August 7, 2006 - A Day in Quito
Another day in Quito and we’re now back at the Hotel Los Alpes after another day around town. We had breakfast again at Hotel Los Alpes, same as the day before. We had been considering hiring Walter, our multi-talented taxi driver who seems to know about everything, to take us around for the balance of our trip. Looks we’ll probably do it. It’ll probably cost a bit more than some other options, but we’ll have a knowledgeable local person with us and we won’t have to worry about transportation for the balance of the trip. It seems like our arrangements work for Walter also.
Now we’re off for a tour of HCJB, “The Voice of the Andes”, a Christian radio station that began broadcasting in Quito 75 years ago to six radio receivers in the local area and now broadcasts in many parts of the world. Jenny Koenig, who with her husband has been in Ecuador seven years as a missionary, is our tour guide. Mom is rather amazed by the scope of change, as HCJB has gone from a relatively small operation out in the country as she remembers it, to a major organization located in a very built-up part of Quito. No fields of Atahualpa for Mom to hike through as she did as a child. The tour lasted a little over an hour, as we saw various parts of HCJB, the hospital, and the Alliance Academy. It was quite an impressive operation, with many ways they reach out to meet Ecuador’s spiritual and practical needs. A number of times regarding all the changes since the 1950s, Mom would exclaim that “Janet just wouldn’t believe this”, referencing my Aunt Janet, who grew up in Quito as my Mom did. There was little remaining that Mom recognized, though the building currently housing the Alliance Seminary was identified as the old building where Mom attended school at the Alliance Academy. Mom noted that one confusing thing was that the Alliance Academy is now on the other side of the street from where she remembered it.
Mom and our taxi driver, Walter, in front of HCJB
Our tour guide on the left and Mom on the right at HCJB
The hospital at HCJB
After the HCJB tour, Walter took us back to the hotel, and while Mom got a rest, John and I went over to the U.S. embassy, which less than half a block away from our hotel. We had thought about registering there, but there was a long line of Ecuadorians at the embassy and we weren’t there during the hours that U.S. citizens can come into the embassy. So John and I headed over to the South America Explorers club building, which is just a block down from the embassy. We had joined the club prior to coming down to Ecuador and they are reputed to be a great source of information. We spoke to several people there and good a few good tidbits of information, but for the most part we didn’t get a lot of information from them that we hadn’t gotten in our previous preparations. But still a good resource to have around the corner.
Walter then came back and picked us up to take us over to the old section of Quito, which has been designated by the United Nations as a world cultural resource and is reputed to be the best example of colonial architecture in South America. First we needed to get some lunch, so we went to a restaurant called La Choza, which is reputed to have good authentic Ecuadorian cuisine. We had steaks, and they were good, but the meal really didn’t seem much different than a typical American steak meal, with a baked potato, carrots, and a green vegetable.
The theater on Old Town Quito
With full stomachs we were ready to visit some of the great sites of the Old Town. Mom said the narrow streets, with certain ones still having rough cobblestones, brought back memories. First we went to the Jesuit church of La Compania. Extensive repairs to this church were just completed five months ago after many years of work after the major earthquake here in 1987. This church is rightly renowed for its incredible gold interior, with most of the walls and ceiling covered with gold or fabulous paintings, sculptures, etc. We had an English speaking tour guide, which was nice. At one point when we were in the front he was discussing they symmetry of the church and pointed to two sets of stairs at the back of the church. He asked us what was different about the two sets of stairs, and we couldn’t see anything. Turns out one set of stairs is real and the other was painted opposite the real stairs to maintain symmetry. All in all very impressive, but no pictures are allowed inside. Sorry.
John and Mom in front of the golden doors to La Compania
After that we walked a few blocks to the Plaza de San Francisco, home of the Franciscan church of San Francisco. This church is still undergoing major repairs, with massive girders running across several parts of the church. But still a very impressive church, with artwork, sculptures, and plentiful gold and silver. This church, built in 1553, is where the famous Quito School of Art was founded. After looking around this church for a little while, we were tiring and it was time for Walter to get us back to the hotel. As was the case all day, Walter was timely in picking us up, helping us get where we needed to go, etc.
San Francisco Church
El Panecillo off in the distance looking from the plaza in front of the San Francisco church
We’ll be heading south to Riobamba tomorrow, so we’ve got to get packed and organized for the four day jaunt from Quito.
A flower in the walkway at Hotel Los Alpes
And another
Now we’re off for a tour of HCJB, “The Voice of the Andes”, a Christian radio station that began broadcasting in Quito 75 years ago to six radio receivers in the local area and now broadcasts in many parts of the world. Jenny Koenig, who with her husband has been in Ecuador seven years as a missionary, is our tour guide. Mom is rather amazed by the scope of change, as HCJB has gone from a relatively small operation out in the country as she remembers it, to a major organization located in a very built-up part of Quito. No fields of Atahualpa for Mom to hike through as she did as a child. The tour lasted a little over an hour, as we saw various parts of HCJB, the hospital, and the Alliance Academy. It was quite an impressive operation, with many ways they reach out to meet Ecuador’s spiritual and practical needs. A number of times regarding all the changes since the 1950s, Mom would exclaim that “Janet just wouldn’t believe this”, referencing my Aunt Janet, who grew up in Quito as my Mom did. There was little remaining that Mom recognized, though the building currently housing the Alliance Seminary was identified as the old building where Mom attended school at the Alliance Academy. Mom noted that one confusing thing was that the Alliance Academy is now on the other side of the street from where she remembered it.
Mom and our taxi driver, Walter, in front of HCJB
Our tour guide on the left and Mom on the right at HCJB
The hospital at HCJB
After the HCJB tour, Walter took us back to the hotel, and while Mom got a rest, John and I went over to the U.S. embassy, which less than half a block away from our hotel. We had thought about registering there, but there was a long line of Ecuadorians at the embassy and we weren’t there during the hours that U.S. citizens can come into the embassy. So John and I headed over to the South America Explorers club building, which is just a block down from the embassy. We had joined the club prior to coming down to Ecuador and they are reputed to be a great source of information. We spoke to several people there and good a few good tidbits of information, but for the most part we didn’t get a lot of information from them that we hadn’t gotten in our previous preparations. But still a good resource to have around the corner.
Walter then came back and picked us up to take us over to the old section of Quito, which has been designated by the United Nations as a world cultural resource and is reputed to be the best example of colonial architecture in South America. First we needed to get some lunch, so we went to a restaurant called La Choza, which is reputed to have good authentic Ecuadorian cuisine. We had steaks, and they were good, but the meal really didn’t seem much different than a typical American steak meal, with a baked potato, carrots, and a green vegetable.
The theater on Old Town Quito
With full stomachs we were ready to visit some of the great sites of the Old Town. Mom said the narrow streets, with certain ones still having rough cobblestones, brought back memories. First we went to the Jesuit church of La Compania. Extensive repairs to this church were just completed five months ago after many years of work after the major earthquake here in 1987. This church is rightly renowed for its incredible gold interior, with most of the walls and ceiling covered with gold or fabulous paintings, sculptures, etc. We had an English speaking tour guide, which was nice. At one point when we were in the front he was discussing they symmetry of the church and pointed to two sets of stairs at the back of the church. He asked us what was different about the two sets of stairs, and we couldn’t see anything. Turns out one set of stairs is real and the other was painted opposite the real stairs to maintain symmetry. All in all very impressive, but no pictures are allowed inside. Sorry.
John and Mom in front of the golden doors to La Compania
After that we walked a few blocks to the Plaza de San Francisco, home of the Franciscan church of San Francisco. This church is still undergoing major repairs, with massive girders running across several parts of the church. But still a very impressive church, with artwork, sculptures, and plentiful gold and silver. This church, built in 1553, is where the famous Quito School of Art was founded. After looking around this church for a little while, we were tiring and it was time for Walter to get us back to the hotel. As was the case all day, Walter was timely in picking us up, helping us get where we needed to go, etc.
San Francisco Church
El Panecillo off in the distance looking from the plaza in front of the San Francisco church
We’ll be heading south to Riobamba tomorrow, so we’ve got to get packed and organized for the four day jaunt from Quito.
A flower in the walkway at Hotel Los Alpes
And another
posted by Bob at 7:16 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home