Just one day to see Quito....

We only have one day in Quito, so we had to see it all in a day!
Our guide, Esteban, warned us yesterday that the weather forecast is mostly meaningless and that, during the rainy season, it will always predict rain, but that does not mean that it will be raining, only that it might....  He was right:  We had absolutely beautiful and warm weather all day, in spite of a forecast that called for rain and a high of 63.

We started our day with a decadent breakfast prepared by our host Pascal (this place is really a gem!),

  and then went on to one of the city's many markets, which host the expected exotic fruit and vegetable stands ( did you know that there are over 500 types of potatoes in Ecuador?)

 and snout to tail meats (they eat a lot of pork here).
The market also included many herb and natural healing vendors.

Here, this very nice and friendly local woman is relieving stress by rubbing stinging nettles on my arm.  It is supposed to be a full body treatment, this was just a small demo.....  Do you know why they are called "stinging" nettles?  BECAUSE THEY STING!  So I guess it does work on the stress thing because you are too busy dealing with all the uncomfortable bumps all over to think about whatever is stressing you?  Anyway, she then rubbed healing herbs on it and it was a fun experience - plus I volunteered for it, so I should not complain...  also, the woman was truly lovely.

 We then walked around the old town,

 along the many cobblestone streets,

 admiring little things,

 including these romantic little balconies.

 Along the way, we stopped at little stores that keep making traditional wares, such as this store that fixes baby Jesus's (Because EVERY house has a baby Jesus, and sometime they break, so they need to be fixed).  There are also stores that sell very lovely dresses for all the baby Jesus's

 Then we went to a store where they make hats- in particular Panama hats, which the locals will tell you -DO NOT COME FROM PANAMA!!!!  they are in fact quite upset about the name, because THE ONLY PLACE where they are made is Ecuador, and not Panama - But Teddy Roosevelt wore one for the opening of the Panama canal - and boom!  It became the Panama hat!  and the people here are NOT happy about it!  No Siree!!!! not at all!  Anyway, I bought one because they are cool, and it was very sunny.

 The store also makes mask for New Years Eve celebrations.

 Then we went to see 2 magnificent churches:  Turns out that having access to a lot of gold and a lot of cheap local labor does wonders when building elaborate structures.  Anyway, they were truly breathtaking - the pictures are from the less magnificent one (because it was forbidden to take pictures in the bigger one).  The altars have significantly different decorations that usual Catholic churches.  In particular, there are no crucifixes anywhere, and

often, the symbol of the sun is included in the elaborate designs:  This was to appeal to the natives people who did not think that the image of Christ on a cross was God like.  So instead, they represented him either as working, or as a child.  And the sun is one of the most important local symbols  (good early marketing!)

 Walking through the street and around the churches, we saw many pretty courtyards, and ran into a random parade...  have no idea what this was about.....probably Carnival since it is almost Ash Wednesday.

Then on to the main plaza, and it's obligatory obelisk celebrating liberation from Spain.

 We then went to a lovely pre-Columbian art museum celebrating the the 3 levels of life - the underworld, the human, and the realm of the Gods.

 The Gods apparently had a lot of explicit sex.  Here is just one picture.....  you figure it out.....

As we know, I like to take pictures of funny or odd signs - this one was at the museum:  No Jump?  Why not?  do people jump a lot and it's distracting?  obviously, that made me feel like jumping....  but I was good and did not......

 We stopped by a little chocolate manufacturing boutique, where we got a demo, and an interesting lecture about what it takes to make chocolate.  Also a discussion about why the Swiss (for instance) are famous for chocolate, while Ecuador - which grows the best chocolate beans- is not.  The answer is obviously that all the beans were exported.  They are now trying to change that, but only 1% of Ecuador's beans are used to make chocolate in Ecuador today-  that number is on the increase though.

 I bought some chocolate.......

We finished our visit at the top of the city, at the "winged Mary" statue- again, an unsual Catholic symbol- which overlooks the city.

Tomorrow, we are off to Otavalo.
Have no idea where it is or what we'll see....  but that's part of the fun.   :-)