Leaving Quito :(

Guillermo picked me up at Al Cala and took me to the airport where I found my bag could only be tagged for Memphis, I paid my $42.00 exit fee, and ended up going down on the tarmac while they went through my bag; it was quite an experience. Another great flight with a good breakfast on LAN. In Miami, after customs, I had to recheck my bag at the Northwest counter, and they promised me it would go to Kansas City. It was three pounds overweight, so I had to really load up my carry-on bag...not good. I changed planes in Memphis and on to Kansas City...and...my bag was there; I was relieved. I stayed over in Kansas City and drove home the next day. On arriving home, I really appreciated what I have...but...I miss Ecuador!

Day Nine in Ecuador!

We hit the market in Quito one more time and took our digital cameras to a photo store to get the pictures put on CDs. We ate lunch at a place called G Spot Burgers, started by a couple of people from California. We tried out an Irish Pub, which was not the best. We ended up at...Shooter's... and visited with Frank, a resident of Quito from Vancouver. Back at Al Cala, I packed. ( I might also mention that when we got our CDs back to Al Cala and checked them out, they were blank. We were just thankful the discs from our cameras had not been erased!) There was thunder and lightening that night.

Day Eight in Ecuador!

We went to Centro Historico (Old Town) where we saw the Presidential Palace and The Church of the Society of Jesus, which is entirely gold plated inside and takes your breath way. La Ronda Street is like walking into the 18th Century. In independence Square outside the palace, I was approached by a shoeshine boy who said he would shine my shoes for 50 cents and then proceeded to ask for a a dollar; he did a nice job, so I gave him the dollar. All of his fellow shoe shiners proceeded to surround me and thought they needed money too. They were cute and they knew it...and reaped the reward. From there, we took a taxi to Restaurant El Ventanal. It is up on the Hill of San Juan overlooking Quito. The restaurant is very simple but elegant with special attention to service and creative foods. The walls are total glass with an amazing view of the city. Of course, when we went back to Al Cala, we ended up at Shooter's. To top off the day, we ate our Inga edulis, ice cream bean, which we had bought earlier. This is a long pod with a white pulp that tastes like vanilla ice cream. Another fun day.

Day Seven in Ecuador!

We went to the market in Quito, which has a lot of the same things as in Otavalo but still very interesting. The hostel Al Cala and the market are in the La Mariscal District of Quito and is often called Gringolandia. Of course, we ended up at Shooter's.

Day Six in Ecuador

Guillermo picked us up in Otavalo and took us to Mitad del Mundo, middle of the world (the equator). Guillermo lives near there. It was a very interesting place with fun demonstrations, specimens and reproductions. I got my picture taken with a foot in each hemisphere. After leaving the gift shop and heading on down the road, I realized I had left my camera in the gift shop, so we turned around and went back for it. Thankfully, it was still there! When we got back to Quito, we went back to Al Cala and of course ended up at Shooter's Bar. It is right around the corner and is owned by two men from Canada, so a lot of English-speaking people go there. I met a man who knew some people in Beloit, his mother lives in Kansas and he went to Wasbburn in Topeka, so it truly is a small world.