This is dedicated entirely to my very famous husband, Daniel Nieto~ In Lima, Peru, there are 3 streets named after him. Unfortunately, this is the only safe one that we were able to commemorate for Daniel. "Daniel, we are so proud of you for reaching this milestone in your life! Congratulations!"

For Dad's birthday present, Mom and I arranged for Dad to go for a ride on a Peruvian Paso Horse. He made the ride through the Sacred Valley, little villages, and very high altitudes. Dad said after, that it was the best ride of his life! Too bad I wasn't able to get a picture of him on his horse.

Here in Cuzco were a cute group of Cholitas. This is the tradition clothing that the local people wear.




And then a 9 year old girl showing us how they weave all their clothes and blankets.

Here were a few better places to eat. The first place was in the Plaza de Armas in Cuzco. The other restaurant "Chepita Picanteria" was in a town called Urubamba. NEVER in my life have I see a plate with so much food. I knew the serving size before we got there as I was there with Dan on my first trip to Urubamba, so I ordered a side of fried bananas and a cob of corn (choclo). Even that was piled high! But not like mom's! What do you think? Are her eyes bigger than her stomach? And I can't forget the "chicha" a fermented corn beverage. Luckily they never let dad drink that whole mug, otherwise we would have probably had to carry him out of there on our backs!

Anybody Hungry??.....

Here is the In House Specialty:
Soup of
Tongue
Tripe
Head
Eye
Ear
Feet
Chicken
Beer
Pop

....anyone for seconds???
oh don't worry it is only the broth, no chunks involved!

Oh ya and Dad likes shopping too!! You'll have to ask him how he likes alpaca socks!!! Every market or stand we came across, the first thing Dad would pick up was always socks! hehehe I think he ended up going back to Canada with at least 10 pairs!!! But the sock here can't beat the fashionable hats....I hope none of you are greenpeace animal lovers! Also another really neat experience he had with markets, was the one he is standing in with the lovely hat. A little girl saw him looking at some copper spurs for cowboy boots and she was trying her best to sell them to him. Unfortunately they were so heavy that Dad was forced to say no to the little girl. "How would he ever get these home", he thought. I am sure that Dad forgot about them, as we were really busy site-seeing and stuff. But at one of the last places that we stopped on our way through the Sacred Valley, we stopped in this little town called Chinchero. There was this huge open market! Heaven!!! We were looking around, shopping for "socks" and my dad felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and there she was, the little girl from the Cuzco market, holding the same spurs. How could he resist this little face and the fact that she had found him so many miles away.My dad ended up taking home a very heavy set of copper spurs and a wonderful memory.

So just to test my spanish abilities, I decided to take mom and dad on a trip to Machu Picchu. I am sure that God was guiding my words, as we made it to Cuzco, Machu Piccu and many other little towns along the way, without mishap. It was a very memerable trip, showing my parents another side of Peru. We were there for 5 days and enjoyed every minute. I don't think I have had a chance to spend so much time with my parents at one time and I wouldn't have traded that time for anything. I will nevert forget it!

Here is mom and I, doing what we do best. SHOPPING!!! We were at my favorite place in Peru. The Indian Market. That is where you can buy all the neat nick-nacks that clutter up your house, but they are so cute that you can't resist!!! And then there is the silver jewlery..........the neverending story!

Here are some pictures of when my parents were able to visit the family here in Lima. It was neat to see their hearts bond with the new extended family. My parents were hoping that we would stay in Peru longer so that they would be able to visit our family here again. Even now, merely a year later, both sides frequently mention what a wonderful time they had together!!

1. Tio Coco, Prima Fabita, Jan, Amy, Primo Coquito
Tia Faby, Dad, Mom and Gina

2. Me, Dan, Valerita, Gina, Prima Valeria, Prima Veronica, and Carlitos

3. Dad, Mom, Gina, Abuelita, Prima Claudia, Richie
Tia Irma, Tia Chabuca, Alverito and Ricardito

4. Dan, Me, Tio Augustin, Prima MariaEugenia, Patito, Dad, Mom, Gina and Tia Patricia

Tio (Uncle)
Tia (Aunt)
Prima (Cousin)
Abuelita (Grandma)

January 22, 2006.
Our First Anniversary.
It was really nice to have my parents and Dan's mom here in Peru for our first Anniversary. We were sorry that Dan's dad was not able to make it. We took our parents to the restaurant where Dan proposed to me. "How Romantic". We had a lovely dinner there and watched the sun set over the Pacific Ocean.

We also saw a few mummies that were pretty creepy! The picture of the gold crown is one that was given to Colombia and the conqueror, Simon Bolivar by the Peruvian Incas after they helped Peru defeat the Spanish in 1825. The crown was hand made of 10 layers of gold with 47 gold leaves, 49 pearls, and 283 diamonds. It weighs close to 2 lbs!

Here are some painting and gold artifacts that we saw at some of the museums in Bogotá. There was a huge collection of painting and sculptures from Fernando Botero ( for the brave you can check out more of his stuff here): http://www.fernandobotero.com/, a collection from Picasso, Monet, Renoir and many more.

Bogotá, Colombia. It wasn't as scary as people make it out to be. Though we were told what areas of town to stay away from. We made another trip up a gondola and then back down on a train. It was pretty scary seeing as it all seemed to be very old. It was cool going through the tunnel in the pitch dark, and then finally seeing the light at the end. We took a trip to the Plaza de Armas to see the cathedrals and government buildings. I know I am kinda partial to Peru, but the truth is....the Plaza de Armas in Lima is the most beautiful plaza in South America!! So here are pictures of the main Cathedral, and parliament. Then we have us overlooking Bogotá and the train ride down through the tunnel and out the other end.

Here we are in the City of Caracas, Venezuela. Where there is cheap gas and great food. I flew with Dan in the cockpit this flight as the back was too full for me. How nice it is to work for a company "where everybody knows your name"....and they're always glad you came...... We took a trip up a gondola(teleferico) to the top of a mountain that overlooks the entire city of Caracas. At the top there are restaurants, hiking, a church and an ice skating rink. Once at the top, you can see the Caribbean Ocean as well. It is such a beautiful view! We didn't have much time to explore Venezuela, but we did manage to find a great chocolate place and the best hotdogs of our lives!!!