Hello readers!

Aidan speaking.

Today was a day my peers and I will most likely never forget. Why? Because this day we trekked to the glorious and awe-inspiring ruins of Machu Picchu. The start of the day included myself being fashionably late waking up and having to sprint down to the train station with nothing in my stomach but ambition. We boarded the train one by one until the entire front car was filled with our excitement. Following was roughly a two-hour train ride. Thirty minutes in the excitement had died down and our group began to rest their heads, realizing how early it was. Upon arrival we were greeted by vibrant colors of the market and our tour guide’s ear-to-ear smile. From the train station we headed towards the bus station where we would take a seemly dangerous ride up the face of the mountain. Once we arrived the sites we had seen previously in magazines and on posters in our Spanish classrooms were all they had lived up to be and more. Our tour guide brought us up close with the Ancient Incan ruins. He was not only kind but provided a large pool of knowledge that we all took turns sipping from. After the tour we found a nice Incan terrace to relax on and soak in the Peruvian history. After we had all recharged our batteries, we decided to take pictures that we would hold onto for the rest of our lives. These pictures that we would one day show to our children, bragging about how cool we were. After about an hour of picture taking we took one last savoring look of what once was a thriving civilization before we boarded our bus. Departing the bus we helped ourselves to a buffet dinner, which was free of charge courtesy of the owner who was a fan of marinara dancing. (Sra. Viacava is a Peruvian celebrity known for winning many marinara championships) After dinner we shopped as we weaved our way through a maze of stands selling bags, jewelry, hats, ect. Reminiscing on the day, we rode the train back to our cozy family homes in Ollantaytambo.

Adios Amigos!