Cuzco

I've spent all week in Cuzco since returning from Machu Picchu. I've been attending Spanish lessons every afternoon, which means that I haven't had much spare time, but I have managed to see the main sights of Cuzco, including the Cathedral (below) and the Iglesia de la Compañia de Jesus in the Plaza de Armas, as well as the Iglesia de Santa Domingo, which is built on top of the remains of the Inca temple Qorikancha.

I also found time to visit Sacsayhuamán, which is an Inca fort and the nearest archaeological ruin to Cuzco (just 2km up the hill). The Inca leader Pachacutec envisioned the city of Cuzco as being in the shape of a puma, and Sacsayhuamán's zigzag walls formed the teeth. It had some impressive examples of stonework, which I've also seen in other Inca constructions around the city. There were good views of Cuzco (below), including the Plaza de Armas.

I've now completed my twenty hours of 1-on-1 Spanish lessons at a language school called Proyecto Peru. My teacher was Carina - she was very friendly, but she did have a tendency to ask very personal questions in the interest of practising conversational Spanish. Some examples of the less personal conversations we had (in Spanish) are Peruvian politics, the UK general election, the Spanish civil war, the plot of the movie Avatar, abortion, witches, magic, and the differing merits of South American women (she had a particularly low opinion of Colombian women). To be honest I was surprised I was able to have conversations in Spanish on any of those subjects.

Carina has been encouraging me to try the local foods, so I've been ticking them off one by one. So far I've had chicarrón (fried pork belly), rocoto relleno (spicy pepper stuffed with ground beef and vegetables), ceviche (a spicy lime-marinated seafood dish served cold), and pollo a la brasa (charcoal-cooked chicken with french fries). I haven't yet tried cuy (guinea pig), but I may take the plunge this evening.

For my final lesson this afternoon we left the school and went to what Carina called a 'mercado negro' to see a bit more of Cuzco life. I always thought 'black market' was an expression rather than a physical place, but apparently this was an actual black market, where most of the goods on sale were stolen. My only purchase was La Fiesta Del Chivo, a novel by the Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa, which Carina suggested I buy (unsurprisingly the book was a facsimile rather than a genuine copy).

My Spanish has definitely improved a lot, but I've still got a long way to go, and I may do some more lessons later in my trip.

I'm off to Arequipa early tomorrow morning, so this is my last night in Cuzco.