Tapestry and Chit-chatting in Cusco – Day 480

It was Tim’s Birthday and what a delightful day, visiting a Museum of Tapestry and Chit-chatting in Cusco with new and nearly new friends. Perfect.

Happy Birthday Tim! After he read many online birthday wishes from friends and family, we popped down for breakfast. A friendly lady came up to us and asked if we were with the ‘Jack Pransky’ group…

Let me rewind a bit. As some of you know, a few years back I came across a psychological and spiritual understanding of how we experience life. It is based on three principles which, no matter who we are, work the same way for all of us. It was a revelation and transformation for me.

Just before Christmas, I saw that Jack Pransky, a renowned Three Principles facilitator and author, was running a training programme in Peru, with places on our agenda. Combining the tour with delving deeper into these principles, there was no decision to be made. Here we are.

A lady came up to us at breakfast asking if we were also on the Jack Pransky retreat. This was Suzanne, and we invited her to join us. Isn’t it interesting that with some people we just click effortlessly; Suzanne is one of those people. The banter flowed with much laughter, and we sat chatting for ages, finding out that Suzanne lives in Quebec and has just retired. Once back home from this trip, she will be looking after her twin baby grandchildren.

We had both spotted an interesting Tapestry Museum the day before, so the three of us went for a visit. Wow! The tapestries were magnificent; huge brightly coloured pieces adorned the walls. We watched a short film about the artist, Máximo Laura, designated as one of Peru’s “Living Human Treasures”. A passion for drawing and art, he followed in his father’s footsteps into textile art and eventually found his own style, based on colour and symbolism of the ancient Peruvian history.

I was hoping that the movie would explain how he makes these incredible works of art, but we discovered this later.

We climbed the narrow stairs to a large room with many more exhibits. The museum comprises of over 200 pieces, making this one of the largest collections of contemporary Peruvian textile art.

Both Suzanne and I felt quite emotional with this extraordinary beauty and talent surrounding us. We tried to work out for ourselves how they were made. As well as the stunning colours, the tapestries had many different textures, bobbles, raised areas, basket weave. I assumed these were added after the base was made.

We all picked our favourites, trying to sound like professional art critics, the giggles giving us away. As we walked through a doorway to more masterpieces, Suzanne spotted a Loom at the end of the room and realised that there was a young man beavering away behind it. He kindly allowed us to watch him weaving the gorgeous colours of threads over and under the warp, tapping these down by hand. We discovered that his name was Moises and has been learning his craft for just one year from the maestro. What talent. What’s more, he showed us the tapestry is woven continuously; no adding bobbles at the end, these are done while weaving. Wow! This made these artworks even more impressive.

I am so pleased that we came here. It is wonderful to see one man’s passion, the beauty he creates and that he encourages and inspires future generations, not only through his exhibitions but also through educational programmes, internships and having an artist-in-residence such as Moises.

Later, Tim and I returned to Jack’s café . This thriving place often with queues waiting. We shared a table, first with a Dutch couple, and found out that they have been using and impressed with Peru Hop Bus service. Funny enough I mentioned to Tim that I wanted to research about this bus service. The couple kindly gave us a discount code. Fab!

Next, a Canadian couple with their teenage daughter joined us. We chatted for ages, sharing travel experiences together, plus many other subjects such as politics, the density of different countries, the indigenous natives and how their lives have been affected by global warming as well as western influences. We so enjoy meeting new people, all part of the travelling experience.

We were thrilled to hear that new friends Julie and Stewart, who we met in Santiago, had just arrived in Cusco, so after a lovely birthday chat with our youngest son and his girlfriend, we went out for dinner with them.

I found a restaurant Calle del medio overlooking the Plaza de Armas and what a great find. Julie and Stewart were so sweet giving Tim a Birthday card and present and treating us both to Pisco Sour. I’m sure they wanted to see me tipsy again after our experience in Santiago! Our waiter Israel was very attentive, informing us what was in each meal and dramatically making the Pisco Sour in front of us.

What a fabulous time and delicious meal we had. It transpires that Julie and Stewart have also used the hop on/off service as well, so decision made. They did the sensible route from the Atacama, going to Bolivia, Lake Titicaca and then here for Machu Picchu, unlike us. However, it was beneficial picking their brains of what to do for our next trip in a couple of weeks.

We did laugh as Stewart’s shirt was near enough the same as the wallpaper – a bit like “Where’s Wally”. It really does seem as if we have known them for ages, much banter, much laughter and great conversation. What a lovely ending for Tim’s Birthday.

#MuseoMaximoLaura #PeruvianContemporaryTapestry #AmazingTapestry #NewFriends #calledelmediorestaurante #PlazadeArmas #JacksCafeCusco #WheresWally #BirthdaycelebrationsinCusco