The City of Cusco, Land of the Incas
At around 3,400 meters above the sea level you may think you can reach for the clouds at the center of what was once called Tawantinsuyu meaning “The four regions linked together” and we know as the Inca Empire.
This was the first stop on my seventy days trip through Peru and Bolivia. From Porto to Madrid then to Lima and finally Cusco. After arriving at the Plaza de Armas, the main square of Cusco, I was searching for a nice cup of coffee when two girls seated on the garden bench said:
There is a Starbucks right next to the church
I smile and nicely told them that I didn’t traveled more than 10.000 km to go to Starbucks. They laughed and aim to a colonial building above the arcades with a blue balcony that said Cappuccino Café.
Decided to give it a try and passed through a corridor, went up a wooden staircase and grabbed a table next to the balcony overlooking the main square.
While looking at the people passing by, I began to wonder
How would this place look like before the arrival of the Spaniards, when there were no churches or arcades.
It was here where the Inca gathered with his people to worship and plead the sun to keep rising on the horizon every morning and not leave the earth in the darkness. Where today, we drink beer and pisco sour, they had been rising the Quiru (an ancient Incan drinking vessel) full of Chicha, a fermented drink made from corn.
Now, tourists and locals walk lighthearted on the same place where others, filled with reverence and respect, carried the mummies of their ancestors.
It was here where the Inca gathered with his people to worship and plead the sun to keep rising on the horizon every morning and not leave the earth in the darkness. Where today, we drink beer and pisco sour, they had been rising the Quiru (an ancient Incan drinking vessel) full of Chicha, a fermented drink made from corn.
Now, tourists and locals walk lighthearted on the same place where others, filled with reverence and respect, carried the mummies of their ancestors.
