Quito, Ecuador

Just as with Cuenca, Quito is not a city that you imagine to find near the ecuator. Chilly and slightly foggy early mornings, lovely and sunny late mornings, and the occasional downpour/wrath of the gods in the afternoon.

Upon arriving (in the foggy bit of the morning), we used the city's streetcar (trole) to get to the historic district and find a hotel. We found one, settled into our room, prepared to go for a jog, and then I opened the window. As it turned out, the room we'd been given had a direct view of the huge statue on Panecillo Hill. Fantastic! We headed off in that direction for our jog (which turned into a panting walk because WOW, that's a steep hill, and we are in the Andes), but turned around when the surroundings started looking questionable (sadly, there is a lot of theft and violence on that hill, most certainly aggravated by the steady stream of tourists that the statue attracts). When we came back, we wandered around the historic downtown and got to the cathedral, which offered tickets to climb up in. We didn't think it would be all that interesting (maybe the 2nd or 3rd level?), but we bought the tickets and headed up...to the tops of the spires and the clock tower.

As latino-style romantic gestures, there were many things written on the walls in the clock tower - sayings, names, mini love poems... Two stood out to me as the best. One read "Aunque a veces estoy difícil, te quiero con toda mi corazón" (Although I am sometimes difficult, I love you with all my heart) and the other, with not a small amount of irony, read "Al fin, una pared limpio" (Finally, a clean wall).

We had enough time to return to the hostel before the rain started, and then for dinner we enjoyed a fabulous meal of vegetarian pizza and (finally) a salad in a restaurant very close to our hostel.

The next day, we went jogging in Elijo park and bought our bus tickets for the evening. We tried to go by taxi up Panecillo Hill, but all of the streets were blocked (we still aren't sure if it was for a special event or simply because it was Sunday and lots of people were on the road). Instead, we went to another large park, bought groceries for lunch (bread, cheese and pepper sauce) and ate it below a tree in the park while watching what looked like a giant group cardio class (maybe 100 or so people led by a DJ-style dancer on a platform in the center of the park's plaza).

Soon after, predictably, it began to rain and we took cover in the nearby mall by watching "Retazos de Vida", an Ecuadorian film set in Guayaquil. It was very interesting, good Spanish practice for Jay, and a glimpse of our next destination. That night, off to Guayaquil.

Quito, Ecuador