 |
| Monastery of San Fransisco |
 |
| Andean hawker |
 |
| One, two, three.....oi you in the middle I said THREE! |
Saturday, 13 October 2012
el Centro Historico
We've been to the Old Town a couple of times, like Cartagena it's a unesco world heritage site but unlike Cartagena it lacks charm, I found it ugly and grey. I don't know what the difference is, if it's the lack of sunshine or the number of beggars and hawkers on the streets or that some of the streets that we walked down were completely deserted and eerily quiet.
I found it quite a sad place to walk around, obviously since the New Town sprung up in the 1940's and the rich Ecuadorians deserted for a new life there has been no investment, in fact the travel books state that the old town has received considerable investment since 2003 but there's little evidence of it.
The policemen and their dogs patrolling the streets of the old town however are a bright and friendly bunch who on the count of three salute or sit up and beg!
Gringolandia
We are staying in 'Mariscal Sucre' which is part of the New Town and where the majority of hotels and restaurants are - it's also where all of the tourists tend to stay - hence its nickname.....
On Thursday we had a look around the New Town, it's a very cosmopolitan place with a commercial centre, shopping malls that are easily on a par with those back at home and numerous KFC's, McDonalds and Subway's - not a single Starbucks though which is good.
Spanish school was at the top of our 'to-do' list for Thursday and on the recommendation of the english family that we'd met the night before we enrolled at Terracentro Spanish school - four hours a day for the next two weeks.
Knowing that it's not advisable to walk around at night we chose a Peruvian restaurant close to the hostel to eat, we had the most delicious pulpo (octopus) ceviche (raw seafood marinated in lime juice), a wonderfully tasty though very rich langoustine soup and a pisco sour cocktail. The restaurant is owned and run by a really nice French/American who like us had been travelling around Latin America and decided to stay having identified the lack of Peruvian food in Quito as a gap in the market which he has now filled with three restaurants. He also recommended some other restaurants for us to try and a club the Turtles Head; "A club that plays 80's music, I hope I'm not offending you", he wasn't we're going on Thursday!
After a trial lesson with Patricia our tutor and a couple of beers while we watched the football we returned to the hostel and went for a very good curry with the English family.
Friday night curries, the same world over!
Raine x
On Thursday we had a look around the New Town, it's a very cosmopolitan place with a commercial centre, shopping malls that are easily on a par with those back at home and numerous KFC's, McDonalds and Subway's - not a single Starbucks though which is good.
Spanish school was at the top of our 'to-do' list for Thursday and on the recommendation of the english family that we'd met the night before we enrolled at Terracentro Spanish school - four hours a day for the next two weeks.
Knowing that it's not advisable to walk around at night we chose a Peruvian restaurant close to the hostel to eat, we had the most delicious pulpo (octopus) ceviche (raw seafood marinated in lime juice), a wonderfully tasty though very rich langoustine soup and a pisco sour cocktail. The restaurant is owned and run by a really nice French/American who like us had been travelling around Latin America and decided to stay having identified the lack of Peruvian food in Quito as a gap in the market which he has now filled with three restaurants. He also recommended some other restaurants for us to try and a club the Turtles Head; "A club that plays 80's music, I hope I'm not offending you", he wasn't we're going on Thursday!
After a trial lesson with Patricia our tutor and a couple of beers while we watched the football we returned to the hostel and went for a very good curry with the English family.
Friday night curries, the same world over!
Raine x
Arriving in Quito
We arrived in Quito at 9pm on Wednesday night, unfortunately our luggage didn't.... after patiently waiting and checking each of the carousels for almost an hour we went to the Avianca desk where the very polite attendant instantly recognised our names and told us that our bags hadn't arrived from Bogota - very frustrating! He assured us that our bags would be delivered to our hostel by 01:30 - and they were.
Our rooms at the Travellers Inn are in a block in the yard next to the main house, they're clean and functional with a shared (and technically speaking outdoor) bathroom and at £7.46 each a night a bargain!
We are going to upgrade to a twin room with a private bathroom today, which sees the room rate increase to £11.50 each....
 |
| My room with it's ensuite.... |
When we got to the hostel just before 11pm we met two families both part way through year long trips (!) who'd just returned from the Amazon and Alex an ever so slightly highly strung lesbian (instant disclosure) who was coming down from what sounded like an amazing trip to the Galapagos.
The Club Colombia (beer) that we'd bought at Bogota airport to use up the last of our peso's had warmed up so we bought two large bottles of ice cold pilsner and drank them in the yard before bed.
New town vs Old town to follow.
Raine x
The Club Colombia (beer) that we'd bought at Bogota airport to use up the last of our peso's had warmed up so we bought two large bottles of ice cold pilsner and drank them in the yard before bed.
New town vs Old town to follow.
Raine x
Ecuador 3 - Chile 1
We picked a good time to be in Ecuador, yesterday it was their world cup qualifier against Chile which we watched in the Foch Plaza in the 'New Town' a short walk from where we're staying.
It was a great game to watch as a neutral, the game opened with a superb strike by Ecuador... into Chile's goal, it was an excellent OG!
Then there was a penalty, not a great one as the keeper saved it, but he should have caught it rather than batting it away as Ecuador scored from the rebound.
There was a sending off in the final 15 minutes and a goal scored in the final minute of added time.
I'm told that the Chilleans will put their loss down to the altitude (they always do when they lose, never do when they win).
It was a great game to watch as a neutral, the game opened with a superb strike by Ecuador... into Chile's goal, it was an excellent OG!
Then there was a penalty, not a great one as the keeper saved it, but he should have caught it rather than batting it away as Ecuador scored from the rebound.
There was a sending off in the final 15 minutes and a goal scored in the final minute of added time.
I'm told that the Chilleans will put their loss down to the altitude (they always do when they lose, never do when they win).
 |
| Foch Plaza 5 minutes from the stadium |
Some Quito highlights to follow.....
Raine x
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)