Jim and I went to Quito, Ecuador for a week at the beginning of October. It was my birthday present. We really have been kind of sticks-in-the-mud, uneasy about new travels. I am not good at waiting for a trip already planned for. It is a bit easier if there is some little sense of obligation attached to it, but Ecuador, just for fun? I got a little tipsy one night and said to Jim, "Let's do it." And because it is so horribly easy to make reservations and so forth online, I just sat down and made two reservations for round trip travel to Ecuador.
We were certainly not there long enough to form any meaningful impressions of the country, but here are some superficial impressions. It seemed much more European than our experiences of Mexico. The colors were paler and it was more orderly. Of course, if you know me, you know this is not how I am. But I did like it. We stayed in a very small hotel called Hotel Relicario del Carmen. You can see pictures and read reviews on Trip Advisor here. It was right in the center, across from a military museum. The Center of Quito has World Heritage site status. This does not mean that it is overprettified or artifical. A lot of people work in the Center and live there and eat there so it feels lively and well-used.
Below are some pictures of El Centro stuff:
This was in the military museum which is housed in a grand building whose exact period I don't know. The exhibit of photos on show when we were there dealt with a successful military coup in the 1920s.
The grand stairway.
Some photos and explanation of the coup attempt. You can, by the way, click on these images to make them bigger.
More photos from the era of the coup.
A picture I took of Jim and me in a mirror.
The blue door of our little hotel.Please look at it on Trip Advisor! We really enjoyed it and had some adventures in it.
That's all for now because I HATE trying over and over again to fix the picture inserting thingy on Typepad. It NEVER stays the way I want it for more than two pics!