Walking in Quito

We spent this morning being lazy as we were booked on a walking tour of the old town this afternoon. Before settling down to catch up with the blog in a shady corner of the hotel, we bought some lunch in a nearby supermarket. Debated whether to pay with a $10 or maybe $5 would cover it. Turned out to cost 85 cents!

We were met in reception by our guide, Amparo, who had an encyclopaedic knowledge of her city.

We walked around the old town of Quito whch is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site - much like Blaenavon! Starting point was the Independence Plaza in the middle of which is a column and statue donated by France.

We saw so many beautiful buildings including the Presidential palace and the church of San Francisco.

The church of La Compania de Jesus was especially beautiful. We've never seen so much gold in our lives!

All around the old city there are so many quiet courtyard areas. It's a very beautiful part of the city.

When we visited, Quito was in the middle of a 5 day bank holiday. Available in many places was a drink called "colada morada", made from flour, water and berries - served hot and meant to represent the blood of the dead! Amparo got one of these drinks for us to sample, along with a "guagua de pan" - which is a sweet bread, shaped like a baby, decorated and then filled with strawberry jam. Delicious! Thank you Amparo.

We were then picked up by car and taken up some incrediby steep cobbled streets to the Basilica. Unfortunately by now it was pouring with rain and we weren't even able to get out of the car. We could see though that it is a beautiful building, influenced by Notre Dame. The gargoyles are in the shape of Galapagos and Amazonian rainforest creatures.

We had a lovely afternoon, helped by Amparo's company. Tomorrow - the Galapagos.