Quito, Ecuador 🇪🇨
Our plan today was to do a self-guided walking tour of Old town Quito. We started walking towards the centre, round the El Ejido park (it’s closed as they build a underground bypass) and then to the huge Basilica. Quito seems lovely, bright blue sky looks over white washed colonial buildings. We walked through several of the main plazas and key points on the map before stopping for some really great coffee. A bit further on and we could see the angel on the cliff overlooking the city. Our final stroll was through Calle Rhonda, one of the oldest streets in Quito. We spot the bus terminal at the top and manage to figure out that one line could take us directly to the Mariscal area, a few blocks from our hotel. A short ride and it was only 25cents.
We had to get back at lunchtime to collect our laundry before they shut for the weekend, and had a few problems remembering where to find the Lavanderia today. Once we had our clean clothes we headed to our first stop on our GAdventures tour the Quito Hilton Colòn. Justin’s status managed to get us an upgrade, with super comfy beds and access to the executive lounge. The bar doesn’t open until 6pm so we decide to visit an art gallery a friend had recommended.
Guayasamin is a significant ecuadorian artist and he set up a foundation in his name so his house and remaining collection would stay together in Ecuador. We took a Uber up to a richer suburb where the house he built sits overlooking Quito and the Pichincha volcano. The house is full of the pre-Colombian and religious art he collected which surprised me.
Just down from his house is his ‘Chapel of man’. This houses his canvases which have a range of themes from a collection that is inspired by and a tribute to his mother, to more political based ones as protests against the Chilean dictatorship during which several of his friends died. You can see the Picasso influence and Cubism style in his work, most of it is quite haunting but I would love to have one of the coloured scenes of Quito he painted.
Tonight is the group meeting and I am slightly apprehensive after all my independent travel. There are two families, a couple of kiwis, a twitcher and a honeymooning couple amongst the group, with all of us being English speaking. It all feels a little awkward, first meeting so after being briefed on our early start tomorrow Justin and I head down to Plaza Foch for more tasty Ecuadorian food including Hornado, a shredded pork dish which had been highly recommended.
