Day 19: A Horse Show and Small Town Wandering in Urubamba
What a difference a good night’s sleep makes. James awoke a new man. Which is good because we had an unstructured day.
It began with breakfast followed by school. We’re getting better at this. As our friend and fellow homeschooler Leslie said, it’s all about tricking them. So – we tricked them into a solid morning of learning. Also: This site is great.
Willa can tell you a lot about Machu Picchu right now. Best part: After she read aloud about the city, the Incas and then Hiram Bingham, the American explorer, I asked her: “Who rediscovered Machu Picchu?” Totally earnestly, she goes: “The local boy who led Hiram Bingham to it.” Ha! Amen.
We stopped by the stables for a 7-minute horse ride afterward. Willa hopped up but James refused. Teddy took his spot — and when his horse handler let go of the reins and expected them to just take off in a gallop, Teddy pleaded “no, no ajuda pro favor, ayuda.” (Help, please, help!) Ha!!
We also checked in with the colt, who we learned was just 3 months old.
Two little boys.
We ate lunch near the stables to be able to watch a performance of four dancing/prancing horses led by riders in matching ponchos. There was this one horse who could barely contain his excitement. The music owned him. Flopping and swinging his legs everywhere.
We bummed around the beautiful property for a bit after lunch.
Later in the afternoon we took taxis into downtown Urubamba, a small town with very little tourist scene. Kind of surprising, considering proximity to Machu Picchu.
Street dog mid-street nap when we set out in our cab.
We walked a decent amount with some whining but not a lot.
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Football store caught his eye
Saw a massive covered market — not a trinket market but an actual market with like toothpaste and pig feet. One of the best ways to spend an afternoon, if you ask me.
At one point Claire called Lobsy and the two of them chit chatted about work and life which would have been totally normal except the context on Lobsy’s end of the line. I had to take a pic to text Claire after.
I’d been dying to buy a crude-ish metal citrus squeezer like the one our chef used in Colombia during the cooking lesson, and found one for $1. I’m so excited about it – sparks joy! Lobsy bought one of the babies back home a super soft alpaca sweater.
We also visited a semi-renowned ceramicist’s studio — and got to meet him.
Dinner was in town at El Huacatay — delicious. Our waiter Jorge had a New Jersey affect when he talked. Then he disappeared halfway through our meal — literally saw him run out of the restaurant with his bag — then reappeared at the end saying he was a former cop and had to tend to something. Okaaay.
Capped the night with a Willa-Izzy video chat, which was *very* exciting for both girls.
Of note:
These toys have been officially added to the MVP list of items we packed.
The kids love speaking Spanish. “Agua con gas” is their most-frequently uttered word (“sparkling water”) since we’ve been logging a lot of restaurant time.
