Day 13 - Quito, Ecuador

We arrived in Quito which is 2850 m altitude and 2^nd highest capital city in the world after La Paz, Bolivia.  It lies just 16 miles south of the equator.

When we arrived at Quito Airport we were scanned for Corona virus.  We were met by a lady called Miranda who will be looking after us in and around Quito.  It was quite a long drive to the hotel and then we had to drag our cases up quite a steep hill as the car cannot get to the front of the building.



The hotel is really lovely and very unusual.

Our Room

When we woke up we realised we had lovely views of the surrounding hills including Panecillo Hill which has a statue of an angel at the top called The Virgin of Panecillo.  

View from hotel room

Panecillo Hill from hotel room

After breakfast Miranda returned for us and took us on a tour of the city, starting with Panecillo Hill.  The hill is situated at 3000m above sea level and we walked up to the lower balcony of the statue where we had a 360 degree view of the city and surrounding hills and volcanos.  It was completed in September 1975 when the wings were attached.   It forms a direct line with the city’s Basilica del Voto Nacional along

Stained Glass Windows at the base of The Virgin of Panecillo

View of Quito from The Virgin of Panecillo

The Virgin of Panecillo

We then drove to the Basilica del Voto Nacional.  This is a really enormous Roman Catholic church located in the historic center of Quito. It is the largest neo-Gothic basilica in the Americas.  Instead of gargoyles around the outside walls it has statues of animals and birds found in the Galapagos Islands.  Also the doors of the church depict religious figures along with Ecuador wildlife like Llamas and Iguanas

Basilica del Voto Nacional

Galapagos Penguin Gargoyle

Galapagos Tortoises as gargoyles

Bronze door to church with Inca man and iguana in the bottom left corner

Iguana on the brass church door

Christian characters with llama

We were then driven to the city centre where we left the car and continued on a walking tour.  

Plaintains for sale

We visited a house which was built at the end of the 16^th Centuary and has had a number of functions over the years, including a meeting place for noblemen, a casino, residences for citizens of Quito and has now been restored into luxury hotel called the Patio Anduluz.

Patio Anduluz Hotel and Restaurant

Patio Anduluz Hotel - Flower display

We visited another old house from the same era which now has a small shopping centre built around the inside courtyard.

Shopping Centre around courtyard of a colonial building

Next stop was the Plaza Mayor also known as Independence Square.  It has some building work going on for the proposed new metro system.  The Presidential Palace and Cathedral are amongst the buildings on this square.

Monument to Independence

Presidential Palace

Cathedral

We were taken to a chocolate factory for a demonstration on how chocolate is made.  Cocoa is grown 20 degrees south and north of the equator and Ecuador supplies 5% of the worlds chocolate.  The company we visited supply chocolate to Lindt and other European manufacturers.  The production is very similar to that of Coffee until the end where the higher amount of fat content turns it into a thick liquid.  This liquid is 100% chocolate but is quite bitter.  It is blended with cocoa butter and sugar for 80%, 60% to make it taste better.



We then went to San Francisco square where the San Francisco Convent and Museum is situated.  There are a series of arches that were formally stables but now housing shops beneath the museum and these lead to tunnels running under the building.  One set of tunnels is in the Fair Trade shop and contains many examples of local ceramic art.  We were able to walk along these tunnels which had some really beautiful and interesting exhibits.

Convent and Museum of San Francisco.

Ceramic animals and birds from Galapagos

Ceramic display from local artists

We returned to our hotel where the tour ended where we had a rest during the afternoon and then took advantage of the complementary afternoon tea that the hotel offer.

Our first impressions of Ecuador is that it is a deeply religious country.  Most shops and restaurants have some type of shrine or religious photo on display.  There are churches everywhere.  It is also a very clean country.  Everywhere there are opportunities to use hand sanitiser.  They also frown on the use of one time use plastic bottles.  The hotel supply a glass jug with water fountains around the hotel and ask us to use the jug and refill plastic bottles rather than buying more. 

We found a restaurant near to the hotel where we tried the local dish of Locro which is a potato soup with cheese, tomato and avocado.  It was delicious and very filling.  I ordered a glass of white wine.  It was served warm and was quite sweet and rather like Liebfraumilch so I didn’t enjoy it and was glad it was only a small glass.  We then went to a local bar where I tried to order another glass of white wine.  I was told they only have red so I said “OK”.  The lady said “Caliente?”  I assumed this meant cold but no.  It was served in a large glass and was very much like Gluhwein that we have at the German Christmas Markets.  It was quite nice but far too much.  Paul ordered a beer and got a 600cl bottle with a very small wine glass (no more than 150 cl) to pour it into which looked quite strange.  However it was cheap and the lady who ran it was very friendly.

We have an early start tomorrow as we are going to the cloud forest lodge at Bellavista for an overnight stay.  If internet is not available I will publish the next episode on Saturday.