Weekend Adventure Pt. 3!!!

Our breakfast with fresh fruit salad, juice, crepes, coffee, ham, cheese...AND MOREEE!

(From left to right) Eduardo, Maria Ines, Me, Terisita, Josh, Juan, and Mia

 So this Sunday morning was similar to last Sunday morning...there were crepes (as I said, a new Sunday tradition), but this week it was a true family affair! Besides my family, Josh, Mia, and Juan came over for breakfast as well as my host father's friend Frank! Needless to say I had to make A LOT of crepes. After our breakfast Frank sang in the living room. He has an amazing singing voice and can sing in multiple languages (Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, and English).

After breakfast, which was really more like brunch, Juan, Josh, Mia, and I decided to go up El TelefériQo (as I mentioned previously we were trying to be as touristy as possible this weekend, though this is also a popular attraction for the locals). This is a gondola which you take from Quito up the Pichincha Volcano (the one I can see from my room). It is about 4,000 feet up (making the top elevation around 14,000 feet). The gondola ride takes around 8 minutes each way. Once you get up there are little cafes and hiking trails, and of course spectacular views! Of course being scared of height/any type of amusement park ride, I was quite nervous to go on it. Though it didn't go very fast, the height did freak me out a bit, and of course my knuckles were a bit white from gripping the seat when we reached the top.

View heading up the mountain

Waiting in line

in the gondola on the way up!

looking down at Quito

amazing view of the city

I found El Jardin, the huge shopping mall about 4 blocks from my house...which means my house is down there somewhere (thanks to my camera with an AMAZING zoom!!!)

a church at the top

Llama!

beautiful clouds rolling in

next to the crater formed by lava

the crater

Cotopaxi in the distance

Cotopaxi once again thanks to my zoom!

Josh juggling of course

Horses for rent to ride even further up the mountain

Josh in the middle of his clap behind the back push up

one more view of the city before heading back down

on the way down

Basílica from the gondola 

Panecillo from the gondola

amusement park at the bottom

 We spent about 2.5 hours total on the mountain. The views were breathtaking, but it was considerably colder, mostly because of wind. We were lucky to go on such a clear day. We are thinking of going back maybe to watch the sun set another time. After we had a taxi take us to the Guayasamin Museum (of the famous artist Oswaldo Guayasamin), but unfortunately it had just closed. We were exhausted from all the walking/altitude change so we headed to get some food, and then all headed home early to prep for a bright and early class starting tomorrow!!

This was such an incredible weekend. I felt I got to know Quito much better, and saw some beautiful places around the city and shared the good time with some wonderful new friends!

Hasta Luego Calabaza (my new favorite word, thanks Josh!)