We're all dreaming a dream but we think it's "real life." So A Course in Miracles teaches.
Part of our dream was visiting Cuenca, Ecuador, which we've done as outlined below. Another part involves freelance writing for Allan and art for Becky. Yet another, house sitting across the United States.
Who knows what the next dream will dream us?
Diana and Doug Ham - from Vancouver - at Fiere Libre market
Allan wrote...
While in Cuenca, we really enjoyed the company of Diana and Doug. They were fun to meet and we want to stay in touch to learn about their travels and eventual move to Ecuador. Doug says some of the banks in Ecuador are paying as much as 6-7% interest on deposits - far more than any US bank will even dream about. That's just one great advantage expats have in Ecuador. Plus, depositing in an Ecuadorian bank apparently simplifies the visa process. We wish them the best in their exciting cross-continent venture! On Sunday we were glad to get together with Colin and Janice who we'd met in Cuenca. They have an exciting life as what I'd call "professional house sitters" who have lived all over the world: most recently in Alamos, Mexico; with they're next house sitting stop on the island of Grenada, just north of Venezuela. You can see their blog and pins in the map at www.wanderingstrays.com.
They had spent a couple days in the coastal resort town of Salinas, and another in Montañita, further North on the coast. The travel agent we talked to had recommended against Montañita because it's a "party town" and we wouldn't get any sleep there. Sure enough, Colin said the entire place was filled with surf shops and surfers, and "We were the oldest people in the entire place. One bar was handing out shots of rum but they didn't even offer us any!" LOL. Read that as: Montañita is for young people to party full time. Colin said the loud music didn't end until 7 AM. (Wish I had been there 40 years ago!!!)
We talked and walked the Malecon, then had dinner. Colin showed me many pictures of their life in Alamos, Mexico and I found it alluring. The drug wars on the border with the US don't seem to have penetrated that far south, so between the warm friendships Colin said they developed and the overall slow, friendly lifestyle, Mexico sounds like it could be a nice place to spend some time. Finally, we parted company as they headed back to Cuenca for a couple weeks before flying to Grenada.
Here are a few minutes of video showing our walk through the gardens.
We've put a bunch more pictures of the gardens in a Picasa album at: http://goo.gl/jA5lE
You can get your bottled water
here "Con Gas" or "Sin Gas" - which means "with"
or "without" carbonation. I prefer "con gas". LOL
A random observation...Water in Guayaquil isn't safe to drink from the faucet. So everyone drinks bottled water. They even give us a couple of free bottles to brush our teeth with every day here at the Hampton Inn. People on the street shout out "Auga, auga, agua" selling bottled water to the passersby.
I like mine with gas.
Well, speaking of gas, I got some more from American Airlines today. We were thinking of stopping off in Miami for a couple days to hit the beach. I made a direct call to the AA agent in the USA (using gmail's "call a phone" service) and - once again - it took about 15 minutes to get a ticket change fee. Once again, the agent had to put me on hold for several minutes and consult some kind of "ticketing fee" office. What's the deal with AA? Anyway, they finally came back and said the change fee to stay a couple days in Miami and then finish the trip back to Atlanta would be $150....each!!! "Why so expensive?" I asked. "That's our standard fee for the change." Hmmmm..."So if that's the "standard fee, why did it take 15 minutes to find it?"
Oh well, times have changed and AA isn't the airline it used to be. So we'll head out for our very own hacienda, turn the water and A/C back on and get a good night's sleep in our own beds.
The next trip...well, we're not quite sure yet, but we're already working on it!<hr>
Thursday was our sixteenth anniversary - the first we've spent out of the country - and we decided to have a nice, romantic dinner at el Jardin restaurant, just down the street from our apartment. Becky had picked out the most desirable table a couple of days earlier when we made our reservation, so all was in order when we arrived.
We sat down at 7PM, the first to be seated that evening. A waiter came by to take our order and I thought he was just a bit perfunctory. Not rude at all, but maybe just a bit too formal and hurried. We ordered our drinks, our appetizers and our entre all at once, which seemed just a bit unusual and hurried. The bottle of wine arrived along with the seemingly required dinner rolls and we sat quietly waiting for the comida to arrive.
At a certain moment another waiter came by and said "Senor Ramsay? We must move you to another table." As he directed us to the next table, just behind us, we sat down to a beautiful display with a heart-shaped red candle burning at the center, a string of pearls surrounding it and white roses and rose petals spread across the table. [pic] Our new waiter was joined by another, and for the balance of the evening we had the close attention of both gentlemen. Fantastic service and a delicious meal.
What had happened? Our new friend Gerard - who just the day before took us on the ultimate sight-seeing ride to see Cuenca from the top of the mountain - knows the owner of el Jardin. As we parted company after the ride to the mountaintop Gerard said, "What time do you eat your anniversary dinner? I'll make a phone call to Senor Duran." And indeed he did. Thank you Gerard for a wonderful evening that celebrated our anniversary, and also our new friendship with you. Muchas gracias, mi amigo.
Roast pig, veggies, potatoes browning in the pan, dirty dishes,
running a one-stop eatery, but without the sanitary
standards we expect at home.
Friday was a surprise as some kind of Montezuma's Revenge caught up with me. I was quite pleased with myself for having eaten adventurously over the week, including a plate of roast pig with hand tossed veggies served by the same hand that took payment, that handled dirty dishes and other sundry tasks I'll never know. Or, maybe it was that corn scramble I ate at Ingapirca. Or some fruit or veggie I picked up at the Fiere Libre mega-market the day before. Whatever it was, I found myself living in the smallest room in the house for most of the night, downing as many anti-D pills as the instructions for use allowed.
My big concern was not having to be up at 6AM to catch an 8AM ride to Guayaquil. Instead it was the worry about being able to make the three hour ride without needing an emergency bio-break!
Fortunately, with some discomfort, we got on the van to Guayaquil and arrived without incident about 11AM.
On the ride we talked to a gentleman from NYC who happened to be a doctor working in rural and indigenous areas of Ecuador as part of an outreach foundation. He offered some ciproflaxin (used to treat bacterial infections) and a few good old Pepto Bismol. He gave us some advice on how he avoids Motezuma's Revenge by loading up on cipro and also on metronidazole before he heads out to the jungle or outlying areas. He also remarked that Cuenca was probably the safest city in the country, both from the standpoint safe drinking water and of low crime rates. He warned us about crime on the coast, saying he'd been robbed there himself.
Well, struggling along after almost no sleep and with the growling stomach, adding crime and robbery to the mix didn't sound too appealing. So we hatched plan B: forget the coast and spend the night in Guayaquil, then fly home Saturday. Good plan, but like the Course in Miracle teaches, it seldom pays to plan (with the ego mind) - as if we think we are actually "in charge."
As the van ride to Guayaquil ended, we unloaded our six (yes, too many!) bags from the van and were immediately surrounded by two men grabbing our bags and carrying them off to their "taxis" -- ready to take us. Literally. These unlicensed, fake cabs are often a good first step to really being taken. There are stories about Guayaquil being a dangerous city and most travel sites strongly advise against any but officially registered taxis that carry a certain logo. I shouted at the guys, "No taxi No taxi" and got a splurge of Spanish as if they didn't understand. After some more aborted conversation they finally gave up. I called the Hampton Inn, which sent a car for us and delivered us into...heaven. A full size Hilton/Marriott-class hotel with a wonderful English speaking staff. A modern bathroom. No covered trash can next to the commode. A king size bed. Air conditioning. All the comforts of home. It seemed perfect.
I called American Airlines and, after a long wait while the agent computed the ticket change fee, including about 5-6 minutes on hold while she apparently consulted her boss (!), she calmly announced that the change fee would be $424 each, or almost $850 total for Becky and me. No thanks American Airlines. What a ripoff. Is someone taking a kickback? Or is it just another sign that the once proud and quality airline business has become nothing more than another cash hungry hog. No surprise, as I think back to our flight to Ecuador when one of the flight attendants told us how much she hated her job after 22 years, how underpaid they are and how their retirement program has been gutted.
Becky went to the front desk and negotiated a better room rate so we can stay here until the scheduled flight home on Tuesday. I went to bed at noon, slept until 7PM, went out for a light bite with Becky then went back to bed until about 9AM Saturday. Woke up feeling OK and we hit the streets of Guayaquil to see what there is to see! Saturday morning Google maps showed us that we're about 3-4 blocks from the #1 attraction in Guayaquil, the Malecon, a boardwalk that runs along the Guyas River, which in turn empties into the Pacific Ocean. "Boardwalk" is not really the right term. It is a huge park that incorporates restaurants, food courts, an IMAX theater, a phenomenal garden, museums, a playground for kids, shops and tiendas -- all in view of the river -- on a beautiful walkway.
Tour boat on the Guayas River
The Malecon walkway - it goes on for a couple miles
One of many overpasses in the Malecon walkway. Underneath,
on the lower level, you find 100-150 vendors and shops,
a complete "shopping mall", the first in the city.
Remembrance honoring famous Ecuadorians
Just a tiny part of this 3.6 million population city
A tall ship at port. Guayaquil is the port of entry
for all Ecuador. The country's largest city.
We left the hotel at about 1PM and didn't get back until 5:30. A full day walking, and what beauty. My initial skepticism about Guayaquil and its bad reputation is unfounded, at least in the area of Malecon. It's heavily patrolled by security and police. The entire park was filled with families having fun, eating ice cream, watching the kids play in the playground. And young lovers in love everywhere. Becky even saw one couple smooching while the guy was taking their picture at arm's length with his cell phone LOL.
The Malecon Garden is the high point of the entire walk. The architects and designers outdid anything I've ever seen anywhere; at a certain moment it occurred to me that this garden must have been heavenly inspired. Beautiful.
I hoped to put a video in here showing at least a little bit of the beauty of the gardens here. But we are having a tough time finding a PC, here at the hotel and in Internet cafes, that will read the 8GB memory card from our camera. So most all the pics and videos so far have been from my iPod. Uploading those has to be done by wi-fi and most ISP´s here are fairly limited in servicing larger uploads like videos. So we´ll try again tomorrow to get some video put up here. I´d really like to share the gardens with everyone. In the meantime, here´s a neat thing about iPod: no matter where you travel, you can always find your iPod, and hopefully, your personal location. This pic shows where we are today. If you saw the original map with all the detail exploded out, you´d see that the location it shows is only about 1/2 block away from our actual street address. Pretty neat, ¿huh?
Tonight, Saturday, we had a nice sushi dinner. Sunday our friends from Canada may hook up with us for a while. Monday we may go to a movie. Tuesday, fly away home.
The trip to Ingapirca Tuesday was long on the bus, but satisfying at the site! A guide walked us along the winding paths of the "ruins" of the Inca civilization, telling the story in both English and Spanish. The site was reconstructed in recent years, 1970 and 80´s, although much of the foundation is original using no mortar of any kind, but rather cut to size and shape with a method of fire and water, and then stacked row by row. A small modern village faces the Inca village site, steep hillsides and llamas grazing, cool breezes in the 60's and the bluest of skies.
After the tour, the group was invited to shop handmade crafts and textiles, or have a lunch break at the Inca site restaurant. The beef stew consisted of a full plate of fresh beef, white rice with soft cooked eggs on top, and a delicious vegetable salad inside a lettuce leaf. Also included were potato fries and a small Pilsener beer. The beef stew was definitely not Dinty Moore.
This trip was a 6-hour total trip and we were wiped out once home. The photos do not give a clue as to the ancient beauty of the lines of the Inca community site. Most times, you just have to be there, right?
Tour Group approaching the Temple of the Sun
Inca Site Llamas
Walls around the Temple of the Sun
Allan Wrote...
As Becky said, Tuesday was Ingapirca, a Canari and Incan ruins north of Cuenca. According to those who know, the Canari people were the first to settle there, calling their establishment "Cashaloma" which means "place where the stars pour from the heavens." I wish we could be there at night to see what must be a phenomenal sky.
Becky peeking around the corner as we got underway for Ingapirca
Becky and I got up early, caught a cab to the bus station, and hopped on board a tourista bus headed for Ingapirca. We had debated a little yesterday whether we wanted to take a 2 hour bus ride, each way, for an attraction that one could see in just two hours. But we decided to make it happen. And I'm glad we did.
The countryside was wondrous to me. Most of the 2 hour ride was a climb uphill through the Andes. We left Cuenca with maybe 20 people on the bus, but as we traveled farther, people began to get on board at every little country-side bus stop. Pretty soon we had people standing in the aisles...some young folks, and many women dressed in the traditional garb: a shawl, often used to carry a baby, a bunch of vegetables or some other load. I noticed time and again that the women who came on board, often with little kids, almost always had a smile on. These are country people from small villages and towns. Such a difference from what we see on MARTA and other US public transportation! We also saw a few Canadians on-board, college age students who had been here for the past eight months studying International Relations in Quito.
The ride actually did last even a bit more than 2 hours, and here's a video of the last few minutes before we reached the archeological site of the Ingapirca ruins. As you can see, there isn't much to keep the bus from falling off the road and into a gigantic rollover. But the driver has probably been navigating this particular dirt road for years, so while you can let your "helpless passenger's" imagination run into a fearsome place, it's probably very safe in spite of appearances.
It seems the Canari people built Ingapirca as an observatory, a temple, or [see what the web says]. Sometime in the late 1400's the Inca's from Peru came through the area and, as our guide seemed to suggest, took over the area and subdued the Canari people. Well, we didn't feel too subdued when we saw the rather friendly and curious llamas who let Becky get up close and personal.
The whole area of Ingapirca ruins sits atop a mountain the gives clear visibility to every point of the compass. Our guide explained that this location gave its inhabitants a clear view of any potential invaders. Here are a few pictures and a video that show you our first glimpse of the site. [vids and pics]
The "walls" that appear in these pics were actually 6-9 feet high, and roofs were covered with straw. Today the walls are gone and you see only the base, or foundation, where the walls were erected. [pics]
Calendar Stones
The stones with holes in them are interesting. The large one has 28 holes, one for each day of the lunar month. Another has 13 holes, one for each of the 13 lunar months, while yet another had seven holes representing the days of the week. Incas lived 13 months of 28 days each. While the guide didn't explain quite how these were used, she did indicate the Incas used them as a calendar to help them time their planting and harvesting each year.
The "Temple of the Sun" was a sacred place. It housed the top priests, top soldiers and, of course, the "Virgins of the Sun." These women were required to live in the Temple for three to six years and to perform various activities -- weaving, cooking and other chores. They were also chosen by those "most important men" to be wives. Here's a video showing all 360-degrees of Ingapirca taken from the Temple of the Sun vantage point.
With just about 40 minutes left to have a quick lunch, we boldly walked into the only restaurant on site...and found it full of school children, probably early teens. I stopped to look around, and every single table was filled, with no place left to sit. I probably had a confused look on my face and just stopped to look around. All at once the kids started laughing and a couple of them called out in English, "good afternoon" with lots of laughing. It was a kind and warm welcome, I thought, and shouted out to them "good afternoon" as well as "buenas tardes." I asked a lady outside if we could eat here and she said "claro" (of course) -- just sit at the table outside. Soon we had a menu in Spanish and English, and moments later a couple of cervezas and two gigantic lunches. Becky already described hers above; mine was called a "mote" or, in English, "corn scramble." Delicious, but so much we couldn't eat it all. And just about $4 each.
And finally, here is some breathtaking scenery of the Andes taken on the ride back home.
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Tuesday night we went to Tiestos, reputedly the best restaurant in Cuenca. Wow! At the close of the meal the head chef delivered our incredible dessert to the table, beautifully presented. I searched for a few words to express how much I enjoyed the dinner and started out saying, "Your food is the best meal I have had...." - and I was going to say "in the last 20 years" or something like that. But what came out was a tribute that brought a big smile to his face and a warm handshake: "Your food is the best meal I've had in my life." And it was just incredible. For example, the expected bowl of bread came with not just a pat of butter, but instead with eight different condiments ranging from minced pears to aji sauce to several unidentifiable little dishes of veggies, fruits and spices. Then, the macadamia chicken for two was presented with another eight side dishes ranging from fingerling potatoes to cous cous to rice and a wonderful diced cucumber garnish. Wow and wow again. Here's what we faced at the Tiestos dinner table. And BTW the little flowers on the chocolate dessert plate were made with fruit compote - they're not part of the pattern of the dish! All of this: just $22.
Dessert
Thursday we dine at el Jardin** for our 16th anniversary dinner. That should be another fine dining experience in a romantic, beautiful setting.
=================================
Wednesday began with an adventure with new friends Doug and Diana from Vancouver. They're on an exploratory trip here in advance of moving to Cuenca next year. They learned of a gigantic local market called Fiere Libre that brings together everything one could want at a market a couple times each week -- with the largest gathering of vendors and customers on Wednesdays. So we hopped the #7 bus and in minutes got off at the market.
If you walked every aisle you would walk for several linear miles. I find it amazing that one small town in one small South American country can have so much food and clothing together in one place. Uncountable stalls with people selling fish, chickens (dead and alive), fruit, vegetables and quite a few things I couldn't definitely classify or identify. When you say to a person, "Que es eso?" (what is that?) you of course get an answer in Spanish. So as for the plants I asked about that look like tiny daisies, I can only say they are boiled in water and used to flavor other foods. The tiny "moyas" turn out to be some kind of blackberry. The "sapoto" is a fruit with a slightly sweet flavor and with several very large seeds inside.
No matter what you want, you can buy as little as you want -- say just enough to make tonight's meal -- or as much as a 50-75 pound bag -- of beets, corn, grain, etc. A filet of fish, or an entire tuna fish over 3-feet long. The scope and size of the market is truly staggering. I made a minute or so of video but it can't begin to show the diversity and size of this wonderful place. For me, Kroger, Publix and all the rest will forevermore be totally lacking, second rate places to buy food. LOL. But of course food is not the whole story. You can buy remote-control outdoor TV antennas with rotators to let you watch TV stations no matter whether they're North, South, East or West from your home. You can buy shoes -- Diana found a pair for $5 (after haggling from $20) and Doug found some Levi jeans for $20 (before haggling). Fun fun fun and more fun.
Guinea pigs (cuy, as they are called) are typical food here
Chicken eggs & one ostrich egg - something for everyone
The market
Fresh fish - sure was smelly!
And more fish...
Gigantic bags of veggies
A pet begging at the market - Not to be eaten!!
After the monster market, we went to the local market on Calle Larga for lunch. We all had to find the bathroom and of course, being a public bathroom, had to buy the necessary paper product (maybe a few feet of it) for 10-cents each. LOL. Seems what we take for granted in a public facility isn't quite the same here.
But at the local market, I finally had a meal made from one of those pigs that are roasted whole and served along with corn, veggies, potatoes and a nice glass of blackberry juice. It was juicy and delicious, especially after adding a splash of spicy aji sauce. We noticed that the local market has some visitors who come through a couple times each day, just to see if anyone has left them anything good to eat. Here's a pic of one of them -- the four-footed variety. So OK. Health laws are different here too. LOL. It's interesting though: pet dogs for sale at various outlets are almost all very small breeds. However, dogs running loose on the street are all mongrels more in the 30-pound range, and most all of them are pretty scruffy. They don't take to human attempts to pet or admire them. They're creatures of the streets and people are not among their friends, except as providers of an occasional snack.
Finally, to wrap up the day, we met with new friend Gerard, a very thoughtful, kind and iformative expat living here in Cuenca - and also A Course in Miracles student. Gerard took us on a grand tour of Cuenca as seen from the high mountaintop near his country property West of the city.
Gerard & Becky at one of the Stations of the Cross
View of Cuenca from about 10,000 feet
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Becky wrote on Saturday afternoon:
Yesterday, after a bout of stomach "activity" I wanted to take things easy, and so we walked to the open mercado in search of the perfect hand knitted sweater, shopping does tend to cure stomach discomfort... After viewing heavy parkas with alpacas traipsing across the midriffs, we browsed the indoor shops; nothing there. I did recall from a previous day seeing in a store window somewhere outside the open mercado a very nice deep red cardigan sweater with matching scarf. Where was that shop? Along the way back to our apartment was that sweater in a window, what luck! I offered twenty dollars lower than the original high price. I was wanting to include the scarf at my price, but they did not bend. I settled for only the sweater at four dollars below their price. If my husband had not been there, I would have added the precious scarf in a blink...you know how that goes ladies. The sales manager at the Artesenias del Sur said all of her sweaters are hand knitted in Otavallo, a small craft community just north of Quito, which would be another great visit if one were in the market for more arts and craft purchases.
Since last night's walk to the concert was chilly and damp, I wore the new sweater. It was perfect, both the concert and the sweater. Our next big adventure is the Zip Line, a bit more exciting and maybe scary, but I'm game...maybe.
Note: Our favorite Dr. Oz speaks Spanish here in Ecuador!
Allan wrote...
This town really hops on a Friday night. We went to dinner and then out to hear the Cuenca Symphony Orchestra last night. Walking along the street at 7PM we heard loud fireworks that sounded like cannons going off; young people with sound systems in their cars that would assure deafness to anyone within 100-feet; huge crowds of kids on the sidewalks congregating around hostels, bars and restaurants; loud music coming from every little 10-seat "bar and lounge" on Calle Larga. It was just a Friday night as far as we can tell, and the noise went on long into the small hours of the morning. During the week it's a bit tamer, but most nights we can hear loud-to-very-loud music playing. Most of it comes from the main drag outside our apartment, Calle Larga, and from the road across the river, Av. 3 de Noviembre.
Then, every single morning starting around 4AM or so, there is a rooster that begins greeting the promise of sunlight. The first night here he woke me up and I noticed that about every four breaths I took, he crowed. Continuously. From 4AM to about 6:30 or so. And then there are a couple of dogs that like to get into the early morning routine with their rounds of barking. Glad to say I now sleep through all of that without any problem. But the sun going down around 6PM and coming up at 6AM has had an effect on my sleep habits. I find myself ready to sleep much earlier, and ready to arise much earlier. Most nights give me a good 6-8 hours of sleep, sometimes more.
Today I decided to have a breakfast of champions, using all the great fruits I have collected from SuperMaxi and from street vendors. Below are some pictures, starting off with several cut in half, just before going into the bowl.
From top: Chirimoya, Pepino, Pitahaya, Naranjilla,
Tree Tomate, Banana
It's hard to describe the flavor of all these strange fruits, but without a doubt, the cherimoya (sometimes called the custard apple) is my fave. It has large, black seeds that are easy to get out, and the taste is sweet (but no too sweet) and almost melts in your mouth without chewing. This would be a good fruit for someone who has to"gum" their food LOL. Really good. My second fave is pitahaya, also called dragon fruit. It too has a slightly sweet taste, maybe a little like kiwi fruit; the seeds in it are no problem - you just munch them up along with the meat of the fruit.
The pepino tastes a bit like some kind of mix between honeydew and papaya with a fairly firm fruit. It is a kind of tree melon and was very sweet. They are actually part of the same family that includes eggplant, potatoes and tomato! The Spanish first called it pepino dulce, which means "sweet cucumber" -- again, a good try at coming up with a name, but no cigar!
The naranjilla means "little orange." The scientific name translates to "nightshade of Quito" and it is a member of the nightshade family. They are full of tangy, green juice with a citrussy taste that reminds me just a bit of the somewhat sour taste of dark purple scuppernong grapes. The bright orange shells are not eaten, just the pulp inside.
The tree tomate, we are told, was incorrectly named by the Spaniards centuries ago. They are actually a member of the potato family, despite growing on trees up to 15 feet high. The fruits are a little larger than a hen´s egg, starting off green and ripening to a deep red or yellow. They are usually peeled and used to make a tasty fruit juice.
So, that was breakfast today! The symphony last night was great. The guest violinist and the guest pianist are both from Italy. Here's a short sample video.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Allan wrote...
Here are a few videos from our trip to Gualaceo showing a form of weaving known as ¨"ikat," which dates to pre-Columbian times in South America. The dye is applied prior to the threads being woven to create the final fabric pattern or design.
The third video shows the lady making the final knots on a scarf that Patti will soon get as a little gift from Ecuador.
During that same trip, our guide Diego pointed out some of the Andean countryside. Cuenca is in a valley between the eastern ridge and the western ridge of the Andes. Many people living in these vallleys outside the city consider these houses their "country homes."
Diego also explained that many homes are sitting completely empty, and the reason is quite a surprise. Men from a family go to the USA to work and send money home. The women here in Ecuador hire workers to build a new, far better home than they have ever had, using the money coming from the US. But in many cases the men never return to Ecuador because they are in the US illegally, without papers. And because Latin America is all about "machismo," the women (and their children) don´t believe they can move into the new homes until their husband returns. As if the women need permission from the men. Who of course make a new life in the US and, for all intents and purposes, abandon their families. Sad story, yes?
Today we walked about town and visited the Nueva Catedral (New Cathedral) -- also known as Catedral de la Immaculada. It was built beginning in 1880 by a bishop who intended to build the biggest church in South America, seating up to 10,000 people. Work stopped in 1908 because of architectural "mistakes" leaving part of the church unfinished. Beautiful pink, carved marble, along with tiles imported from Czechoslovakia, make this an architectural wonder -- finished or not. Inside you see stained glass brought in from Belgium and Germany. It occupies an entire city block. Here are a few pictures, and a couple minutes of video. It´s a church not to be missed for elegance and beauty.
This is the principal focus of the church, the "nave" where services are conducted.
A lesser nave, one of several.
And finally, just a couple minutes of video as we walked around town, watching school kids get back to school after lunch, workers getting back to their places of business and various and sundry people just hanging out.
Tuesday evening a group of expats met at a local Italian restaurant for mingling, sipping a drink and enjoying dinner. Later we met at yet another great hangout -- the Inca Lounge -- and played trivia with people we've met and competitors we had not met. Out of five teams we came in a solid tie for 4th place :) Good fun.
We learned there is a Mall del Rio here on the South edge of the city. After visiting with Diego at the Art Gym health club here, we hopped a taxi and went to see what the mall was all about. Wow! I was really impressed with the entire place. In addition to countless specialty stores, we discovered...
a 3-screen cinema with at least one movie in English with Spanish sub-titles.
a "fun center" with Kinect and other video games, as well as a 6-lane bowling alley.
a very high end restaurant with complete bar service and white tablecloth quality
a Hyundai dealership right in the mall
a Yamaha cycle and ATV center
a huge, modern food court with local food as well as KFC, Burger King (too bad our fast food is here!), a Chinese restaurant and more -- all set in a classy style with ample, comfortable seating.
Here are a few pictures and videos.
Yes, you can buy a car at this mall.
And go bowling.
Or watch a movie in English.
This evening we're going to visit with a travel and tour group to learn about the hot springs in Banos and the zip line adventure.
Today is Tuesday in Cuenca and it just started raining as it does almost daily for short periods. We enjoy walking in the rain, no problem. Allan has placed a current blog entry video showing his walk along Calle Larga this morning, and I feel it is necessary to clarify the beauty that lies behind all the plaster and stone block walls. This town area is constructed like a fortress in that each residence is constructed behind the plain walls visible from the street. The average town walker cannot see what´s behind those walls unless they have keys to get through the doors of the residences. I have peeked through some of the doorways when they are briefly opened and voila! lovely eye candy! Fancy hardwood rails on staircases, elaborate wrought iron terraces, gold and white stucco, and courtyard gardens of exotic flowers with stone benches for seating. I have also witnessed people parking temporarily on the street to access their private parking spaces behind locked gates. All this is a very good idea for preventing theft and burglary, but tourists like me don´t have the privilege of noting the view of lovely homes from the streets.
In other areas, business and marketing takes place and is in the open, thankfully. Flowers, food, native arts and crafts, and even open market clothing for families are displayed beneath yellow umbrellas or in the open air around the market squares. The low costs are amazing for USA citizens! The vendors are nice and polite. The children also have excellent manners in public (you know, seen but not heard). I have wanted to take pictures of the colorfully dressed natives wearing panama hats, hand woven shawls, and thickly gathered skirts at their market displays, but they respond adamantly no by hiding their faces with their hats until I walk away. The little children, however, are thrilled to have their pictures taken, and then to be shown the images from the digital camera. Their bright smiles are beautiful.
Included in our meager $400 a month apartment rental is maid service on Mondays. The sweet, quiet senora replaces all linens and paper products, empties trash, mops and dusts, and sees that there are no dishes left in the sink. All of the linens change color week to week, so that we are certain that these indeed have been changed, at least it´s my guess for the color and pattern changes.
This evening, we will visit a local gringo hangout at five, and then the Inca Lounge at eight for trivia night. It is a fun opportunity to find a gathering of English-speaking visitors and residents sharing conversation, and to have a bit of genuine laughter over fellow gringos´ world travel stories. While these travelers love gadding about on the planet with no home base, others prefer…home sweet home… that just-right pillow and our usual spot on the sofa for reading or TV that speaks your language. I have become fascinated at the number of globetrotters who speak both English and Spanish fluently and therefore feel no communication barrier here. The language is interchangeable sentence to sentence according to the receiver, an amazing travel tool,--to be multi-lingual.
Sunday, May 8, was Mother´s Day in the USA and in Ecuador. ¨Dia de la Madre.¨ It was also a bit cool and a light mist fell all day, often turning into slight drizzle. In spite of the weather, we planned out a day that, like many, doesn´t go quite the way you think it will.
The Museum of Modern Art is in a part of town we hadn´t visited as yet, near the San Sebastian Plaza in the old part of the city ("old" typically means the buildings may date back to the 1700´s). So with umbrella in hand we headed off for the museum, walking about 10 blocks, only to find that it was closed -- in contrast to what all the guide books said about its Sunday hours. Oh well. San Sebastian plaza is a beautiful little area; Becky said she wished we had such in Atlanta and I agree. Here are a few pics:
No doubt about it - a picturesque little quiet spot in town. Seems like every park or plaza also has a motorcyle cop stationed there all day and into the night, just to keep things safe.
Next we wandered over to the flower market, which seems to be open every day. Becky picked up some carnations for the apartment. The choices are endless and flowers are very inexpensive. I think she paid about $6 for a huge bouquet.
Since the vino supply was exhausted we shopped around town, including the SuperMaxi, to buy a bottle of wine. But alas, alcoholic beverages could not be sold on Mother´s Day. So while at the SuperMaxi we picked up some fresh veggies.
We´re finding everyone here just so accommodating and friendly. The language barrier is falling away to a small extent too. With the Jibbigo on the iPod framing the questions I want to ask people, and then listening carefully and using lots of hand gestures, it´s all coming into place. When we watch HBO and Cinemax on DirecTV at the apartment, all the program descriptions are in Spanish. But both of us are getting pretty good at reading the descriptions and figuring out what the movie or show is all about. (Fortunately, the movies themselves are in English with Spanish sub-titles.)
What can I say? Life here is just as complex and challenging for everyday people as it would be for any of us anywhere. But as retired people, it´s just downright fun to head out for the day and see what develops. It´s fun to walk around town and be aware that "pedestrians don´t have preference over cars" here -- so looking every which way before crossing the street is mandatory. It´s just one more little thing that tells us we´re in a different place, and one that we´re enjoying.
OK, on Monday we decided to hit a couple of the museums. The Pumapungo Museum is the city´s best. It has an entire floor of colorfully animated dioramas displaying traditional costumes of Ecuador’s many indigenous cultures, including Afro-Ecuadorians from Esmeraldas province, the cowboy-like montubios (coastal farmers) of the western lowlands, several rainforest groups and all the major highland groups. The grand finale features five rare and eerie tzantza (shrunken heads) from the Shuar culture of the southern Oriente. Sadly, taking pictures was forbidden, so we can only reference a couple from the web.
From there we went to the CIDAP museum, which is the museum of "arte populares." They did allow us to take pictures, but there wasn´t much to see and we walked the entire museum in about 10 minutes.
That brings us up to today, Tuesday. We´re going to a gringo trivia gathering at the Inca Lounge this evening, and then maybe to another gringo confab at DiBacco´s restaurant. We´ve been invited by a British Columbia couple to join them at Baños, about 2 miles outside the city, to enjoy the hot springs that rise up from a nearby (inactive) volcano. So we´ll take the city bus over there (25-cents each way) and soak in the mineral rich waters for a while on Thursday. Then Sunday a UK couple has invited us for dinner at their new apartment, which is in a former mental asylum building LOL. Finally, I´m taking Becky on a ¨"chocolate tour of Cuenca" Wednesday, we´re going to check out the health club here; look up the Sheltie breeder in town; buy our American Idol tour tickets for Gwinnett (if you´re gonna do that, do it at the exact moment of 10AM on May 12, or they´ll be sold out). And finally, we´re going to investigate a zip line that runs over the canopy here, supposedly about 7-8 km outside Cuenca. That should be a rush.
Here's a recap of my early morning walk-about today.
