Sep. 15, 2016.  Flight Lima to Cusco.  Cuzco Marriott.

• Up at 5, 45 minute taxi to Lima airport, checked in, had a Subway, one hour wait, and we are off at 8 for the 1 hr 20 min flight to Cusco.  Checked into the Cusco Marriott by 9:30, then a day with Len.  He first had to get his Machu Picchu ticket straightened out, which was fast, then a bunch of stuff.  Started off with the Plaza de Armas, which had a giant parade of groups (school classes? Clubs?) of students in traditional Inca outfits, accompanied by pipes, drums, and a screaming announcer that kept it up for hours.  We watched from the bleachers, then sat right on the edge of the sidewalk, then started cutting into the middle for closeups.  Nobody seemed to mind, they all posed, the pictures are going to be great.  In addition, there were ladies even more elaborately costumed, holding baby llamas.  Oh my, it doesn't get any cuter.  These ladies required a tip: one sol (around thirty cents) for a photo.  

• We hung around the Plaza de Armas for awhile, then walked down to a museum we had passed earlier: Museo de Machu Picchu.  Wonderful old photos of MP when it was first "discovered" by Hiram Brigham in 1911; a scale model with accompanying video, which lit up each appropriate section as it was being discussed; other videos of how its purpose was finely "definitely" determined by modern technologies to be a royal retreat or the country palace of Pachacutec, the ninth inca.  But it isn't settled yet - I just did a web search, and read of five competing theories.

• Next was the Museo Inka, kind of fun, with all sorts of stuff, but no photos (I sneaked a few, including one of the mummies).  In the courtyard photographed Andean weavers.

• Next we decided to hoof it up behind the Museo Inka to the Mirador de San Blas, with great views over the city (duh) - all the roofs of the center area are covered in terra cotta tiles - the Cusco Design Commission must have set the standard.  Walked back down very narrow, steep streets with room for one car and sidewalks about one foot wide.  Len had a snack at Starbucks on the main plaza, then back to the room for a rest.  

• Out again around 7 for a meal at a restaurant I found in Lonely Planet - local folks, juices, sandwiches, really tasty.  And cheap.  We loved it.  The action on the streets and in the main plaza was still nonstop, with an amazing energy - tourists, school kids, women in traditional costumes with llama babies, police women in smart outfits blowing whistles and directing traffic, and very crowded.  What a city.

• Trying to figure out how to spend the next few days, and it isn't easy.  I'm letting Len lead the way, but we aren't sure of Bruce & Che's plans, so we may have to just wing it.

• Just took a bath (!) followed by a shower, used all the extras, now in a bathrobe, it is 9:30, time to read some more of the wonderful book Len gave me: Death in the Andes, by Mario Vargas Llosa.  Takes place (so far) on and near the road from Lima to Cusco.  Very timely.