7-24
I had an afternoon flight from Cusco to Lima, so I had one last tasty Peruvian almuerzo in Cusco. I also did some last minute souvenir shopping. I arrived into Lima around 3pm and had to wait until my midnight flight in the airport. Around 11pm, they came on saying that the plane was delayed for mechanical and security reasons. So we sat there and sat there and sat there. Around 2am they brought out sandwiches and soft drinks. Eventually around 4am, they cancelled the flight. As this was a Lima to Houston flight, it was mostly Americans, and boy oh boy, after they cancelled the flight the uproar was crazy. And then when United representatives asked for our passports so that they could cancel our departure stamp so we could enter back into Peru (the customs people didn't want a huge plane-full of people going back through so we were supposed to give our passports to United people) there was another huge outcry as people did not want to give up their passports...c'mon people, like United agents at a big int'l airport are going to run off with your passport. Almost everyone was so pissed off. It was actually kind of funny (and embarassing) for me. Apparently these people had not had the same kind of tour through Peru and South America as me. To me this wasn't too big a thing. Just another small bump in travel. So after we got our passports back we headed retrieved our luggage and then headed back to the check in places to get re-booked for tomorrow. We then boarded a bus that would take us to the very fancy Sheraton. I definitely wasn't complaining. I was going to get a night at a fancy hotel with a bunch of fancy meals. I was actually excited, just another part of the travel experience.
On the bus I met one of the coolest families ever. Paul and Kristen and their two daughters Perrin and Eva. They live in Denver, but they are all Ski Patrol at Winter Park, the two girls being Junior Ski Patrol. Eva will be a junior at I think Denver East HS and Perrin a freshman at Lawrence College in Wisconsin. They seriously were such an awesome family. Both parents were so nice and fun and the girls were best friends and so sweet. There relationship reminded me of my relationship with my Bro.
By the time we checked into the hotel and sent off emails letting our loved ones know that they shouldn't pick us up at the airport, it was 7am and time for breakfast. So my new family and I (they quickly adopted me into their family) had a great breakfast at the big and fancy breakfast buffet. We then headed off to our suites to take a nap.
We reconvened for lunch which was another buffet with an amazing spread of food, including some ridiculously tasty salmon. After lunch, we took showers, cleaned up and hit the town. The family had actually had a quick tour of Lima the day before since we had the late flight, so they toured me around a bit on foot. I was actually surprised at how interesting the city was. Lima gets a pretty bad rap, but the architecture was cool and the city was definitely alive. They showed me the main squares and then we went to the oldest bar and coffee shop in Lima where Paul bought us all espressos. We then rushed back to the hotel to catch the bus back to the airport.
At the airport the family and i had a big meal at the food court courtesy of United. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 12am, but it was delayed and we left around 2am, but I was still able to make my connecting flight to Denver. The family was on a later flight, so I had to say a very sad goodbye to them in Houston, though we have kept in touch via email, and I figure I will see them again.
I was so excited to see mom waiting for me at DIA. One of the hardest parts about traveling is being away from my family, especially mom. She took me out to a nice lunch at an italian place, bought me some cocktails and then we headed to Longmont for me to do my drug test for Antarctica.
Then I finally arrived up to Estes Park, which was as beautiful as ever. I immediately saw how close the fire had come to our house, which was amazing.
I had an afternoon flight from Cusco to Lima, so I had one last tasty Peruvian almuerzo in Cusco. I also did some last minute souvenir shopping. I arrived into Lima around 3pm and had to wait until my midnight flight in the airport. Around 11pm, they came on saying that the plane was delayed for mechanical and security reasons. So we sat there and sat there and sat there. Around 2am they brought out sandwiches and soft drinks. Eventually around 4am, they cancelled the flight. As this was a Lima to Houston flight, it was mostly Americans, and boy oh boy, after they cancelled the flight the uproar was crazy. And then when United representatives asked for our passports so that they could cancel our departure stamp so we could enter back into Peru (the customs people didn't want a huge plane-full of people going back through so we were supposed to give our passports to United people) there was another huge outcry as people did not want to give up their passports...c'mon people, like United agents at a big int'l airport are going to run off with your passport. Almost everyone was so pissed off. It was actually kind of funny (and embarassing) for me. Apparently these people had not had the same kind of tour through Peru and South America as me. To me this wasn't too big a thing. Just another small bump in travel. So after we got our passports back we headed retrieved our luggage and then headed back to the check in places to get re-booked for tomorrow. We then boarded a bus that would take us to the very fancy Sheraton. I definitely wasn't complaining. I was going to get a night at a fancy hotel with a bunch of fancy meals. I was actually excited, just another part of the travel experience.
On the bus I met one of the coolest families ever. Paul and Kristen and their two daughters Perrin and Eva. They live in Denver, but they are all Ski Patrol at Winter Park, the two girls being Junior Ski Patrol. Eva will be a junior at I think Denver East HS and Perrin a freshman at Lawrence College in Wisconsin. They seriously were such an awesome family. Both parents were so nice and fun and the girls were best friends and so sweet. There relationship reminded me of my relationship with my Bro.
By the time we checked into the hotel and sent off emails letting our loved ones know that they shouldn't pick us up at the airport, it was 7am and time for breakfast. So my new family and I (they quickly adopted me into their family) had a great breakfast at the big and fancy breakfast buffet. We then headed off to our suites to take a nap.
We reconvened for lunch which was another buffet with an amazing spread of food, including some ridiculously tasty salmon. After lunch, we took showers, cleaned up and hit the town. The family had actually had a quick tour of Lima the day before since we had the late flight, so they toured me around a bit on foot. I was actually surprised at how interesting the city was. Lima gets a pretty bad rap, but the architecture was cool and the city was definitely alive. They showed me the main squares and then we went to the oldest bar and coffee shop in Lima where Paul bought us all espressos. We then rushed back to the hotel to catch the bus back to the airport.
At the airport the family and i had a big meal at the food court courtesy of United. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 12am, but it was delayed and we left around 2am, but I was still able to make my connecting flight to Denver. The family was on a later flight, so I had to say a very sad goodbye to them in Houston, though we have kept in touch via email, and I figure I will see them again.
I was so excited to see mom waiting for me at DIA. One of the hardest parts about traveling is being away from my family, especially mom. She took me out to a nice lunch at an italian place, bought me some cocktails and then we headed to Longmont for me to do my drug test for Antarctica.
Then I finally arrived up to Estes Park, which was as beautiful as ever. I immediately saw how close the fire had come to our house, which was amazing.
No comments:
Post a Comment