Happy Easter! 

Today started with a beautiful awakening at our incredible hotel. It has been created by a Frenchman and his family who have created it from scratch or bare ground. He wants us to believe that this is our home while in the Sacred Valley. It is absolutely stunning and so comfortable. The breakfast was delicious with scrambled eggs, little banana pancakes, fruit, yogurt, pastries and  beverages. 

We left there to travel to Ollantaytambuto which was an ancient religious and military place. We climbed to the top of it which had about 300 steps to it. We were told it was training for Macchu Picchu tomorrow. Yikes. There were many stops going up as our flat prairie bodies are not used to inclines like that and the altitude that we are now experiencing . It makes one appreciate just how flat Saskatchewan is 😊

We toured a small pottery making facility where we could “miraculously” also purchase some pieces to take home with us. Very wonderful items here. 

Tried some alpaca meat today. Tastes a lot like beef. 

We visited a little shop where they did weaving of alpaca and sheep wool. They showed us how they wash the greasy sheep wool, dye all wool and then weave it. Super cool demonstration. Paris, Cara and Torri were in on the dying of the wool. It was really really interesting!  We may have come away with a few treasures from there – scarves, gloves, toques, table runners, and even socks! Danna felt that the whole experience felt we were on “The Amazing Race” getting another aspect of their culture. 

We have noticed some different ranching techniques. While Canadian ranchers spend a lot of money creating fences, some of the Peruvians just put all their animals on leashes or tethers to clean up the ditches and pastures – cattle, donkeys, sheep, pigs, alpacas, and llamas. They are everywhere. It has been developed into a passion of mine looking for the perfect picture of a pig on a leash. 😜 I’m sure Leah is eager to find a new seat mate for the bus. 

We also noticed that some ranchers build a few fences with dirt and then plant cactus on the top of their fence. That would deter someone from climbing over, under or through it. Ouch. 

Spanish words we are hearing lots:  Chico- boys, chica- girls. 

We visited the salt mines late this afternoon. It was crazy high as the little dirt road getting to the mine was very similar to the road to Hana on Maui or the road on the northwest of Maui. Our bus driver certainly earned his tip today getting us all there safely. Whew!  The excitement doesn’t end on this trip. 

Tomorrow  will early as we have a wake up call at 4 am for our train ride to Macchu Picchu. Good night. Sorry for zero pictures as the wifi just isn’t strong enough to post them. 

We are off! 

We have done a rough count of all the “necessities” that we brought with us. We figure we have at least 100 granola bars among the 13 of us. I guess we are hedging our bets in case we get fed guinea pig 😳. 

The first leg of using Avianca Air from Toronto to San Salvador was a huge hit – lots of leg room, two meals and free “refreshments”! 

The second leg wasn’t as plush, but we have arrived to a fishy smelling Lima with everyone’s luggage. Onwards to adventures tomorrow after a little sleep. 

It will be an early morning for the YG travellers tomorrow as our flight leaves at 515 am with the end destination of Lima, Peru! All the bags are packed and excitement is running high. Bring on the adventure!!

• “What money comes out of the ATM?”
• “I was singing cume-bi-ya, singing and telling people that Jesus loves them and you were driving around in your car with the windows up smoking!”
• Going to the beach and looking at each other – one of us thinking we were swimming the other not wanting to
• “Sister Justine” being called a car-putt-ya”
• All of the people on our trip reminding us of others from a cousin, 2 friends, a neighbor, an lovely aunt, and a grandma
• Gelato every day. Every day. Lemon, raspberry, apricot, espresso were the best. We really didn’t find one we didn’t like. 😜
• The little narrow streets with cobblestones 
• All the winking Justine received. Mom didn’t get any. 😳
• Justine telling me to stop shopping. Mom you don’t need that. 
• Justine having an uncanny sense of direction while I lost mine. 
• All the phallic references: actual statues, paintings, Pompeii, key chains, pasta, underwear, oil bottles. 
• The not great wifi
• The accommodations. Always good, but pretty small, narrow, extra firm beds in Sorrrento. 
• Landing in Rome, then Naples, sailing to and around Capri, scenic driving to Amalfi, the sketchy drive back to Sorrento from Amalfi and meeting the garbage truck, the drive to Rome, flying home and being delayed. 
• Our uber cab driver in Naples. Was he just some guy wanting to make some money???
• Going on the mozzarella farm tour. Watching this lady make cheese, and sitting down with our tour mates and the meal being very quiet until the wine got poured. Jesse, Louis and Lenore from New Jersey were so fun. Jesse was a hoot and a half while his lil brother Louis was so quiet. 
• Meeting Nancy from New Orleans and Julie from Denver and becoming good buddies with them. 
• Checking “find my iPhone” and seeing where our family was – 2 on on one part of the world and the other 2 on a different side. 
• The heat. Sweating A LOT every day. Wearing everything I brought on this trip, except for rain jacket and long sleeve sweater. Rick Steeves packing list does work, but I’m happy I brought more shirts that he suggested. 
• Texting with Leah and feeling a connection with home when she was in Europe. 
• Thank goodness for FaceTime and texting. Staying in touch with home made it easier to be away from Allen and Carter (and Sophie and Magi)
• Spending over a week with my daughter. The best memory of it all. 

Today was our last day in Rome. We prepared for excessive heat and we were peasantry surprised with a cloudy day. Still warm, but at least it wasn’t bearing down on us like we had been warned about. We visited the Colisseum and the Roman Forum in the morning with a small bus tour following that. The amount of history here continues to amaze us. 

We returned to the hotel for lunch. Justine and I are going to go into gelato withdrawal next week as we are beginning to think that gelato is a meal all on its own. Today we found apricot, raspberry and the fave lemon. 

We went on a walking tour this afternoon to the Spanish Stepps, Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon, which is always a favourite of mine. We have learned to appreciate our fellow travellers for all their gifts, questions, and need to shop. 😊

We finished today with a final group supper of pasta with carbonara sauce, veal (poor little calves😳) and tiramisu. Yum! 

The trip has been awesome and I appreciate the special adventures I was privileged to do with my daughter. Hope she doesn’t mind travelling with someone who doesn’t walk nearly as fast as she does. Justine always wore our step counter and some days would make us walk extra distances to hit her goal of at least 12000 steps. I feel like I’ve been on a “Workout Retreat with Justine”. Come on, Mom – let’s take the stairs is something I heard often. I love my girl and I’m very proud of the young woman she has grown into being – even if she makes me take a gazillion stairs when my ankles are already swollen to giant size. 

We begin our journey home tomorrow and are supposed to arrive in Regina around 6 pm. Ciao! 

Today we drove to Roma and left Naples, Sorrento, Amalfi and Capri. The temp is supposed to be 100 degrees today. 

• First stop en route is to a monastery in Montecassina.  When we arrived there, the “carpootias” were singled out  because of bare shoulders and bare thighs. Roughly translated, “the prostitutes”. OMG. My poor little Justine being called that!!  Anyways, all of the “inappropriate” ones received blue towels to wrap their shoulders and legs in to make it all ok. We zipped through the cathedral and museum. 
• Stopped for lunch of Itaian cuisine, in this order: bruschetta, pasta, wine, salad, and then French  fries. Even the Italian descendants sitting with us thought it was a little weird. 
• Arrived in Rome to a Best Western just done the street from the Colesseum.