August 18, 2006 – Our last day in Quito and Ecuador
After the hectic events of yesterday, we took it a bit easy today and just did a few things around Quito before packing for an early morning trip to the airport tomorrow.
The front desk at Hotel Los Alpes
The front room at Hotel Los Alpes
The dining room at Hotel Los Alpes
A view of the front of Hotel Los Alpes
And looking down the street from Hotel Los Alpes is the entrance to the United States embassy
We had our usual Hotel Los Alpes breakfast and then later in the morning Walter came by to pick us up for our last run around Quito. We first headed to Old Town Quito, which this particular morning had very heavy traffic. We first stopped for a visit at the Santo Domingo church, which was finished around 1620. It’s being restored, so there were workmen in some areas, and there was also a Mass being held in a side area. Another very spectacular church that’s definitely worth the visit. Very impressive paintings on the ceilings and a huge silver throne in the front that is said to weigh hundreds of pounds. In the Plaza de Santo Domingo, in front of the church, is a statue of General Sucre, pointing to the slopes of Pichincha, where he won a decisive victory in Ecuador’s fight for independence.
Santo Domingo church
The statue of General Sucre, pointing to Pichincha
A cross near the entrance of the Santo Domingo church
As tourists on our last day in a foreign country, we do what is every tourist’s duty, we shop. Old Town Ecuador has lots of little shops, so Walter and Mom take us on a little shopping foray in the streets near the Santo Domingo church. John and I aren’t real impressed by the shops we find or the prices they charge.
We then spend a little time trying to find the Quichua Christian and Missionary Alliance church building in Old Town Quito. When Mom was growing up in Quito, this was the Spanish-speaking Alliance church she attended. It’s on Cuenca street, but we didn’t’ seem to have much luck finding it, partly due to the continued heavy traffic. After a bit of fruitless searching, Mom calls off the search and we decide to get out of the Old Town and its traffic jams.
We decide to head to the Ipiales area, where John had gotten his new pairs of pants when we first got to Ecuador, as we recall that they seemed to have reasonable prices and a wide selection of things one might shop for. We get there and walk around a bit, but don’t find much to buy, and one place we might buy some stuff we can’t find our way back to, as the building has a number of levels, which generally slope up and down, as well as connecting to other nearby buildings. It’s around lunch time, so we stop into a little cafeteria area to get something to eat. Mom and I have some ceviche, a traditional Ecuadorian food that consists of a little container of a type of soup with a little meat in it. This is then poured onto accompanying rice, with popcorn and banana chips on the side. It was pretty good, but nothing outstanding. We hadn’t had ceviche up to this point because you have to be careful to make sure it’s fully cooked, but Walter assured us that in this case it was. John was less daring, having rice with some tomato sauce on top.
Walter then has us over to his home, showing traditional Ecuadorian hospitality. He gives us some ice cream and cookies and we get to see on their table the tablecloth that Mom gave to Walter’s wife. Unfortunately Walter’s wife isn’t there to join us, as she had to run one of their daughters to the doctor. We then head back to the Hotel Los Alpes, stopping off on the way for John to download some pictures from his camera onto a CD.
Back near the hotel we stop by the Mercado Artesanal La Mariscal, just a few blocks from our hotel. It’s a great little market, with a wide variety of Ecuadorian goods a tourist would be interested in, at generally reasonable prices. We didn’t even know it was there until today. Too bad, as it’s a better place to shop than some other places we’ve gone. We pick up a few things and then Walter needs to drop us off so he can go pick up the Peugeot, his regular taxi cab that’s been having its radiator fixed, but which we need to take us and our luggage to the airport tomorrow. So we bid Walter farewell for the day after he drops us off at the hotel. Mom’s ready for a rest, but John and I head back to the mercado to make sure we do our duty as tourists to shop the final day of our trip. Mom gives John some money and tells him to not come back until he’s spent it on good Ecuador stuff. We wander the aisles of the market, buying various things. When we get back to the hotel, Mom seems to approve of John’s purchases.
We had started packing the night before, and continue to pack so things are ready to go tomorrow morning. We have dinner at Hotel Los Alpes. We haven’t been real impressed with the dinners we’ve had here, but it seems that when we eat here we’re the only ones that do, and the cook/waiter seems so eager to have us eat here that it’s kinda hard to not eat here. Plus we’re a bit tired and it’s easier to eat here. Mom and John have spaghetti and I have ravioli. As far as Tungurahua, it seems to be quiet now, so we expect our flight tomorrow to take off without any volcano-related hitches. Time to finish packing and get everything squared away to head home. Our flight is around 7:00 a.m., so we plan to leave the hotel around 4:00 a.m., arriving at the airport by 4:30 a.m. We figure between the early hour and having at least two and a half hours, that we should have enough time. We are trying to make sure we don’t have liquids and such with us in our carry-on luggage following last week’s terrorist plot being foiled in the U.K. and the U.S.
It’s been quite a trip, with many an unexpected turn of events, but a great time has been had by all of us and we’ve all stayed pretty healthy. This is my last blog entry from Ecuador. Maybe when I get home I’ll do a wrap up blog entry, waxing philosophical or something. So this is Bob signing off from Quito.
The front desk at Hotel Los Alpes
The front room at Hotel Los Alpes
The dining room at Hotel Los Alpes
A view of the front of Hotel Los Alpes
And looking down the street from Hotel Los Alpes is the entrance to the United States embassy
We had our usual Hotel Los Alpes breakfast and then later in the morning Walter came by to pick us up for our last run around Quito. We first headed to Old Town Quito, which this particular morning had very heavy traffic. We first stopped for a visit at the Santo Domingo church, which was finished around 1620. It’s being restored, so there were workmen in some areas, and there was also a Mass being held in a side area. Another very spectacular church that’s definitely worth the visit. Very impressive paintings on the ceilings and a huge silver throne in the front that is said to weigh hundreds of pounds. In the Plaza de Santo Domingo, in front of the church, is a statue of General Sucre, pointing to the slopes of Pichincha, where he won a decisive victory in Ecuador’s fight for independence.
Santo Domingo church
The statue of General Sucre, pointing to Pichincha
A cross near the entrance of the Santo Domingo church
As tourists on our last day in a foreign country, we do what is every tourist’s duty, we shop. Old Town Ecuador has lots of little shops, so Walter and Mom take us on a little shopping foray in the streets near the Santo Domingo church. John and I aren’t real impressed by the shops we find or the prices they charge.
We then spend a little time trying to find the Quichua Christian and Missionary Alliance church building in Old Town Quito. When Mom was growing up in Quito, this was the Spanish-speaking Alliance church she attended. It’s on Cuenca street, but we didn’t’ seem to have much luck finding it, partly due to the continued heavy traffic. After a bit of fruitless searching, Mom calls off the search and we decide to get out of the Old Town and its traffic jams.
We decide to head to the Ipiales area, where John had gotten his new pairs of pants when we first got to Ecuador, as we recall that they seemed to have reasonable prices and a wide selection of things one might shop for. We get there and walk around a bit, but don’t find much to buy, and one place we might buy some stuff we can’t find our way back to, as the building has a number of levels, which generally slope up and down, as well as connecting to other nearby buildings. It’s around lunch time, so we stop into a little cafeteria area to get something to eat. Mom and I have some ceviche, a traditional Ecuadorian food that consists of a little container of a type of soup with a little meat in it. This is then poured onto accompanying rice, with popcorn and banana chips on the side. It was pretty good, but nothing outstanding. We hadn’t had ceviche up to this point because you have to be careful to make sure it’s fully cooked, but Walter assured us that in this case it was. John was less daring, having rice with some tomato sauce on top.
Walter then has us over to his home, showing traditional Ecuadorian hospitality. He gives us some ice cream and cookies and we get to see on their table the tablecloth that Mom gave to Walter’s wife. Unfortunately Walter’s wife isn’t there to join us, as she had to run one of their daughters to the doctor. We then head back to the Hotel Los Alpes, stopping off on the way for John to download some pictures from his camera onto a CD.
Back near the hotel we stop by the Mercado Artesanal La Mariscal, just a few blocks from our hotel. It’s a great little market, with a wide variety of Ecuadorian goods a tourist would be interested in, at generally reasonable prices. We didn’t even know it was there until today. Too bad, as it’s a better place to shop than some other places we’ve gone. We pick up a few things and then Walter needs to drop us off so he can go pick up the Peugeot, his regular taxi cab that’s been having its radiator fixed, but which we need to take us and our luggage to the airport tomorrow. So we bid Walter farewell for the day after he drops us off at the hotel. Mom’s ready for a rest, but John and I head back to the mercado to make sure we do our duty as tourists to shop the final day of our trip. Mom gives John some money and tells him to not come back until he’s spent it on good Ecuador stuff. We wander the aisles of the market, buying various things. When we get back to the hotel, Mom seems to approve of John’s purchases.
We had started packing the night before, and continue to pack so things are ready to go tomorrow morning. We have dinner at Hotel Los Alpes. We haven’t been real impressed with the dinners we’ve had here, but it seems that when we eat here we’re the only ones that do, and the cook/waiter seems so eager to have us eat here that it’s kinda hard to not eat here. Plus we’re a bit tired and it’s easier to eat here. Mom and John have spaghetti and I have ravioli. As far as Tungurahua, it seems to be quiet now, so we expect our flight tomorrow to take off without any volcano-related hitches. Time to finish packing and get everything squared away to head home. Our flight is around 7:00 a.m., so we plan to leave the hotel around 4:00 a.m., arriving at the airport by 4:30 a.m. We figure between the early hour and having at least two and a half hours, that we should have enough time. We are trying to make sure we don’t have liquids and such with us in our carry-on luggage following last week’s terrorist plot being foiled in the U.K. and the U.S.
It’s been quite a trip, with many an unexpected turn of events, but a great time has been had by all of us and we’ve all stayed pretty healthy. This is my last blog entry from Ecuador. Maybe when I get home I’ll do a wrap up blog entry, waxing philosophical or something. So this is Bob signing off from Quito.
posted by Bob at 6:31 PM
3 Comments:
looking forward to the recap. excellent work on documenting the trip.
Enjoyed your blogging. Worried about your safety with the volcano activity. Hopefully your home safe and sound.
Thanks Bob the 'daily report'. We covered so much ground that it was hard to keep in contact with reality. It was great to just reflect on the past 24 hours of high adventure...that is, when we would have computer access. Great trip!! one we will always remember!
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