Sept 7 Quito day 2

i´m really enjoying quito.

today julie and i were real tourists as we decided to be brave and take the feared public transit to la tuda mundo ( the centre of the world aka the equator )

we started our journey with a walk through park arameda. we have been told to avoid this park at all costs at night time which seems weird because its so beautiful during the day with its flowing fountains, statues and young couples kissing on the benches.

we found our bus stop near the basillica ( of which i´d like to climb to the top, maybe tomorrow ) anyways, we stayed on that bus for 40 minutes while vendors hopped on and off selling fruit and sweets. we had to tranfer busses at ofelia station which was a bit confusing but we manged to locate the right bus and we were on our way.

we arrived at la tuta mundo about an hour later and walked towards the giant monument. it was funny to be there and know that the real equator is actually 100 meters alway from there due to a slight miss calculation way back in the day. none the less we did the tourist thing and took cheesy pictures beside the monument and along the yellow lind painted on the ground.

we found a cute little restaurant and had empanadas and for lucnh, looked at the gift shops and hopped back on the bus. the wrong bus!!

after an hour ride we got kicked off the and we had no idea where we were. we walked for bit before we decided it would be safest to hail a cab back to the hostle. when we got in it turned out that we were only 10 blocks away from where we were supposed to be! everything works out in the end. i really think i have a horseshoe up my ass sometimes!

we chilled at the hostle for the next little bit, read books and shared some beers before we headed to mariscal sucre.  we caugh the bus there again, it was a bit more sketch this time as it as very crowded. we hung in tight to our bags so we didnt get pick pocketed, a common occurrence on the public transport.

we made it to the busy plaza and found a nice place for dinner. poor julie had tried every bank machine we could find to try and get money out before this with no luck. this was not a cheap place to eat either so thankfully they accepted credit cards. there was a nice mix of locals and gringos in the plaza. turns out ecuador was playing soccer so we got to watch the match and the bar. we each had a mojito and a thai salad for dinner which were not thai at all but still very yummy.

we talked for a long time about our lives at home, work, boys etc. we had to take a taxi back home becuase its too dangerous to take the busses that late.

now we are back at the hostle. there is great music playing at the bar downstairs; amy winehouse, lilly allen, sia, florence and the machine etc. there are also a few people hanging out playing the guitar and singing in the lobby area. this are all nice sounds to hear as i fall asleep.