Walking Tour #3: San Marcos and Alameda Park

Another walking tour - as if our feet haven't had enough! :) But, it has been so fun getting to know more of Old Town. Today we took a taxi to La Merced and caught it open.

Next we visited a small, traditional neighborhood called San Marcos. I have never been here - have never even heard of it! Quite a little treasure in the middle of bustling downtown. Quiet, shady, no traffic. Ahhhh, fresh air. And as an added bonus - a working fountain!

Took these steps down, but everyone else seemed to be taking them up!

Took a taxi back up to Alameda Park.

Always getting that perfect shot, ya know! :)

The monument dedicated to Simón Bolívar - Latin America's freedom fighter and hero.

Going up to Bethlehem Church. This is the church Laura and Checho are members of.

Then a short rest in El Ejido Park as we make our way back to work to pick up Andrés. Oh, and Kari had to check out the little library they have built in the park...

Walking Tour #2: The Route of the Theaters

Today the tour consisted of theaters and, of course, churches!

First, the Sucre Theater. Gorgeous. So much work has been done restoring some of these old buildings.

Next was Teatro de Variedades. Not technically on the tour but pretty and all restored, too!

A cool building on some street. It's amazing all the times you come down here but are so busy watching for traffic, or shopping, or talking to the person with you, you never even look up to see the buildings. You really need a tourist (with a photographer's eye, of course) with you to start appreciating things more.

Bolivar Theater, a cultural icon and now a gutted mess. A gas tank at Pizza Hut exploded over ten years ago and to this day the theater has not been restored. I'm assuming they are still caught up in the legal battles. A shame, too, since I can remember going to the theater café with Andrés's aunt on some of my first trips to Ecuador and having little finger sandwiches on the balcony.

Santa Catalina. The nuns here are cloistered and survive by selling wine and honey and other items to people, who go up to a turnstile, put their money in the little cubbyhole, and turn it. A minute later their product appears. There was a constant line 2-3 deep the whole time we were there.

Santo Domingo Church. Open. Cool altar. I didn't take a picture and probably should have, since it was only the second time I've been in there. Grandpa Dan will have to send me a copy of his.

And down to La Ronda. I took this picture for Andrés because I knew he would like it, and sure enough! Of all the pictures he immediately brought this one up and said, "Cool picture!" I know my honey, that's for sure!

The balconies of Quito. Classic Old Town.

Back up to San Francisco Church. Candied peanuts in all varieties on the way. Spooky clouds.

Inside the convent we spent a few minutes recuperating and hiding from the sun. It was hot and we were tired, but it was so peaceful and cool inside the convent. Getting away from the smoke and smog and noise of downtown Quito, yet still in the midst of it all...

Walking Tour #1: The Street of the Seven Crosses

Today Grandpa Dan and I started the first of our walking tours of downtown colonial Quito. The tour today was of García Moreno street - named so after the president who was assassinated on the street many many years ago. But it used to be known as the Street of the Seven Crosses, since you could look down the street and see seven crosses of churches from the top. I have always heard of the seven crosses, but have never taken the time to "get to know them", so to speak. Today was the perfect opportunity!

The first cross: Santa Barbara Church.

One nice thing about getting downtown around 10 a.m. is that the churches are open. I had never been in this church before, so it was nice to go inside. A very humble, modest church.

The second cross: La Concepción Church. The picture was discovered a few years ago and now has been restored. Nice to look up and see that there - I almost never even knew there was a church on that corner!

Also open, also one I don't think I have ever gone inside. It never ceases to amaze me how beautiful and unique every church in Quito is.

Not sure - possibly Santa Marianita de Jesús? Very interesting - I don't think I have ever seen a woman on the cross before.

The third cross at the Cathedral, right in Plaza Grande. Not open. I think I forgot to get a shot of the cross!

But nice doors. Someday I am going to do a picture tour of different doors and windows in Quito.

The fourth cross: El Sagrario.

Breathtaking inside. Look at that ceiling!

The fifth cross: La Compañía.

The sixth: El Carmen Alto.

The seventh cross will be for another day. Once we got to El Carmen Alto the characters on the street started getting a bit shadier and creepier and we decided not to risk it. Plus - our feet were starting to hurt!

Photographer at work

One of the fun things so far this trip has been watching Grandpa Dan really get into taking pictures. I am one of those people that usually just snaps the picture, not really thinking about it. (I always wonder why everyone's pictures are better than mine. Ummm, maybe because they actually think about it before they press the button?)

Got some lessons from the pro - try to get a little green in the picture.

Notice the difference?

And Quito from the Panecillo. Looking north. It seems interminable.

Around Quito

It's nice having someone here to take around town and enjoy some of the scenery with. I haven't been doing many tourist-y things lately, so getting out and seeing some of the newer stuff has been really fun.

Grandpa Dan and I went to the park today, then spent the rest of the morning doing some errands. Grandma Shushú is at the beach, so we have also been in charge of picking the kids up from school this week. Agustín is usually happy to see us, but Nico always wants his grandma. More than anything because he wants ice cream after school!

First Day of December

Today is the first day of December and the start of the advent. We found these great retro advent calendars where you open a little window for every day (there is a piece of chocolate behind each one) - do you remember those? I used to love the advent calendar, opening the windows or drawers and finding some little treat. It made Christmas so real, and made it seem so close. I also like it for the kids because it will help them 9especially Tin) with dates and figuring out time better, which has been a bit of a struggle (could it be the age? When do kids start recognizing today, tomorrow, yesterday, etc.?) Actually, Tin was the one who reminded me that it started today, so it's already helping, although he thought that Christmas was tomorrow...

The beginning of December is also a special time here in Quito, when the Fiestas make the city larger than life and an otherwise somewhat conservative little mountain city comes alive. Parties and dancing on the street, traditional food kiosks everywhere, chivas with brass bands taking over the streets. But possibly my favorite part of this time of year is the bullfights.

We won't be going this year, and I'm a little disappointed. It is truly amazing watching a bullfight, and I really want to read the story Hemingway wrote about it now that I have come to understand it better. It isn't just about the fight, it is the bull, the bullfighter, the olés and handkerchiefs, the wine flowing from the botas, and the general festiveness. Every Quiteño putting on a Spanish straw hat and talking like españoles (a little annoying but something you get used to). It's man versus beast, and so exciting to see who will win. (Secretly I always hope the bull gets a piece of the bullfighter.) It's amazing how graceful both are, when the fight is good. Before I had gone the first time, I thought it was like a slaughter, but once you are there in person you can really see the art and culture and history behind it.

I'm thinking about all of this not because it is the first of December, but because today Tin was running around the house playing "bull". "Corre toro que te voy a matar" - singing it over and over. I can imagine that here little boys grow up dreaming not of being firefighters or policemen but bullfighters.




But it has also brought up another issue. Many people have been protesting the bullfights lately, oh, in the last two years or so. Usually college kids, hechos los hippies (acting like hippies), screaming and freaking out outside of the arena. They put up violent images of bulls being slaughtered (not by bullfighters but usually in slaughterhouses - or maybe the images are even photoshopped, not sure), and scream insults at everyone coming out of the arena. It is really distasteful. They call everyone murderers as they chomp on meat empanadas and hamburgers! I'm no tree hugger and I know living in Ecuador for so many years has snuffed out a love for animals I used to have, but these kids really go too far (I'm sounding like my grandpa now!). Anyhow, I was thinking about them because Tin was asking why they have to kill the bull. And I didn't know the answer. And then he said that he hoped the bull won, too.