In which Layla and Roz embark on a mystery minibreak to Charleston

There are few things that excite me more than a surprise mini break, and it's delightful that at least once a year, I get that thrill. This weekend it came in the form of a pile of sealed envelopes, each stating a designated time for opening. The first? 3.30 on Friday. The second? Upon arrival at the airport.

I skipped to work with my suitcase in my hand and a thrill in my heart. As soon as it was 3.30, I opened the envelope - I needed to be at the airport within the hour. I dashed off and finally upon arrival at National Airport, and upon meeting Roz, the mystery was revealed in the second envelope: Charleston, South Carolina!

On arrival it was hot and humid and we had a very fancy hotel. Or to be more accurate, a fancy modern apartment with all my favourite exposed brick and pipes, right in the very heart of the city. The hotel presented us with a glass of wine each and we exchanged gifts on the sofa (it's 5 years since we got together), drank our wine, and headed out to a cool restaurant Roz had found after vigorous research - FIG, aka Food Is Good. We acquired cocktails and since it was so late and they weren't fantastic for vegetarians, we shared three excellent appetizers, followed by cheese. We stumbled home sleepily, having had an excellent evening.

The next day, after a picnic basket of tasty breakfast items delivered to our apartment, we set out to explore downtown Charleston. First stop was their famous farmers' market which was picturesque and cheery and I had to halt Roz in her temptation to buy a giant picture in the arty crafty section! We then strolled down the lovely King Street, admiring the pretty palm tree-lined road of quirky independent shops and nicer-than-usual-appearance chains, in this absolutely charming Colonial city. We walked down to Rainbow Row, a row of posh, historic, brightly colored houses, then veered into a bakery for drinks and cakes and shelter from the blazing sun. And then it was off to the Waterfront Park (Charleston is made up on a peninsula and islands so there's water all around) and in particular its mad pineapple fountain. The whole area was beautiful and quirky and we were very cheery. We popped into Tsatsiki for lunch, and after a quick falafel, strolled up through the 'French quarter' (nothing obviously French that I could spot) towards the harbour.

With the sun blazing, we searched in vain for a shop selling sun lotion. Eventually we went into a chocolate shop to ask the shop staff for advice on where we could buy some. And thus we experienced it. Charleston is officially the most mannerly city in the US and the guidebook stated that everyone experiences their own example of the famous Charleston hospitality. Ours came in the form of the chocolate seller. She couldn't think of anywhere nearby to buy sun lotion. "But wait, I have some in my bag!" she announced, and before we knew what had hit us, she had dashed to the back office, retrieved her own sun lotion, and insistently gifted it to us. We were speechless. And grateful!

Next we walked up to the harbour and boarded a boat to Fort Sumter, considered to be the place where the civil war started. We had a nice cruise, though I was sad not to see the much promised dolphins, and had a potter around the fort before sailing back and dashing home to glam up for the big event: a 9 course tasting menu at McGrady's, one of the world's top restaurants (and one of the main reasons for Roz choosing Charleston). I am delighted to report that it lived up to her hopes: a really excellent, 4 hour experience with paired wines that left us charmed, impressed, and quite full. Alas we could 't manage the Gin Joint drink Roz had planned - we practically rolled home to bed through the sultry evening.

Up bright and early this morning, we were off for a jog - I'm training for a 5k (my first!) and Roz for a 10 miler. We jogged down King Street, past all the lovely colonial homes, to the waterfront and Battery park. And back up again. Roz then deposited her wheezing wife at the hotel and returned for more running. We recovered with our picnic basket of breakfast before heading out to Blossom for, ahem, brunch. Very tasty, and enjoyed the mimosa carafe too...

Our final event was kayaking. After spluttering at the cost of a taxi (everyone has a car), and enjoying the view from one of the world's longest suspension bridges, we were deposited at the kayak office. And so we launched on a tandem kayak into a scenic shrimping creek. I have rarely giggled so much as when a shriek from behind alerted us all to the situation that a shrimp had leapt out of the water and into Roz's lap. It was a beautiful kayak out into the bay and over to an island populated by pelicans, down little watery alleys past gracious colonial homes, prancing crabs, and numerous types of birds, and then back into the original creek where dolphins were now frolicking. The sun beat down, a soft breeze blew, and we felt very cheery indeed.

Alas we were there not for a holiday but just a weekend. The kayak tour guide very sweetly drove us back to the hotel where we had some free cheese and wine, popped next door to Yo Burrito for a cheeky burrito for dinner, then sped to the airport in time for our flight back to Washington. Bravo Roz: a fabulous mystery weekend and a fitting celebration of 5 years together.

In which Roz and Layla go off piste on Incan hiking adventures, make chocolate, and look at the stars

By Layla

We ventured out on our first night back in Cusco to the well-reviewed Korma Sutra, up the hill in San Blas. A rather tasty meal was a fine welcome back, and the next morning we woke up feeling cheery in our new hotel. Alas, it was straight back to the Sacred Valley - there are some fantastic ruins at a little town called Pisac, and Thursday was also market day. How could we refuse! We spent a good 45 minutes trying to find the bus stop, but eventually we did, and at last we were off!

An hour of beautiful countryside later, we hopped off the bus - where we'd been the only tourists and had been stared at with much curiosity, and wandered to the market. An extravaganza of touristy tat (though no tourists!) if you like that sort of thing. We retreated rapidly to the Blue Llama cafe for lunch, and were feeling a bit irritable with Pisac, til we took a taxi the 10km up the mountain to the Pisac ruins and fell in love.

The Pisac ruins had a lot of things going for them: they weren't crammed full of tourists so we could explore by ourselves, they had lots of different types of buildings, so there was lots of variety, they were in a picturesque position with views over the valley, and best of all, you could walk all the way back to Pisac town along a pretty little descending path past lots of different Inca ruins and agricultural terraces. Having climbed all over the fort at the top, we set off, along this occasionally marked path, through a tunnel, up and down hills, weaving our way over 2 hours, multiple ruins, fabulous views, grassy terraces, and having a fantastic experience. Loved it, and felt very proud indeed (and just a little bit tired) when we found ourself back in Pisac town. We rewarded ourselves with cake and beer at a nice little psychadellic cafe called Ulrike's before getting a collectivo (shared minibus) back to Cusco in time for dinner.

As our holiday moves into its later days, our zeal for good food only increases, and to this end we found ourselves in Baco, the best restaurant we've found in Peru. We revelled in potato skins (Peru has over 3000 varieties of potato), pizza and fancy dessert. A fine end to what might have been our favorite day of the holiday.

The next day we skipped our disappointing hotel breakfast for fluffy pancakes at local US style diner Jack's, and then strode with confidence towards yesterday's bus stop. This time we were only going part of the way, to the furthest of four Inca ruins outside Cusco, Tambomachay. Our plan was to walk back to Cusco via the four ruins. Tambomachay was simple and elegant, one of the few working examples of the Incas' sacred water fountains. We strolled around it, then walked down the road to Puca Pucara, an old Inca lodge, which was quite pleasant. It was then that we hit a conundrum: we'd wanted to walk to the other ruins and assumed there would be a scenic path through the hills and fields; in fact everyone we asked told us we would have to walk along the side of the busy road. We were very disappointed.

At this point, we noticed a little path across a field behind Puca Pucara, and decided to follow it. We walked awhile past lots of young children flying kites, and got to a sign: this way to Temple of the Moon. Alas said temple didn't feature in the guidebooks, but it did feature in a description of a country walk we'd printed from the Internet. We decided to set off.

Soon we encountered a Peruvian man and two women off for a stroll. "Templo de la luna?" I asked him. He nodded and pointed down the deserted semi-obvious path. What followed was a comedy walk where we'd walk down the path, through the fields, and every time we reached a cross roads, would try to find an excuse to pause til this poor man turned up. "Templo de la luna." "Si, Si, abajo" he'd say, pointing the way, looking increasingly less charmed by our winning smiled. It was quite a long walk - we almost began to worry. But then, around a corner, there it was: the temple of the moon. Also known as a big rock where children were again flying kites. We ate our picnic - acquired from Cusco and carried to this point - in the sun, grabbed our piece of paper from the Internet, and guided ourselves home to town, along an old Inca trail. We were very proud of ourselves indeed.

That afternoon we had some drinks in a lovely sunny cafe overlooking a pretty square while everyone in Cusco passed by, trying to sell us Peruvian handicrafts and suchlike. It was relentless! It reminded us of a blog Roz read where someone wore a t-shirt that said "No gracias" as a wry joke re these being the most frequent words uttered by tourists in Cusco. Also of note on the square was the huge flapping rainbow flag that is absolutely everywhere in the Andes. Alas this is not a joyful expression of gay pride - in fact it's the Inca flag, but it's hard to remember that when surrounded by these flags!

Next, we ventured into the Choco Museum. Seems the Incas were as keen on chocolate as the Mayas, and we had some chocolate tea, read about the history of chocolate, bought a sneaky truffle, and signed up for a chocolate making workshop the following day. But we couldn't linger, because we were waiting for the clock to strike 5.40. When it did, an astronomy professor appeared in the square holding a sign for the local planetarium. Hooray! Along with a few other tourists, we boarded a minibus which took us into the hills and to a 'family planetarium'. Very cute, if a tad chilly. We listened to a talk about astronomy, then went outside with blankets and hot mint tea to look at the Southern Cross in the sky, and at various stars and planets through their rather good telescopes. Quite excited by the rings of Saturn! Finally we had a little show in a planetarium dome about Inca constellations (I liked the big black llama) before being conveyed back to town. And I'm afraid to admit that we succumbed to temptation and returned to that delicious restaurant of the previous night. All I can say is mmmmm.

I had a ridiculously insomniac night for no obvious reason, so it was with much yawning that I got out of bed on Saturday morning at an early hour to go horse riding in the Sacred Valley, Urumbaba to be precise. The company, Cusco For You, is rated top on Tripadvisor, and we did have an excellent time on a 4 hour ride through the mountains, past a glacial river and extremely beautiful scenery, to an obscure ruin of an Inca house. I'm never quite sure how much I love horse riding but despite the sore legs, and Roz's terror in going steeply downhill, it's a lovely way to see some of the countryside.

We took a collectivo back to Cusco just in time for a quick bite to eat and a dash to the chocolate workshop, which was really quite enjoyable - two hours of roasting, peeling and crushing and grinding cocoa beans, making different types of Inca hot chocolate of varying deliciousness, and eventually making our own chocolates with various fillings. Great fun! We went back to the hotel where I collapsed, exhausted on the bed while Roz went out like a hero back to the museum to pick up our chocolates when the were ready. And then we met in Cicciolina restaurant, which was fancy and nice but not as good as Baco. Alas. Roz had rather hoped to go salsa dancing with our chocolate workshop friends, but I was so tired that she was obliged to take me home and watch Jiro Dreams of Sushi instead. This holiday, for all its fabulousness, hasn't stood out as a party holiday!

This morning we skipped the hotel breakfast for more fluffy pancakes at Jack's, then we meandered back to the market to join the locals on little white plastic stools drinking fresh fruit juice - delicious. We're about to fly back to Lima for our final night. Surely not!