 |
| overlooking quito |
 |
| #1 at foosball |
 |
| walking through Guapulo |
Wednesday afternoon we said goodbye to
Colombia. It had been an amazing 3
weeks, and we were sad to say goodbye, but we were flying to Ecuador that
afternoon. 1 hour flight, to a 3 hour layover, to a 1 hour flight and we were
in Quito.
We
arrived at our hostel, in the area of La Mariscal in the “new city,” and were
told it was, “ladies night at the bar, so ladies drink for free.” Instead of
heading out to grab some dinner, we first
dropped our packs and grabbed some drinks and mingled at the hostel
bar. It was really fun because there was
good music, a pool table, a foosball table, board games, fun people and free
drinks!! We played a few games of pool with some fun Aussie's, then they
challenged us to a game of foosball, Adrienne and I, against two of them. After three intense rounds we had won the tie breaker, and of course had the DJ blast, “Empire State of Mind,” while we did
an obnoxious victory dance, which they thought was hilarious. Later, we went out for drinks in the awesome
little area of La Mariscal, with many bars, restaurants, clubs, cafes, hookah
bars and fast food restaurants.
 |
| $1 Tacos |
Thursday
I woke up early and ready to explore Quito.
Adrienne wasn't feeling well because of the elevation (Quito is 9,350
feet above sea level,) so I headed out on my own to take a look at this huge
city. I first went to the neighborhood
of Guapulo. It was a cute little town with
lots of twists, turns, and hills (of course), cobblestone roads and beautiful
lookout points (some gorgeous views of the Andes) and cute houses along the
steep 30 minute walk up to the top of the town.
When I got to the top, a bit winded, I found an awesome Mexican taco
stand and got delicious $1 chicken tacos.
 |
| Teleferico |
I
then headed to the teleferico, which is one of the largest in the world rising
from 10,226 feet to 12,943 feet in about 10 minutes. It was really really high, I was a bit
nervous, but once I got to the top and got off to take in the cold air I was
fine. I walked around a bit, there was a
park, and trails, but I didn't realize how much colder it would be up there, so
I made a view rounds, then headed back down to the warmer temperatures.
On
the way down in the teleferico, I started talking to this guy named Juan about how to get back to town, he said that he was going to La Mitad de Mundo ( the
middle of the world), and that I should come.
I was planning to do this tomorrow, but I had heard that a taxi ride an
hour out and back was about $40USD, so I figured if I went with him it would
obviously be cheaper. I told him I'd
change my plans and go with him today.
The best part about Juan was that he spoke fluent Spanish, and he knew how to take public transportation to the middle of
the world. We easily hopped on the
public bus, rode an hour out to the middle of the world for only 40 cents,
compared to $40!!! Big shout out to
Juan, thank you!!
 |
| coin balance |
 |
| Egg balance |
 |
| Virgin of Quito |
When
we got there we walked around the park a bit.
Took pics on the equator line at the earths midpoint, 0 degrees, 0
minutes, 0 seconds. Did some of the fun
tricks at the equator line, like balancing an egg on a nail, which is supposed
to be easier at the equator (not so easy but I did it), had some lunch and beers, then I headed back
to check on Adrienne. She was feeling a
lot better when I got back, so we chilled out in the center plaza, drank some
wine, had for the first time cone pizza which was delicious, it was regular
pizza but the crust was cone shaped, it was amazing!
 |
| middle of the world |
 |
| pizza cone |
No comments:
Post a Comment