Day 17 and 18. Cusco and American Airlines fiasco

May 18

Leisurely morning at the hotel with breakfast; late checkout, but didn't use all of it

Chocolate Museo

Tour

2 hour lesson; chocolate from cacao pods to chocolate as we know it

Select and roast beans, remove husks, mash/grind 

3 drinks: chocolate tea; chocolate, sxxxx

Chocolate bob-bons

Inca Pictures

Souvenir shopping

Alan had now figured out the layout of the area, and we were able to navigate our way back to the hotel without any problem.  We made it back to the hotel, collected our bags, distributed the weight, and got ready for the flight back to the states.  

As we arrived back at the hotel, one of the street artists who had approached us every time we entered our left the hotel came up to us and said "Now is the time!  Looking is free!"  So we looked.  He had some nice work, and we bargained down to our last sole to purchase a small painting that he put into a tube for us to carry back.

At the appointed time, the Condor representative appeared and we tacked the last time to board a van with our luggage on the very busy street in front of the hotel.  The trip across town to the airport, which is located in the center of the valley that hosts Cusco, took about 20 minutes.  

When we checked in, the mat at the ticket counter tried to get us on an earlier flight, but it was already closed and we were back to the original schedule.  The seats were especially tight, and Alan's knees didn't fit in the space allowed, but this leg to Lima was only about 1 hour and 40 minutes, so he made it work.

The plane arrived in Lima, and we had to get all our bags and check in to American, a different airline, which meant leaving the airport building and going to the American ticket counter.  There was a long line.  We waited an hour, with each party at the counter being there a long time.  

We finally got to counter and found that the plane to take us to Miami was here, but the crew needed to rest before flying again, and when that rest period was done, then the airport runway would be closed for maintenance, so the flight to Chicago won't leave until 5 am.  The local hotel that they might put us in is full, so we could go to Mira Flores, which we know is an hour away, so we would end up being at the hotel for about 3 hours before returning to the airport.  We were not happy, but didn't see any other options.  They gave us a $24 food voucher (at an airport!) for the two of us to eat, but have no lounge for American Airlines and didn't (wouldn't) do anything about providing Internet access in the meantime.  We walked away pretty frustrated, understanding the looks on everyone else's faces as they left.

We asked several people for directions to the food court, where two of the only three restaurants we could use our vouchers were located, and could only get directions back to the American ticket counter, since that's where we got the voucher.  We finally figured it out and went upstairs.  We went to one of the only 3 restaurants that the voucher is good at and finally found a 'waiter' who spoke decent English, and was very helpful in sorting out food options and was sympathetic to our plight.  

At dinner, we read our travel insurance papers, and found that it only covers delays of 12 hours or more, and this would only be a delay of about 9 hours.  It appears that any extra expenses with this delay won't be covered by the insurance.  

We got to security so we could go to the departure area and find a place to camp for the night.  Joyce went through the security checkpoint but Alan got stopped because the American ticket counter had given him someone else's boarding pass.  Joyce wasn't allowed back out, so she went through security and Alan had to trek back to the American ticket counter.  Luckily, there wasn't a line, and the woman who had given the wrong boarding pass was there.  She sheepishly got the correct boarding pass and Alan was back to security, collected Joyce and then went through Immigration control.  That was also pretty smooth, though it added to the frustration.

So then it was on to find a place to camp.  They hadn't yet assigned the gate  for our o'dark thirty flight until closer to time for departure, and they don't announce gates at this airport.  Lights were bright and there were a lot of people around.  Joyce was wound up enough that she couldn't sleep and Alan managed to doze some, especially after a plane left around 1.

In the meantime, Joyce realized that our new boarding passes were for a flight on the 18th, and it was now the 19th.  When a gate person was finally available, she was assured that we were OK.  

Boarding the plane was fairly routine, until we realized that Joyce's seat was in the 21st row and Alan's was now in the 40th row.  Apparently that got changed with Alan's ticket mix-up.  Frustration continued to mount.  It turned out that there was plenty of room in the back and with Joyce in the front, but luggage had stowed in both places, and it would have been difficult getting all of it when it came time to deplane.  We visited, but kept our separate seats.  Alan got a fair amount of sleep in preparation for the drive home later from Chicago.

However, when we got to Chicago, we once again had to collect all of our bags to go through Customs.  This worked fairly well though it was a little alarming when Joyce's 'coupon' from the automatic machine came out with an 'X' across her face, leading to some tense moments in the line.  So, finally off to the final leg from Miami to Chicago....except that the plane was delayed...again.  Initially, the delay was for an hour, then a half hour, and finally left about an hour and a half late.  When we got to the gate agent (from group 8!), we were told our tickets weren't correct and new ones were printed on the spot, but instead of sitting together in row 12, we were now across the aisle from each other in row 39.  

In Chicago, we arrived a bit later than (re-)scheduled, but we found our bags pretty quickly, called the hotel where our car was parked, found the cab they sent, got our car, stopped for a quick bite to eat along the way, and made it home by a few minutes before midnight.

While the end to the trip wasn't what we would have liked, the actual touring was wonderful, and a great way to celebrate our 40th Anniversary!