Daily Life in a Developing Country - The Down Side

Our apartment in Cusco is a nice one, in a good area. We have 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a big living room, and a spectacular view of the valley of Cusco. It's one of the nicer places we've stayed this year. We also have no heat, no hot water heater, and no oven. It's winter here, and it gets to around 30F at night, though it's up to the mid-60s in the day. Our place is FREEZING!!! The heavy pile of alpaca blankets on our beds are warm... so warm that I find excuses to crawl under them earlier and earlier every night.

We were all miserable in the mornings especially, so we finally broke down and got a heater. Well - the kind of heater that one uses around here. We went to the Saturday market a week ago and bought a big clay pot with a hole in the side. It's sort of a Chimera. Then we spent a week looking for the alcohol we needed to burn i

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Pic For The Day - Piazza Salimbeni, Sienna, Italy

Yes, we're in Peru now, but we were traveling so much the past couple of months (21 beds in 45 days... three continents and five countries,) that we have quite a backlog of material -- . This is from Sienna, Italy.

Settling Into Peru

We've been in Peru for two weeks: adjusting to the time change and the altitude, finding an apartment, going to Lake Titicaca. We have lucked into the most wonderful moments. We can't wait to show you!

In the meantime - here's a shot of our first few days in Cusco, at 11,000 ft. This is what we did for the first 48 hours or so. Altitude in a bitch!!

Ella is addicted to the oxygen tank!!

Quick Postcard Of Sorts

There are so many ways to tell a story. Much to my families chagrin, I always pick the way with the most words involved. Well - not today! Today I will be short, concise, to the point. Today is a new day for me! A day of unlimited opportunity to use words wisely, and with prudence, and measure. To refrain from rambling on and on about things that don't pertain to the story at hand. 

I suck. I'll try again.

Owen and Ella at Mt VesuviusWe are in Morocco: Marrakech, Essaouira, Ait Ben Haddou, the Sahara on camels!!

Before Morocco we were in Italy: Pisa, Sienna, Florence, Pompeii, Rome.

When we leave Morocco we'll be in Madrid for a few days to catch our breath, and then we'll go to Peru. We'll be living in Cuzco, Peru for two months. We'll go to the Amazon, to Machu Picchu, to Lake Titicaca...

Then, we go home. We've booked our flight back to Los Angeles on August 10. As of yesterday, Bob has a job.

We have so many stories to tell you! So many pictures, videos, and stories are still in the pipeline that you'll be entertained for some time after the actual traveling has stopped. We will all be happy to pretend the 'real time' bit. After that the website will evolve...

Au Revoir, St Quentin la Poterie: Audio Blog

Our little town of St Quentin la Poterie is opening up, like Provence in Spring will do. It's a small town, and a quiet town. The streets are never full. You don't see more than a few people going from place to place. If you want to catch shops open, like the boucherie or the boulangerie that sells the better brioche, you have to be both a bit psychic and a little lucky.

In the last few weeks, things have been changing. People are everywhere! At lunchtime I see tables out, filled with diners, at restaurants that weren't even open when we arrived. The artisan workshops on every

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