Woke up to a beautiful morning. Crisp blue sky, sunshine and no wind. Perfect for a day of walking around town and doing some sightseeing. First stop today was the local souvenir market. After a lot of talking about buying souvenirs on the Galapagos we decided to not buy anything there and instead hope to find a place in Quito with some "Galapagos"-themed souvenirs. It turned out to be the worlds easiest task. There was a giant souvenir supermarket right next to the Mariscal neighbourhood with +100 small shops and stalls - and yes, they have everything at reasonable prices.
We spent an hour just walking around, haggling a bit about the prices for t-shirts and fridge magnets and bought a few things. The place was not busy on this Sunday morning. Then we headed for down town Quito, strolling through the half empty streets and enjoying the sunshine.
On the way to the city centre we visited the beautiful Cathedral - "la Catedral". It is as impressive as it is beautiful. We tried to find some lunch on the way but most local places seemed to be closed this morning, maybe because of the parties last night. In the end we found a noisy place that served roast chicken. Not really what we wanted, but we had good food there. Then some more walking on the pedestrian street walking past the Church and Convent of St. Francis. We didn't bother to go inside, just enjoyed the spectacular building from the outside.
We headed back home to our hostel - passing a rock concert on the way, and right next to it a cowboy convention, complete with horses outside the convention centre. Not something you see often in Europe. The rest of the afternoon was spent getting our bags ready for our flight tomorrow and then we headed for the Magic Coffeee Bean cafe for good dinner, Plaza Foch being a lot more quiet this evening than yesterday.
When we got back to the hostel there was a small crowd gathered outside our room. The small and narrow common area was where they spent the evening cheering to the TV as the updates came during the evening on the Venezuela elections. They seemed very happy with the result. We were on the other hand very happy when they went to bed. Taxi booked for 5 AM tomorrow. Another early day.
We spent an hour just walking around, haggling a bit about the prices for t-shirts and fridge magnets and bought a few things. The place was not busy on this Sunday morning. Then we headed for down town Quito, strolling through the half empty streets and enjoying the sunshine.
On the way to the city centre we visited the beautiful Cathedral - "la Catedral". It is as impressive as it is beautiful. We tried to find some lunch on the way but most local places seemed to be closed this morning, maybe because of the parties last night. In the end we found a noisy place that served roast chicken. Not really what we wanted, but we had good food there. Then some more walking on the pedestrian street walking past the Church and Convent of St. Francis. We didn't bother to go inside, just enjoyed the spectacular building from the outside.
We headed back home to our hostel - passing a rock concert on the way, and right next to it a cowboy convention, complete with horses outside the convention centre. Not something you see often in Europe. The rest of the afternoon was spent getting our bags ready for our flight tomorrow and then we headed for the Magic Coffeee Bean cafe for good dinner, Plaza Foch being a lot more quiet this evening than yesterday.
When we got back to the hostel there was a small crowd gathered outside our room. The small and narrow common area was where they spent the evening cheering to the TV as the updates came during the evening on the Venezuela elections. They seemed very happy with the result. We were on the other hand very happy when they went to bed. Taxi booked for 5 AM tomorrow. Another early day.
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| Hard negotiations at the souvenir supermarket |
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| La Catedral |
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| Quito city centre |
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| You don't see this very often at home |
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| One last pose in South America |
