Goodbye Cuenca, Hello (again) Quito

On Monday, we woke up at 5 a.m., and left our apartment in Cuenca at 5:30 enroute to the airport to catch our plane to Quito. We were able to hail a taxi to give us a lift to the airport, which saved us from walking about 2.5 miles carrying our 17-pound backpacks.  Our flight went well, and we made it to the Quito airport at about 8:30 a.m.

At about 9,300 feet above sea level, Quito is the second-highest  official capital city in the world, after La Paz.  

When we arrived at Quito airport, we ate breakfast and just relaxed at the lounge for about four hours. We even entertained the thought of trying to change our return tickets to get back home on Tuesday since we were already at the airport. However, our research indicated we would be charged several hundred dollars if we changed our tickets, so we decided to stick with our original plan and return home Thursday. 

We caught a bus from the airport and rode to the Rio Coca Bus Terminal. From there, we walked about 2.5 miles to our hotel. We were able to dodge a couple of rain showers during our walk by ducking under a bus stop and a business overhang. 

We are staying at the Hotel Eugenia in Quito, and its architecture made us think it was built in the early 1900s. However, it is only about 14 years old. The pillowcases and towels all have “Hotel Eugenia” embroidered on them. That’s a little feature you don’t see everyday. The complimentary breakfast at the hotel has scrambled eggs, potatoes, ham, French toast, fresh fruit and fresh juice.  We really enjoyed breakfast. 

On Tuesday, we walked to Quito’s historic city center and enjoyed a lot of sights along the way.

We walked around the Plaza de Independencia. 

We decided to take photos of the Virgin of El Panecillo from afar as she was on top of a large hill, and you allegedly have to walk thru a sketchy neighborhood to get close to her.

There are several architecturally interesting Cathedrals in Quito. The one below is the Basilica del Voto Nacional.

We saw this street performer that was pretty bold. He strung a slack line across the intersection when the light turned red, and then got on it and juggled swords.