Quito, Ecuador
Me in two hemispheres :)
Before and after the Galapagos, my friend Char and I spent a night in Quito, Ecuador. The last day, we were able to get out a bit and see the area and go to the Equator! Yes, I stood in that spot where I spanned two hemispheres (of course, you learn that this isn't the exact spot at all because they "measured" wrong and the "real" equator is elsewhere, but it was fun anyway! ;)
Quito was an interesting city. We'd heard a lot about being careful of our money and belongings, even from the "kids" that look like they are selling things or offering to clean people's shoes. We had no incidents, but were careful just the same and so that made for a pleasant outing. (We'd heard of a lady getting her camera grabbed from her right in the main square! She ran after it and got it back, fortunately). We took a tour around the city and the most amazing thing we saw, I wasn't able to get pictures of- the inside of the a church that had gold covering a huge portion of the inside of the church. They described the painstaking process of this fragile gold-leaf having to be "painted" on a bit at a time and that it took an astounding amount of years to complete. We visited Panecillo, the statue of the Virgin Mary overlooking the city with nice views of the city with its many houses and parts of the new and old town areas and government buildings. The day in Quito ended our wonderful stay in South America in the Galapagos and Quito, and the next morning we had to head back home. The overall trip I highly recommend!! :) It went well beyond my expectations.
Breakfast at our hotel- crepes and fruit, and a staple of the area- fresh squeezed juice. The one was raspberry- the fresh juices were absolutely delicious!
First church we saw
Embellishments on the church- these were sea turtles and there were other carvings of iguanas, dolphins and other animals. Cool! :)
There was a festival going on and several school children in their uniforms were visiting the Panecillo while we were there, so cute! :)
Char and I in front of the Virgin Mary statue.
Government building.
In the Square
The Bibleoteca - the Library
The church with all the gold I described.
At the Equator
Ecuadorian coins (although they use the US dollar)
Before and after the Galapagos, my friend Char and I spent a night in Quito, Ecuador. The last day, we were able to get out a bit and see the area and go to the Equator! Yes, I stood in that spot where I spanned two hemispheres (of course, you learn that this isn't the exact spot at all because they "measured" wrong and the "real" equator is elsewhere, but it was fun anyway! ;)
Quito was an interesting city. We'd heard a lot about being careful of our money and belongings, even from the "kids" that look like they are selling things or offering to clean people's shoes. We had no incidents, but were careful just the same and so that made for a pleasant outing. (We'd heard of a lady getting her camera grabbed from her right in the main square! She ran after it and got it back, fortunately). We took a tour around the city and the most amazing thing we saw, I wasn't able to get pictures of- the inside of the a church that had gold covering a huge portion of the inside of the church. They described the painstaking process of this fragile gold-leaf having to be "painted" on a bit at a time and that it took an astounding amount of years to complete. We visited Panecillo, the statue of the Virgin Mary overlooking the city with nice views of the city with its many houses and parts of the new and old town areas and government buildings. The day in Quito ended our wonderful stay in South America in the Galapagos and Quito, and the next morning we had to head back home. The overall trip I highly recommend!! :) It went well beyond my expectations.
Breakfast at our hotel- crepes and fruit, and a staple of the area- fresh squeezed juice. The one was raspberry- the fresh juices were absolutely delicious!
First church we saw
Embellishments on the church- these were sea turtles and there were other carvings of iguanas, dolphins and other animals. Cool! :)
There was a festival going on and several school children in their uniforms were visiting the Panecillo while we were there, so cute! :)
Char and I in front of the Virgin Mary statue.
Government building.
In the Square
The Bibleoteca - the Library
The church with all the gold I described.
At the Equator
Ecuadorian coins (although they use the US dollar)
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