Quenca

Cuenca, Ecuador -- Fri-Sat, April 21-23

A few weeks ago, through the miracle of the world wide web, Meg learned that her niece, Zoe, was actually living in Cuenca, Ecuador. That decided it. We had a few days between finishing our Galapagos tour on the 21st and our flight to Boston on the 25th. Just enough time for a few days in the third largest city in Ecuador, Cuenca, right in the heart of the Andes. 

Private parking

After our flight from Isla Baltra to Guayaquil on Friday, we eventually managed to find a bus at the huge two-story bus station heading to Cuenca. For some strange reason, the preferred entertainment option on the bus was an extremely violent, "shoot em up," gangster movies, no matter the women and children on board. Kylie and Dex tried to distract themselves, particularly during one disturbing torture scene, but with the sound blaring, it was hard to do. Even worse, the driver somehow forgot to turn on the ventilation system in the main cabin; in no time flat, the windows were completely fogged up and you could hardly breathe.

Still, we made it to the mountain town just as the sun was setting creating an otherworldly pink glow throughout the city as we started the mile walk to Zoe and her girlfriend, Isabella's, apartment.

It is always fun to see friends and family so far from away from home. We had missed out on the annual trip to Wisconsin this winter, so now had a chance to make up for it. And, we had the distinction of being the first to visit Zoe since she and Isabella had moved down just a few months ago.  

Because Zoe and Isabella needed to work on Saturday, teaching English at a nearby language school, we had a slow morning at the hotel before heading out for breakfast and a walk along the riverfront.

Once again we are at relatively high altitude, 8300 ft, and I can definitely feel it going up steps in the city. Cuenca is a nice city and has maintained much of its colonial character with its architecture and narrow brick streets. Once Zoe and Isabella were done with work, we met up to explore the small Inca ruins near the Pumapungo Museum. The ruins are very small and consist mainly of the stone foundations of a half dozen houses (no pictures). 

Blue dome of the Catedral Nuevo

Main door, Catedral Nuevo

There was, however, an area dedicated to the growing of tradition crops and also a small bird zoo.

Afterwards, we inadvertently wandered into the main floor of the museum where a plant exhibition was being held. There had apparently been a competition since ribbons had been awarded in dozens of different categories -- bonzai trees, cactus, and even massive floral arrangements.

Before we even got to Cuenca, Dex and Kylie had asked specifically if Zoe and Isabella had any board games. As a result, they couldn't wait to get back to play. We ended up playing a game called Dixie, which is something like Apples To Apples except with a fun set of quirky dreamlike pictures on each card.

Today (Sunday), we decided to venture a little farther afield and took a bus to the Cajas National Park. We never quite found the trail we were looking for, so ended up doing an out and back trek instead of a loop.

For some reason, my energy level was incredibly low. Hopefully, this doesn't bleed over into the bike riding portion of the trip, or we won't be getting very far.

Small, unopened flowers

To celebrate our last night in town, Zoe and Isabella volunteered to cook dinner. Their apartment building has an interesting covered kitchen and eating area built in at the end of the inner courtyard All the residents share the space and keep food in three refrigerators. When we arrived at 7:30, they were hard at work. We got to meet two friends, brothers Sergio and Omar. They were very friendly but didn't seem to grasp that we could just barely follow their 100mph Spanish.

Despite Zoe’s concerns that the sauces were not quite right or the food insufficiently seasoned, it was a wonderful meal -- roasted broccoli, mashed potatoes, and a delivered roast chicken. Judging from the number of chicken eateries in town, chicken is clearly a mainstay of the Ecuadorian diet.

We finished off the evening with a new game, Sushi Go. If you a sushi fan, this might be the game for you.