Quito

Basilica

We had a great first day in Quito. We started off with breakfast, which consisted of eggs, toast, hot chocolate, and juice for only $1.50 each! We’re finally back in a cheap country and it’s great. After this we walked to the Basilica, a really large gothic church up the hill from our hostel. We were able to climb to the top, which gave amazing views of the city. Climbing to the top required us to walk up ridiculously steep stairs that seemed more like a ladder, definitely got my heart going and reminded me that I’m a little afraid of heights. The view was worth it though!

From here we walked through the city a little bit, we walked through a little market place selling all sorts of nick nacks, shoes, and second hand clothes. I bought this strange mystery fruit from a street vender that was pink with prickly spines coming out of it, which was surprisingly sweat and delicious.

Hats!

We walked through La Ronda, which is a cobble stone street built in the 1800s that is closed off to cars. It was an adorable street, with houses having little balconies with flower pots. Along the street they had traditional kid games set up, including hop scotch, throwing rings around a barrel, and something like jump rope accept it was originally played with llama intestines! Along this street are artesania shops. We stopped at a couple chocolate shops, where the ladies were grinding up chocolate and had all the ingredients out on display. We also went to a hat maker shop. The owner was a sweet old man and is one of the last to make hand made hats in Equador. His grandfather and his father were hat makers, and he is teaching his son the trade. Nate and I both ended up buying hats from the guy, in part for fashion and in part to support the hat making tradition. Lots of the locals here wear felt hats, especially the women, which is different than the other countries we have been in.

Parade

When walking back to our hotel, we stumbled upon a little parade going through the streets. There were only a handful of floats, each being followed by kids in different costumes doing little dances. Definitely a fun and serendipitous finding!

Our second day in Quito was also fun; we spent the day on a bus doing a city tour. We went to the botanical gardens and got lunch downtown. I definitely preferred the historic old town where we were staying to the downtown area. Our last stop on the tour was to the Virgin statue, which is at the top of the hill and visible from most places in town. It was nice to see the view from the city from up there. That night we went back to La Ronda, which was packed! Definitely a difference from the empty streets during the day, and most people seemed local. There were a couple street performers and people selling jewelry. I took a picture of Nate and a local lady, who was about half his size! The idiginous people of Ecuador are very short. The highlight for me was buying a stick of about five delicious chocolate dipped strawberries.

Nate and a tiny local lady

On our third day we went to La Campania church, a beautiful church with gold leaf everywhere. Then we hopped on a bus for ten hours to get to Cuenca. I am definitely tired of long bus trips!

At the top of the Basilica