According to local sources, Ernie and Lynn managed to land in Cuzco despite adverse weather conditions typical at 12,000 feet, which momentarily compelled the pilot to redirect the flight to Lima. They hired a genial young cab driver to drive them for three days down the Sacred Valley. He netted a new girlfriend in each town along the way. On the second day in the valley, they took a train down to Aguas Calientes — where Hilbert discovered in a small attic shop the highly elusive English translation of the first volume (and first book of the second volume) of The Royal Commentaries

by Garcilaso de la Vega — and then a bus up to Machu Pichu, which was stunning despite the aimless crowds of American and European tourists who collided while attempting to follow the plastic flags of their given tour guides.

After taking the train back up and then the cab a further 5,000 feet, they returned to Cuzco, where Hilbert has further indulged his ongoing fascination with the Cuzco School of Painting with visits to the Cusco Cathedral and Monastery. In one anonymous painting, a fully pregnant Virgin Mary in the clouds shoots a laser sharp stream of milk from her bare nipple into the mouth of a gratified saint. In another, Christ presides over a last supper that includes a roast Guinnea Pig. Archangels shoulder muskets and saints bear symbols of the moon and snakes. All very engaging stuff! They visited one half of the remains of Garcilaso de la Vega (the other half remain in Cordoba, Spain) in the crypt of the monastary. They also spotted a peasant driving cattle in the rain and mud wearing a bright orange Skittles Taste the Rainbow cap. The Pisco Sours and Cusceneas continue to flow into the night.