Last taste of Ica is a wine tour in the vineyards outside town. The Ica region is one of the few places in Peru where wine, together with Pisco, is produced in what are called Bodegas.
Everything here is on a very small scale and done by hands and feet during the month of March, so we get the chance to only hear about their way to produce one of the sweetest wines I’ve ever tasted. Actually the day before I was served a full (to the rim) glass of port wine during dinner and I really hope it wasn’t going to be all like that! Horror! nevertheless the wines are not particularly interesting, they are very strong and sweet. The Pisco (like grappa), on the other hand, has more potential and can be served also in different kinds of cocktails (most famous is the pisco sour).

Back from the wine tasting we are ready to leave on a low class bus to Nazca, which is only 2 hours away. The city of Nazca is well known as the site of the famous “Nazca lines”, which are huge signs made in the desert-like plains by (re)moving stones. They represent animals, lines and geometrical figures. As the stones are removed the brighter color of the compactified sand underneath will be visible from above. The size of the figures cover many square kilometers and has been preserved by the dryness of the place for more than 2000 years! We went to a little hill at the edge of one of the triangles, and it was pretty amazing to see how they were indeed clearly visible also from the ground.
These days we stay at a hotel called “Roma en Nasca” which is indeed owned by guy from Rome (Aaaaooo) who married a Peruvian woman. They also now have a beautiful 3 months old dog called Orso (bear), fluffy as a marshmallow. This morning at 7.30 I was waken up by a small earthquake instead of Orso barking…not a great improvement! It feels a bit like being at home really, in particular when the first day we overslept and Maria came to our door telling us “it’s 11.30! The breakfast…come on get dressed, we kept it ready for you”. Or wanting to make me some hot tea for my cold…
Anyway, it’s time to discover the city which is small and pleasant, much better than Ica from where we are coming from. A nice place to visit close to the city is also the complex of underground aqueducts which is still providing the city of Nazca with fresh water from the mountains.Wells into the aqueducts are made like spirals where at the bottom of them you can go and pick up the water. Andreas wanted to check the taste and temperature of the water, so climbed down the spiral, and with a poorly elegant movement bent his knees so the seat of his pants ripped wide open! With the butt in the air we go back to the hotel to rest (and change) while the sun is still hot. After a walk back and forth from the very nice Plaza de Armas we settle for dinner. In our hands a ticket to Arequipa, leaving tomorrow.