A Day in Quito
Quito City Tour With a Visit to the Equator
The day started with breakfast at the hotel. Lots of local dishes and fruits were on the buffet along with some traditional and local breakfast dishes. We took a walk around the hotel and pool before heading out for the day.
We boarded a bus at the hotel for a short ride to the narrow streets of old town Quito where we saw the huge influence of Spain and the Catholic Church on Ecuador. Spaniards began building the city of Quito in the 16th century. Being a UNESCO site many of the buildings in the old town remain. The Franciscan order followed by the Dominicans, Augustinians and Jesuits constructed many churches, monasteries and convents in the small area of old town Quito in the 16th an 17th centuries. The Jesuits constructed one of the most elaborate churches we’ve ever seen called Compañía de Jesús, with the interior completely covered in gold. The church was built between 1605 and 1748. Fact we learned - the Jesuits were totally into symmetry. Photography is not allowed inthe main church but we were able to take the shots below after hiking up to the choir loft. We did get some shots of the church front door which was gold gilded ceiling to floor the entire length of the church. The door below is inlaid with gold leaf and powder as are the pillars. By the way, whoever said you will feel altitude wasn’t kidding. I didn’t think I would make it up the choir loft stairs. A few people measured their blood oxygen level and it was 82-83.
Our lunch was even held in part of a church. It was a nice buffet with lots of local foods. You can find corn in just about everything. They even serve popcorn as a side dish and as something to add into soup.
Walking around the narrow streets was fun but pretty tiring. It is amazing how just under 10,000 ft of elevation can have such an impact. These are some photos from our walk.
Our second and last tour stop was the equator outdoor museum where you got to stand on both sides of the equator and play some interesting games you can only do at the equator like watching water flow clockwise on one side and counter clockwise on the other. There were also some guided displays of some of the indigenous people from Ecuador which included a shrunken head. We also got a demonstration of cacao fruit to chocolate and learned about chocolate which originated in Ecuador.
There was a small shop run by an indigenous family where we did a little shopping.
We arrived back at the hotel about 5 with an hour to relax before dinner.
Our 3 course limited menu dinner was at a nice restaurant called Gloria’s. It was primarily Ecuadorean cuisine with a few Peruvian influences. David and I both got ceviche which is nothing like ceviche we’ve ever had. In Ecuador they cook the fish an set it in a sauce or soup. There was no lime involved in the ceviche we had. The ceviche tonight was pan fried halibut served with string of palm. For our main courses I got a corn and cheese ravioli served in a delicious cream sauce topped with tree tomatoes. David got a veal shank in a wine reduction sauce. We picked a local wine to go with it which was good. Dessert was a tray of mini desserts which everyone in our group enjoyed. There was an unusual but delicious fruit on the platter that comes from a fruit called a guanábana or soursop. After dinner we headed back to the hotel to pack. Tomorrow we head to the main reason we came to Ecuador - the Galápagos Islands.
