Sunday, November 30, 2014

Quito


Ecuador is not the only country named after a latitude.  The other one is in Africa.

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Quito


The heaviest weight I was carrying was the water bottle.  That moment I came up with a new definition of civilization: In my book a city is civilized if it can provide potable water through pipes to its denizens.

Friday, November 28, 2014

Walking back to the hotel



As the sun started going down it started to get cold.  We headed back to our hotel which was a bit away from the historical center.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Quito


Quito is just seconds of degrees south of the equator, but its weather is quite pleasant--in fact a bit towards the chilly side--owing to its altitude.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Quito old town


Quito's historical center is a treasure trove of baroque architecture.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Monday, November 24, 2014

Spiral Columns


Later in the afternoon we sat down to have a coffee in a bakery.  Ecuador was playing (against Honduras?) and there was great excitement.  Antonio Valencia was the pride of the nation.  Ecuador won that match--people were ecstatic, and we considered ourselves a blessing for the country we visited.  When we were in Colombia, Colombia was winning games; now that we were in Ecuador, Ecuador was doing well!

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Quito


Many businesses in Quito accept credit cards.  I did not use an ATM in Ecuador, but in hindsight think I should have drawn out money in dollars in Quito to be better prepared for Argentina--more on this later.

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Quito


We did our grocery shopping at Tia; bought fruits, a large water bottle, yogurt, milk, and cereal.

Friday, November 21, 2014

Quito






The historic center was quite safe during the day, but it quickly got deserted once the sun went down.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Quito






Quito is surrounded by mountains and there quite a few steep roads to manage.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

First day in Quito









By the time we got ready it was 12 Noon.  A young woman at the reception told us a family room was going to be available for us; it was being cleaned.  We waited in our rooms till the other room got ready.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Morning in Quito






In the morning left bed after 9; pants washed last night were almost dry.  Our hotel deal did not include breakfast, but we had fruits that we were carrying from Colombia. Had naranja, granadilla, and mangoes--mangoes were ripe and sweet.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Eating late at night in Quito








On our way to the hotel we saw Mc Donalds and other US chains.  At the hotel a young man looked at our reservation and uttered expletives in English; he said the family room was taken.  He could put us in three rooms, but looking at the children decided we would fit in two. Quickly settled in the rooms and tried to order pizza online from Pizza Hut, but the Ecuadorian web site did not have such an option. Went down and asked the young man for help; he called the restaurant, only to find out they did not deliver.  Asked him to get us a taxi.  The taxi took us to the busy part of town, there were many restaurants that were open, and hookers were busy too; finally found the Pizza Hut we were looking for. Sat upstairs and ate. There were only three other tables that were occupied, two with couples, one large one with people who looked like they were university professors or journalists;.  Two large pizzas for $21.40 was a good deal.  Came out to find our aged taxi driver driver dozing off.

This photo was taken the next day, in Quito.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Quito, finally


We reached Quito around 9:15 pm.  It was a huge, modern bus terminal, but we did not find a good place to eat at.  Asked for the Cuenca bus; liked the service that leaves 10:45 in the morning for $10; it was an 8 hour journey.  Went down to find most of the people taking the metro bus.  For us that was not a feasible option: new city, minimum knowledge of City's geography, dark outside, accompanied by children.  We took a taxi.  The obese driver looked at the address and said it would be $10, told him we could pay $7; he lowered the price to $9.  How far was it? He said it was 15 km.  Ten dollars for 15 km was high for Ecuador; he finally agreed on $8.


This photo was taken the next day, in Quito.