|
  | |  |
Cheese and Chocolate
Entry 6 of 21 | show all | print this entry |
Day 6: So, not liking our hotel, we went over to a hotel across the street (seems to be the routine). The new hotel, Cofradia del Monje, only had seven rooms and they had one available for 2 nights...very happy. It was only about $10 more than Hotel Milan and so unbelievably nicer. We left our bags and headed out to wander around. We went to the Cathedral there, which as usual was really beautiful. Then to the market, and then looking for a cafe...all I wanted was a nice outdoor cafe with some good coffee! The coffee that morning at the free breakfast at the hotel was very odd. They gave you a cup of hot water and you basically took a spoonful of the coffee and put it in there. Not good. But, unfortunately, after walking around the small, narrow streets, we couldn't find a cafe. But then we found Cacao y Canella (Chocolate and Cinnamon), which was like a mecca. Cute place with all kinds of coffee drinks. I decided I had to try the hot chocolate with a side of mozzarella cheese since the guidebook had said something about an Ecuadorian phrase "Love without kisses is like chocolate without cheese." So, we had to know what that was about. Well, it was just really good hot chocolate with some mozzarella cheese as a little snack. We still don't get it. But both our hot chocolates (Mike's with chocolate liqueor (sp., whatever)) were amazing.
So, after that we went in search of the museum. It was a really pretty walk by the river. The museum was nice although got a little boring with the silly costume displays and ethnological stuff, but it was worth the visit. We forgot to look for the shrunken heads. Mike was very disappointed. Then we walked to the hat factory. You see, Panama hats do not actually come from Panama; they come from Ecuador and are called Montecristi. The guy at the factory explained the process to us (in Spanish, when later we found out he spoke English) and then we tried on some hats. They're really nice, but we're just not hat people.
For dinner we went to a restaurant called El Maiz which we had passed on the way to the museum. Definitely one of the nicest meals we've had so far. As a pre-dinner snack (instead of bread) they served sort of puffed, cooked maiz/corn kernels like a bar in the US would serve peanuts. They had some spice on them and they were really tasty. They should definitely replace the bar nuts in the US. When we got back to the hotel we met a Swedish couple in the lounge area who were very chatty and nice. They're funny old hippies but the woman was definitely a bit crazy. We would meet them again...
Where I stayed:
Hotel Milan
|
|
If you like this entry, search for other entries from Ecuador or try a new search. |
| |
Back to Entry - Back to Home
|
