Sept 8 Quito walking tour... finished with an amazing night at la ronda.

today i managed to sleep in a little bit despite the loud street below our window in the hostel. i was up and showered by 830am... hah! imagine if i was able to have that much accomplished by then at home :)

after our stand-up breakfast of yogurt mixed with cereal and tea in the shared kitchen, julie and i hit the streets. we walked up the hill to the massive gothic basilica first. it was incredibly beautiful inside with its shining gold railings and brightly coloured stained glass. we all no im not one for religion but it was hard to not be taken back by the beauty of that space. after we had taken it all in from the inside, we bought tickets to climb the two towers that stand tall like soldiers guarding the entire structure.

it was quite a hike to the top but the views of the city made it well worth the effort. i am finding that here in quito even a simple set of stairs takes the breath out of me due to the high altitudes. we are currently at about 2800 meters above sea level! the top of the volcano near the hostel rests at 4100 meters.

after some pictures and a rest we walked all the way back down to street level and headed towards plaza theatre. to be honest there wasn’t much going on there... just some people milling about looking at the souvenir shops that are all filled with the same cheap nick nacks, the kind of stuff you buy, and wonder what the hell you were thinking when you unpack it at home.

we walked a bit further down the street past many old homes along the steep cobblestone streets until we came across plaza grande. this is where the parliament building is located and wouldn’t you imagine our luck; the president of ecuador was just arriving for some meetings with other important delegates. all the locals were gathered around the building taking to snap photos. the balcony where he entered was quite high of the ground so it was hard to get a good shot of him. there was a marching band playing upon his arrival along with 2 lines of guards in full uniform along the hallway to the entrance of the building. this was all very cool to witness so we sat around in this plaza for a while and watched as the other delegates pulled up to the building in flagged black limos guarded by many police cars and motor cycles.

after all the commotion of plaza grande we headed over to plaza san fransisco. this square was much bigger than plaza grande but far less busy. we found some children playing with the many pigeons that wait in the square to feed on the seeds that the locals buy and share with the birds. they were kinda creepy to be honest but it was entertaining to watch.

we needed to make a restroom stop on our walk and julie was kind enough to pay the 15 cents needed to use the facilities and for a few squares of toilet paper. how sweet i thought! no one's ever paid for me to use the ladies room before ;)

by this time it was lunch so we headed back to the part of town where our hostel is located. we found a little restaurant and ate almuerzo ( the lunch special) for $1.80. the special included a large bowl of soup that had an amazing broth, followed by a huge plate of rice, beans and chicken. oh and a drink was included in the price too- what a steal!!

back at the hostel we had a chance to catch up on our emails and get messages from home. i love hearing from everyone! we hung out on the roof top patio and listened to the sounds of the city and got some sun. the hostel seemed very empty today so we basically had the whole place to ourselves, our own mansion nestled high up in the mountains.

the next adventure was to help julie find the hotel where her tour of the rest of south america starts. we hopped into a taxi and showed the driver her map of where the hotel was supposed to be located. he dropped us off exactly where her map showed but was we walked around the block we found out that her map was wrong. after getting directions from 2 old men that we couldn’t understand at all i took her to an internet cafe to look up the exact address. as it turned out we were only about 10 blocks away from the spot we needed, so off we went, cruising the streets again.

i was relieved when we got there because i was starting to get frustrated, it’s hard to be lost and have EVERYONE staring at you like you are an alien while you try to find your way.

we got julie all sorted out, she met her tour guide and set up a time for her to meet the group the next day. yay! mission accomplished with just a few minor bumps in the path along the way. once again, somehow it all worked out. the next challenge we faced was pretty minor and it was just to make it back to the hostel for happy hour.

now here we sit, writing in our journals, listening to music on the roof. since it's our last night together in quito we plan on hitting town. there is a place called la ronda that is way more authentic than were we were last night. there is apparently live music on every corner with lots of options for food and drink. the good news is that is way safer than where we went last night.



LATER THAT NIGHT...

what an amazing place we stumbled upon at la ronda! i had the best night of the trip so far.

we walked all the way to la ronda which was quite a bit farther than i thought it would be and it was cold!

it was about 9pm when we arrived there at the narrow street overflowing with yellow light. we walked right to the end and were served to cups of canelazo. we had no idea what it was at the time. it tasted like hot cider and i was pretty sure there was no alcohol in it. i found out later i was wrong. its a traditional drink here in quito made of orange juice, cinnamon and sugar cane alcohol. it was nice and warm so we sat and drank it in a little door way and watched all the people walking by. while we sat we were approached by two ladies who asked us to come to a party. i thought to myself uh oh, what kind of party?! she gave us a flyer and it turned out there was an ecuadorian music festival going on, and it was free! she said that it started in 10 minutes so we told her we would finish our drinks and meet here there.

we walked a ways down the cute little street that was lined with shops and restaurants and found the address we were looking for. at first glance it looked like we were walking into a tiny little place but after we ducked through the doorway and headed down a narrow hall way we were totally surprised. the hall way opened up into large outdoor theatre! who knew such a place could be hiding behind such a small subtle entrance way.

at the there was a set of stairs that led down to a room filled with ecuadorians watching a band on stage. the music was beautiful so we headed down the steps and joined the crowd. on stage were 3 men who were singing their hearts out and playing guitars. the music was infectious. before long julie and i were clapping, tapping our feet and bobbing our head to the music i couldn’t help but feel incredibly happy with what we had stumbled upon. i couldn’t stop smiling from ear to ear. this was real ecuadorian life and we were right there in the middle of it with no other tourists to be seen.

there was a group of ladies dancing away behind us and before long they had julie and i up and dancing with them. they openly invited us into their dance circle, took our pictures and kissed us on the cheeks and hands. it was magical. we could see all the other people in the theatre looking at us with big smiles on their faces. i felt like they were flattered to have us there with them and grateful to share this moment with us :)

once the band was finished, we gave the musicians a standing ovation before heading up stairs to the restaurant for nachos and empanadas. julie and i both were ecstatic about what had just gone down.

it was getting late at this point so we thought we'd better head back before too many weirdoes came out of the wood work. on the way back to catch a taxi we came across a one man band playing away under the yellow street lights. he had given a few tambourines to some children who were watching. they all danced around like no one was watching. what a way to end the night. what a place! it was the best last night together we could have asked for.


tomorrow julie and i say good bye and i head back to abbi at the beaches. im ready for some rest and relaxation for these last few days of the trip. i can’t believe its almost over already!