to me and I'm trying very hard to keep my eyes open.  Tomorrow we're going to a town in the Sacred Valley called Ollantaytambo. I guess I should get some sleep if I want to go exploring when we get there.  Until the next time I have reliable internet!