Day Forty One: The Equator & Seven Crosses

We both woke up a little bit crook today, Sim in particular was rather queezy. Queezy Quito we called it.

I headed down to new town and tried to mail some things home as well as pick up some medicines and yesterdays washing.

I got a cab back to our hotel, they're so cheap. $2 from La Mariscal, $6 maximum really.

We then ventured out to the middle of the world. Was really quite a magic experience. We were shown the corolis effect as well as other experiments demonstrating the science and magic of the equator. Quite a cool place to visit. Not much like it in the world, so they're blessed with an interesting tourist attraction.

We then headed into Quito to check out the historic and UNESCO world heritage Old Town.
Quite a beautiful place, so undulating and old world in character. Very very cultural too.

We first stopped at La Basilica. Quite an amazing building. The cool part was the absence of gargoyles and dragons on the outside, but in their place were the native species of the Galapagos; sealions, Iguanas, turtles, boobies. Quite a nice idea. Again shows the contextual nature of the Christian faith in South America. Perhaps why Christianity us so dominant here.

The city is filled with churches, known as the Seven Crosses.
Our favourite was the Iglesia aLa Merced. The inside is so well adorned and decorated with gold, floor to ceiling. Truly amazing being inside.

We then went to the main plaza, Plaza Grande, and checked out the Statue of Independence, as well as the Presidential Palace and La Compania.

We then headed for lunch in the piazza fronting the San Francisco monastery. Was lovely food again, I tried the local potato soup, which is filled with chunks of potato, avocado and cottage cheese. The setting was lovely also, we sat shaded beneath umbrellas and looking out over the square filled with pigeons, and could see the whole city playing out in front of us. We also had a view up to the statue on the hill, El Panecillo. This was our next stop.

We drove up to the statue of the winged virgin, designed by Gustavo Eiffel, and were amazed by the stunning views. You could see the whole of Quito, both north and south. Quite a nice way to finish our time here.

We headed back to the hotel and then for the airport. Traffic wasn't as bad as thought so we were there in plenty of time.

Now it's a long wait and a long night ahead. Off to Santiago now. Bon dia Quito. It's been fun.



- Blog from iMat