December 7th:
Josh and I spent the morning packing while Theo was getting therapy from his Vision Therapist, Sara. After therapy was done we all jumped in the car and drove to Josh's coworkers (John) house so they could give us a ride to the Chicago Marriott Suites O-Hare hotel by the airport. Because of traffic, it took us almost an hour to get to the hotel. I felt so bad for John and his wife, Roxanne. Once we arrived and got checked into our room, I noticed that the cover for Theo's stroller was missing! UGH! It was left in our car and we NEEDED it! Josh called John and explained what was going on and John kindly offered to bring us the cover. Thanks again John and Roxanne! I'm sorry you had to spend your Friday night sitting in traffic!
December 8th:
The next morning we got up SUPER early to catch our flight to Miami.
[Even though Theo can't sit up on his own, we still got him his own seat on all of our flights. It was the best thing we ever did! Theo hates being held and he loves to lay down, so getting him his own seat was 100% worth the money!]
When we arrived in Miami, we met up with my parents, wished my dad a happy 60th birthday, updated our Will (yep, that's kinda a big deal), did some FaceTime-ing and Marco Polo-ing, grabbed some lunch, and then boarded the plane for our 5.5 hour flight to Lima, Peru.
[We bought an iPad mini and put some movies and music on it. Theo LOVED watching Toy Story and listening to his Disney music!]
Theo did great until he threw up right before we landed. Ugh. Poor little guy.
We arrived in Lima late that night, went through Customs, grabbed our bags (they ALL arrived!), and then walked across the street to the Costa del Sol Wyndham where we stayed the night.
December 9th:
The next morning we slept in, ate a nice breakfast buffet, gathered our things, walked back across the street to the airport, and caught our flight to Cusco, Peru.
[This is how we travel: two backpacks, two suitcases, a carseat bag, a stroller, and a baby!]
[Bread with the crust already cut off?!]
I LOVE airports in South America! You get treated like royalty if you have a baby! We were put in short lines, given priority boarding, and accommodated at every opportunity. It's VERY unlike The States. I asked if there was family boarding on our American Airlines flight in Miami and I was told no. I then asked if we could board a few zones early (we were in Zone 6 for boarding) because we had a baby and they, again, said no. It's a little shocking and maybe they would have accommodated us had they known Theo was "Special Needs," but whatever!
[Sleeping like a champ on our flight]
[Lima, Peru]
[I'm so glad I sat at the window for our flight (I usually like the aisle) because I got to see the gorgeous Andes Mountains for the first time!]
After landing in Cusco, we were greeted by a member of Condor Travel who took us to our private van, which would take us to our hotel in Urubamba (90 minutes away).
The drive through Cusco was a little crazy! No one follows the traffic rules, there are cars EVERYWHERE, and they all drive VERY fast (just like Cairo, Egypt).
We left the city and headed northwest through the mountains reaching elevations of ~12,000 feet.
We then descended into the Scared Valley, which is at ~9000 feet elevation.
**Side Note: I get altitude sickness. Apparently most people do if you ascend 8000 ft (or more) from where you are currently acclimated. Since I have been living in Chicago (594 feet) and I knew we would be visiting locations above 12,000 feet, I took this threat very seriously. So, I started taking Diamox 48 hours before we arrived in Peru and I drank Coca tea and took Zaca chewable tablets every day while we were there. I am happy to report that I never got sick! YAY!
[Tuk-tuk aka mototaxi]
We were taken to our beautiful hotel, Tambo del Inka, where we checked into our Deluxe Terrace Rooms and unpacked.
Since it was still early we decided to venture out on our own and see what Urubamba had to offer.
[COW!]
We walked a few blocks and found the Mercado de Urubamba (market). There was fresh meat, cheese, nuts, potatoes, quinoa, fruits, and vegetables. We wandered around the market looking for some copasu and maracuya, which my cousin, Brandon, recommended that we try. We couldn't find any copasu (you can only find it in the jungles apparently), but we did buy some delicious strawberries, cheese, and maracuya fruit.
[Maracuya fruit]
Next, we walked to the Plaza de Armas (Main Square) where we saw the Temple de San Pedro Apostol (Catholic Church).
We continued our walk, while dodging tuk-tuks, until we came across a small bakery on a pedestrian street.
We bought a couple of small treats and then made our way back to the Tambo del Inka for dinner at their restaurant, Hawa.
[Trout]
[Ceviche with Cusco corn]
[Potatoes]
[Beef]
[Trout]
Peruvian food is delicious and you can tell they are very proud of it! Did you know that in Peru there are 4000 different types of potatoes, 55 different types of corn, and 2000 different species of quinoa?! 😋
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