Volcano Views and Bones in our Soup

We made it to Ecuador! Monday was long, but no problems. We left Kzoo at 8:25 in the morning and after stops in Detroit and Houston, arrived in Quito at around 10:20 that night. We managed to pack light enough not to have to check anything (but had to leave the knives at home), which made arrival in Quito that much better. We have been staying at a great place in the Old City (colonial part of town with cobblestone streets, cathedrals, etc.) - if you are interested, check out the website. The building is about 5 stories high and has a rooftop terrace where they serve breakfast and dinner and have a bar. Supposedly they get music up there sometimes, too. The only downside to this is that our room is right by the squeaky metal staircase to the restaurant/bar, not to mention right below the bar itself. Earplugs have come in handy. The guests at the hostal are from all over and most of them are taking Spanish classes, so we´ve spoken more Spanish there than one would expect, considering most people speak English as their first language (or close to it). There is a photo of the view of the city and surrounding volcanoes from the terrace during our first breakfast... It´s hard to peel ourselves away from there in the morning.

01 - View from Breakfast Terrace

Tuesday we were tourists in the Old City. Although Allison studied here for 6 months, she never got around to seeing many museums or old churches, so it was new to both of us. The highlight was an informal tour of a nearby cathedral called La Basilica. We climbed a total of 175 meters, most of which was on metal ladders (never would see this in the US - lawsuit waiting to happen) so we could get a view from the clock tower - it was worth it. We also a tour in Spanish and did pretty well, which was a relief (it´s been awhile...) One other highlight of La Basilica was the gargoyles - they were images of Ecuadorian animals such as iguanas and boobies (the bird sort). Before the tour we were looking at some somewhat run-down gargoyles from the ground which we decided looked like pigs. We asked the guide if we were correct - apparently we weren´t. I think he was sort of offended that we thought they would construct pigs on the church...

02 - Allison at top of Basilica

In other news from Tuesday - you will be proud (or possibly disgusted...) During our first meal outside of our hostal, we elected to do a "plato del dia" style lunch which included a first-course soup and second-course plate of beans, rice and a fried egg (substitute for normal chicken or beef) - anyway, we had the pleasure of picking around a big beef bone in the middle of our potato soup (which otherwise was muy rico). We´ve become flexible vegetarians, I guess. Jill, you better come to India instead.

We (well, Allison) also learned a lesson in respect of the ecuatorial sun, even if it is only 70 degrees due to altitude - check out the nice sunburn in the photos. I´m sure you all are crying for me.

03 - Allison Needs to Wear Sunscreen

Wednesday was spent walking around the newer part of the city. Partly due to our getting on the wrong trolley, this included a side trip to the house Allison stayed in when she studied here in 1999. For those of you who know the story, we didn´t get any sitings of Junior on the lamb. After that we walked quite a distance across town to two museums containing works of the Ecuadorian painter Guayasamin. We had a great time, although the paintings all have titles like "Mural de los Mutilados" or "Mural de la Miseria." Not real cheerful stuff - injustice, murder, tears, starvation... But really excellent. Google him if you are interested.