I have realized blog posting is not my thing. 2 weeks into this trip and this is my first blog post. Emma has been posting, so hopefully for the 3 people reading this, there was something interesting.  High point this week was the USA-Germany match, even though we didn't we. We still advanced, played well, and will face Belgium next week.  I honestly think we have a real chance of moving on to the quarterfinals.

Saw "Corcovado" or Big Jesus as we like to call him in Rio.  Kind of a pain to get there, but worth the view of Rio. Fighting the crowds to get a picture with him is worse than trying to get a picture with Justin Beiber.

Before that we hit one of the 7 natural wonders of the world, Iguazu Falls.  Some first lady years ago said when she saw it that she hopes Niagra never sees it or will feel embarrassed.  It was an impressive movement of water and it is no wonder that the Itapu Dam upstream provides 80% of the power for Paraguay and 20% of Brazil's.

In Ecuador now for 3 days in the Amazon, a night in the mountains, then the flight back home on July 3rd.  Has been quite an adventure so far and we are all still on speaking terms.

Gummy bears, Scots, and sleeping bags: the Inka Trail Experience

WE MADE IT! 

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOT WHOOT! 

Alright, that's out of my system.  Hello from the other side of the Inka Trail! The six of us are sore, tired, and rather loopy, but we are alive.  Phew.  

The past few days have been a blur.  We had a little bit of time in Cuzco, which we spent visiting ruins, trying yummy food (guinea pig- gross. alpaca- delicious,) and shopping.  They had an entire store filled with fancy alpaca sweaters! While this was all fun, what really counts was Machu Picchu. 

We woke up bright and early and picked up nine other strangers before headed out of Cuzco.  We stopped for breakfast along the way, and then reached our destination at the trail head.  Before I go any further, a little bit about the Inka Trail! There are hundreds of miles of trail used by the Inka empire all across South America, but this trek to Machu Picchu is special.  It has the title of being the most famous and the least touristy, because its protected very carefully by the government.  They only allow 200 hikers on the trail per day! So while there were groups other than our own, we ended up running into the same people over and over again.  

The trek length we chose was four days and three nights long.  We carried our own belongings, but porters carried the tents, cooking equipment, etc.  The days varied in length of trek, incline of hills, and conditions, which led to some days being easy, while others were MUCH harder. 

Who cares though? Not you.  You just want to know how it was.

Personally, it was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.  Incredibly challenging, sure.  But now I get to look back and say yes, I did that.  I hiked a trek longer than a marathon at high altitudes, carrying everything I had for four days on my back, while seeing some of the most breathtaking ruins and scenery the world has to offer.  While seeing a wonder of the world was an event of its own, I enjoyed the hike the most. Honestly, I'm not 100% sure how I feel.  I had to get up at five a.m. or earlier every day, climb endless steps, and push myself in ways I haven't before. What I do know is that the past four days have been the best vacation experience I have ever had.  

Some of the highlights:Meeting everyone in our group, especially the Scots! Eating part of a five and a half pound blue raspberry gummy bear with Lindsey at the top of Dead Woman's Pass.  Reaching the bottom of the Gringo Killer slopes.  Eating  cake at 12000 feet.  Writing our bucket lists with Lindsey and Maria. Swapping travel stories, bites of food, and laughs with everyone in our group.  Having the ruins of Intipata all to ourselves.  Watching the sunrise over a little known Inka ruin, seeing the sun catch the wisps of cloud floating above the Andes. REACHING MACHU PICCHU. Getting to hike through all of the ruins, especially Machu Picchu, and hear about the lives behind each block of stone.  Learning Scottish terms like Cream Crackered.

The Andes in general.  Wow.  Every time you blink, every step you take, there's another view, another sight to be seen. It truly takes your breath away, and not just because you're at altitude and every breath is a struggle.  Pictures will never do this trip justice, and I am usually a firm believer in pictures being worth a thousand words.  Nothing will ever accurately describe how it felt to reach the top of the first pass, and look into the valley below, and see that you are in the clouds. You forget the pain of the hike completely.

After Machu Picchu, we headed down to Aguas Calientes, where we ate lunch and shopped for the last time together.  Another two hours by train and two hours by bus later, we had arrived back in Cuzco, and now the six of us are in Sao Paulo, Brazil, after a rather anti climactic day of travel.  If it weren't for the muscle aches, I wouldn't believe that it had happened. I'm so exhausted, nay, cream crackered, that I cannot write another word.  Time for bed.

Ate logo!

Hello from Peru!

Hello everyone! The six of us have safely arrived in Peru, and reached Cuzco, after fifteen hours in airplanes, plus LOTS of time driving, sitting, etc... It's been a long couple of days! However, we're all here, we're all alive, and we're about to get some much needed sleep.  What more can you ask for?

I'm currently sitting in Hostel Corihuasi, drinking coca tea and ruminating over the past couple days.  It feels as if it has been weeks! We made it from Hotel Myren (gracias mi gente!) to Lima without too much difficulty, barring an almost catastrophe when we believed we'd left behind the Super Binder. We arrived in Lima and checked into our hotel before going out to eat at la Plaza de Armas.  We there established the 5 O'Clock Reset, a concept we learned from friends, where whatever happened during the day, we hit the reset button and enjoy the evening.  Yeah, sure, easier said than done, but the intention is what counts.  We then headed back to the hotel for less than five hours of sleep before getting up at three thirty the next day.  

This is where the fun began.

Today, our cab picked us up at four, we headed to the airport, and got through security with no trouble. When we boarded the plane, Hilary, Maria and I realized we were sitting in front of That Child.  Yes, That Child.  The one who kicks seats and is super loud and makes you daydream about a World War Z style plane disaster just so there will be a distraction and eventually some "quiet."  Every plane has a That Child. We'd been next to the previous That Child on the flight from Chicago to Panama, but this flight, from Lima to Cuzco, was only an hour.  We'd survive, even if this That Child was much more rowdy then the previous That Child.

The flight takes off, and we are nearly to Cuzco when an announcement begins, and from the nearly inaudible Spanish, we make out that there are weather problems, and that we're going to circle around for half an hour to see if they improve.  We do that.  Then, when we're done with that circle, another announcement, another notification that we'd do yet another circle.  Only after THIS circle are we told that the conditions are too bad, and that we're headed back for Lima.

Now, sure, this sounds like it sucks.  It's way worse than that though! Cuzco is at a much higher elevation, and we needed the two days at this altitude before beginning the Inka Trail, and if we didn't adjust, we'd get altitude sickness.  Fun, right? I had the fleeting catastrophization that maybe they wouldn't let us hike at all. (They plan two days of adjusting time in intentionally because flights often get delayed.  We probably would be fine.) So we take the hour long flight back, exhausted and annoyed, but knowing we will make the best of it.  Super Planner (alias: Peter Kaboli) would work his magic, and we'd get some sleep before seeing some of the Lima area.

We're scarcely off the plane in Lima when we're told that the weather has cleared up, and we're headed back to Cuzco.  We're boarding in twenty.

...

Well then.

Everything worked out.  We arrived in Cuzco four hours later than planned, and missed spending part of the day with friends of friends, but we arrived! The hostel managed to get us, we ate some yummy lunch, and then got in some much needed naps.  We also got to meet some really nice people in the airport - the couple who informed us of the second flight was one of the only other English speakers on the plane, and we spent the next forty so minutes talking to them!

We never actually exchanged names, but we learned about their travel stories, why they were here, where they'd been before, and what they were doing next.  (they've traveled all over Latin America, they wanted to have another big trip before having kids, they had just arrived from Ecuador and snorkeling in the Galapagos Islands (!!!) and they were doing stuff around Cuzco, including visiting Machu Picchu. I hope I'm half as cool as them when I'm married.) The people you meet while traveling are often the best type of people.  The ability to get out of your comfort zone, talk to strangers, and immerse yourself in a culture is not a common one.

Well, I don't know if its the obscene amounts of coca tea I've consumed, or the exhaustion, but the whole experience is already funny to me.  Maybe that's because it feels like it was months ago.  According to Dad, Comedy = Tragedy + Time. I have to get a real nights sleep now... I think I've how to sleep.

Adios!

Figuring out the blog thing

I'm still not sure I fully understand what I'm doing. Takes me a few minutes just to figure out how to login and make a posting.  3 days and counting before leaving country, so last minute packing and planning. Will be staying with the Myrens on Monday in Chicago before our flight to Peru via Panama. They hosted us 2 years ago on the way to China when they were living in Napa (see picture). Always nice to stay with them and eat their food.

Post #2. Testing to see if I can actually upload photos, since pictures are worth 1,000 words. (In my case, they are worth 2,000 of my words.) This is a picture from the USA v. Algeria match in 2008 in South Africa where Landon Donovan scored in the 91st minute to secure a trip to the 2nd round, only to get beat by Ghana, again. 

Creating a Travel Blog

I am hesitant to make a travel blog because I'm not sure if people really care what we do on vacation and even more, I'm not sure it is worth the trouble.  That being said, I don't use the Facebook or other social media with any regularity to use it as a way to share what we are doing for those three people who might actually be interested (yes, that is you Eli, Matt, and Nana).

And so it begins with this simple post.  I'm hoping Hilary, Emma, Anton, Liam, and Maria will contribute to make this more interesting than anything I could ever come up with!