Wed morning we checked out of our Villa Nova Inn. It was time for the treacherous but scenic van ride back to Guayaquil . We left at 6:30am Thurs morning so we arranged to spend one night at the Palace hotel , where we stayed one night at the beginning of our trip.
Poor Scott caught a bad flu bug yesterday so sadly our exploration of Cuenca seems to be pretty much done for now. Today he is still down for the count and tomorrow we head back down to Guayaquil . He’s feeling a tiny bit better but still needs to stay close to the Banos. For lunch yesterday I just ate the remnants of our picnic but for dinner I decided to wander out on my own .
A few observations about life in Cuenca.
1. Here you don’t see beggars just standing on a curbside with a cardboard sign… They actually do a little show while you sit at a red light! And I mean, a pretty darn good show, juggling , balancing acts , a guy had a soccer ball and he did a crazy balancing act with the ball on his head doesn’t sound impressive but I know I could never even attempt it! In my humble opinion, they deserve a hand out, they actually did something creative to earn a fewcoins ! After they finish their show they dash around to the cars and nearly every car gives them something .
I neglected to post the pictures of the lovely dinner we had on Scott’s Birthday on Thursday night. I know Pat ( Scott’s Mom) will appreciate seeing them. Dano recommended this restaurant , Tiestros. The chef came out from the kitchen to introduce himself to us and asked where we were from. We told him we were from California and he scratched his chin , thinking and said… I will make surf & turf for you!! …… Ok?
Today was a relaxing day. We didn’t have much of an agenda so we did a bit of wandering through Old Town and just looking around. I took some pictures of some pretty sights . Some graffiti I found interesting and some of the old Colonial buildings . We wandered upon a panama had museum. Little known fact….. Panama hats originated here in Ecuador ! Why they call them Panama hats, I haven’t a clue. But all the indigenous women wear them here. We also went to one of the other markets . This one , San Francisco Market is in a building unlike the Fiera Libre which was outdoors.
I took some pictures of a beautiful church built into a cliff side above the town of Biblion. The view of the town and the valley below was great. I also included a picture of the Birthday boy! His birthday breakfast .
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This is Dano, he’s a great tour-guide!
Fireworks at the festival
They fill these paper balloon things with fire then just let them float off into the sky! The sky above the park is filled with these colorful things ! So cool!
Just a pretty tree in the park
Floating balloon!
A couple of them actually floated into the church!
Scott choosing some sweets…. Hard to decide, it all looked so yummy!
this is one of those structures that has the fireworks on it. They light it up and those pinwheels spin around!
An Ecuadorean family in the back of their truck.
Driving through old town with Dano
A store window in the old town.
We had lunch with Dano at one of his favorite places.
The church in Turin , so many beautiful churches.
the view of Cuenca from Turin
More view of the city
and one more!
a friendly alpaca
Us at the waterfall
The waterfall
We left San Francisco at 11:00pm on Saturday , our first leg was a 4 hour flight to Chicago. Arriving in Chicago at 5:00am Sunday . Now after a four hour layover we are on a 4 1/2 hour flight to Panama City. Then a 2 hour flight to Guayaquil , Ecuador. Whew!!! Our connection in Panama is kinda tight and I think we are leaving Chicago a bit late, oh well.. We’ll see what happens .
Today is Tuesday and we are leaving Saturday for our first visit to Cuenca Ecuador. Im really looking forward to exploring the city. I have spent a lot of time reading blogs and forums and books and info online about this colonial city 8000 ft in the Andes. The architecture and landscape looks so beautiful. One blog that I have especially enjoyed reading is written by a man named Dan, or Danno, He moved to Cuenca just over a year ago from Seattle, Washington with his two cats and his dog. I have really had a great time reading about all his adventures in his new home. He has done so much in his first year and I have admired his spirit of adventure and his humor about the things that frustrate him.
Dan posted a message on an e-mail message board called the Gringo Tree that he is willing to drive people around Cuenca in his spare time. When I saw his posting I was really excited and responded right away. So we are connecting with him when we arrive and are planning to spend two days with him exploring some of the smaller towns outside of the city. He seems like a really nice person and I cant wait to pick his brain about his life in Cuenca.
The other exciting event that I have schedule while visiting Cuenca is A cooking class. Again on the Gringo Tree I spotted a posting for a Tamale class at a ladies house. It sounds like as much of a social event as a class. Anyone who knows me knows I love social events! Especially when the $10.00 fee includes wine!! Scott can focus on the cooking while I cover him on the social end😃. Looking forward to meeting other gringos who live in Cuenca. I know no matter what, it will be really fun to experience a new culture, meet new people and spend time in a beautiful city! Cheers! Life is good!!!!
