Yesterday (Saturday) was an absolutely AMAZING day. Since Josh, Mia and I will be starting intensive classes tomorrow (M-F 8:30am-6:30pm, with lots of homework!!!!) we have been taking full advantage of our last weekend of freedom. A few days ago Josh and Mia went out with some other people from EIL and met Juan in El Centro Historical. Juan is from Chicago, and is down here for a week on vacation (and off to another week in Peru!) Anyway, the four of us decided it would be the perfect weekend to cross many of the Quito tourist attractions off our list!
First we went to El Mitad del Mundo. This is the monument located on the Equator. We could catch a bus from central Quito, and the ride was only 40 cents each way!!!! It was nice because on the weekends most Ecuadorians stay in during the day with their families so there is much less traffic. It was only an hour ride (it can take up to 2 with traffic/current construction and we had a relatively empty bus both ways).
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| Mia, me, Juan and Josh in front of the monument |
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Josh juggling on the Equator
(you will see the juggling is a theme...) |
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| all the countries on the Equator |
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| from the top of the monument |
You can walk up the monument and there is a museum inside about the history of Ecuador.
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| the touristy part with traditional music/dancing for show |
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Empanadas and beer for lunch at one of the
touristy restaurants |
After we took the bus back to the center of Quito, Juan, Josh and I decided to walk to El Centro Historical ( we all agree it is probably one of our favorite parts of the city). We walked probably a few miles to first get to Basílica del Voto Nacional, a beautiful old church.
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| Graffiti on our walk |
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| a small cafe right next to the Basílica (called the Confessional Cafe) |
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| The Basílica |
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| awesome gargoyles of Ecuadorian animals |
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| on the roof of the cafe |
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| in the church yard |
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| El Panecillo, a beautiful statue overlooking the city |
We next walked from the Basílica to the base of El Panecillo (the base of the hill because though it is on the edge of El Centro Historical, the walk up is very dangerous). We had to look for/wait for a cab for a while but eventually found one to take us to the top.
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| El Basílica from the top of the hill |
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| the virgin of el Panecillo (I am completely entranced by this statue) |
The taxi driver was nice, and waited for us while we snapped a few quick pictures, then took us back down to the base of the hill where we walked back 10 minutes towards el Basílica again for dinner at a great place Juan had found the day before!
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| dinner a kebab of chicken, chorizo, potato, and plantain with rice and beans and some amazing sauce with a (real) coke for only $2! One of the most delicious meals I've had so far! |
After dinner we went back to La Ronda (the traditional street that comes alive at night) to explore.
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| La Ronda at night |
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| We stopped in for some chocolate of course. I got one of the ones in the front right because it was made with quinoa! |
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| showing us the chocolate making process |
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| on La Ronda |
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| Josh with the formally dressed military |
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| El Panecillo at night |
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| two traveling musicians (one from Chili and one from Argentina) who are couch surfing in the same apartment as Juan. |
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| A musician that came into where we got drinks |
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| our Canelazos ( a famous drink only available in La Ronda) a warm beverage with sugar cane alcohol and fruit juice and some spices (kind of tasted like hot spiced cider) |
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| el Basílica at night |
It was an incredibly long day with lots of walking, but we saw so many wonderful sights! This is definitely my favorite part of the city (both day and night!)
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