Happy New Year
We`ve been on holiday for the past couple of New Years and they`ve been OK but nothing special. And these days we struggle to keeep our eyes open past 10pm anyway, so we weren`t expecting anything too spectacular for seeing in 2005. But Cusco was something else.
Our first proper day in Cusco was spent wandering the streets and watching life go by in the square. It`s a very beautiful city. We also visited a museum exhibiting lots of religious art. From the courtyard of the museum, you could see the Christo Blanco up on the hill, which was quite a sight.
We had a beer to celebrate New Year in England (7pm here) and then headed out for the night. Found a cosy little place down Gringo Alley for dinner – which we washed down with two bottles of wine – it was New Years Eve after all and the owner seemed quite insistent! Whilst in the restaurant, we had our first experience of “cuy”. This is the Peruvian delicacy of guinea pig. A couple next to us ordered a “cuy” each and from what we could see, a body was delivered to them on a plate with dark brown glazed legs stuck up in the air. It just didn`t look right. The guy looked as though he was struggling to chew around the bones, and choked loudly for a couple of minutes, but his girlfriend seemed to be quite enjoying her feast. We squirmed from a distance. Eug says that he still might try it one day.
After dinner, we headed to the Cross Keys pub in the main square which was fairly busy at 10.30pm but we found room at the bar to order a couple of Mega Pisco Sours each. Pisco is the famous grape brandy of Peru and Pisco Sour is the popular cocktail where the brandy is mixed with lime juice and egg white with a dash of cinammon. Nevertheless, it was bloody strong and hit the spot immediately! Our seats at the bar were fairly close to the Ladies’ toilet, whose queue was being permanently harrassed by a past-it Cuscuen not dissimilar to a cross between Magnum PI and Theophilus P Wilderbeast! His attempts at wooing were distainfully ignored by his targets who were far more interested in emptying their bladders.
The Mega Pisco Sour had added a further confident dimension to Eug, who struck up a conversation with the past-it perv. This concluded with Eug telling the guy that he was too old and ugly to be trying it on, he was annoying people, and he would be better off celebrating his New Year elsewhere! And the guy agreed with everything that Eug said. Oh how we laughed! But 2004 was coming to an end, so we snuck a Mega Pisco Sour into our pockets and tripped down the stairs to the main plaza.
So many people! Everywhere! The main square was packed. We were talking to complete strangers. Peruvian guys who were so happy to be in Cusco for New Year. And as 2005 arrived, so did the barrage of fireworks. They were everywhere and absolutely amazing. Again, no health and safety around here – light your firework in the crowd and let it go! Everyone in the square was wishing everyone else a Happy New Year. It was crazy! And this went on well into the morning. A mass of people were stampeding around the outside of the square en masse which was quite a sight. We found another new set of Peruvian friends who shared their rum with us (probably not such a good move!) and despite some language difficulties, we all had a good laugh together.
I have no idea what time we got back to the hotel. And January 1st was a bit of a washout – I couldn’t get up until early afternoon! Don’t think I’ll be able to touch a Pisco Sour again!
Tags: Peruvian tales
mihai
January 10th, 2005 at 8:22 pm
Sounds like a great time!!! My boyfriend is Peruvian and his family eat cuy sometimes….but they know not to do it when I am around. Yuck!!
January 13th, 2005 at 12:27 am
Thanks Tickles for your comments! Have you ever, ever eaten Cuy yourself or just stayed away from the kitchen when the pot is bubbling???