Friday, April 15, 2011

Day two

Day Two - Arrival in Ecuador!

We had an easy flying day via Atlanta, arriving at 9 pm last evening.  Better yet, our 3 bags arrived in Quito and Javier was waiting with a "sign" ready to whisk us off to our hotel, the Plaza Grande.
So lucky to be staying here....we got a smokin' deal and it is right in the heart of the historic section of Quito.
We are at 9300 feet - we started our day hiking up a steep narrow street to the Basilica.  That was no problem for Jeano......no it was the little gangplank walkway halfway up the bell towers across the gothic vaulted ceilings that I couldn't do.  Jeff got some good pictures.

The coolest thing about this cathedral was the gargoyles - they depict animals from the Galapagos Islands - even the penguins! (sorry, no finches, Phil)
After this we saw lots of churches including supposedly the most spectacular church of all of America - totally gilded and sculpted - definitely had the wow factor.  

After all the indoctrination into church art, we went to the historic museum with artifacts and displays about pre-Inca Ecuador and of course - the Spanish Conquest.

Quito is a great safe city - it's been fun to explore and we even ventured into a local restaurant for lunch with traditional ceviche and it was great.
Tomorrow we depart early for our Galapagos adventure.  (Jeff is reading Origin of Species.)

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