Monday, February 17
Once again, I woke up in my comfortable
bottom-bunk in my six-bed dorm room with no plans. Heaven, after the
madness of Brazil! I know I’ll get antsy soon, though.
After a breakfast of fresh fruit and bread at the hostel bar, I noticed a hand-written advertisement on a blackboard for a free walking tour of
Quito’s gorgeous Old Town, el Centro Historico. Even though I’ve been down here
a couple times before, I thought it would be a good idea to get oriented by
foot and learn some new historical details.
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| The Basilica, which is visible from my hostel's rooftop terrace -- along with a panoramic view of the city and mountains. |
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| The Basilica's only deviation from typical Gothic style is its replacement of gargoyles with native Ecuadorian fauna. |
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| There were even Galapagos giant tortoises! |
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| We arrived to the main square just in time to see President Rafael Correa waving from his balcony. |
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| This statue presides over the four historic buildings in Old Town's main square. |
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| The Andean condor represents freedom for Gran Colombia, the original country which encompassed Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela. I hope I get to see one of these endangered birds in the wild. |
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| The angry lion represents the Spanish empire, and the broken ship and cross behind him represent colonization and the Catholic church. |
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| I had de ja vu from eating lunch in this very room a few months ago with the GAIAS study abroad group! It feels very different to come upon the place alone. |
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| An Ecuadorian flag between the towers of the Basilica |
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| One of the seven crosses on Calle de las Cruces. |
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| An elegant courtyard visible from a public rooftop. |
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| We explored the dark, narrow, winding tunnels under this church where a strange artisan crafts market is now held. |
After the tour, we all decided to grab $2.00 lunches at Almuerzo Como en Casa (Lunch Like at Home), the restaurant our tour guide had recommended. Then, three chill British guys from the tour and I headed out to play frisbee (YEEEE) at a park. My two-person team smoked theirs, and the guys were all naturals at defense. We asked the trash-collector lady to please leave the foam cups we were using to mark the end-zones, and almost ran over a businessman in a suit who had inadvertently cut across our field. We got lots of smiles and funny looks from Ecuadorians who had never seen a game of ultimate. It was so much fun!!!