Como se dice...goes off

Lets just start off by saying that south america goes off.
First day, we got off to an early start and had an amazing breakfast at a chocolate café called kallari. After a good cup of joe and tortas y huevos con queso, decided to take advantage of a perfect day in Quito. Quito is situated in a valley, roughly 2,000m high, surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the closest of which is Volcan Pinchincha. After a gondola ride roughly 2/3 up the mountain, followed by numerous pictures, set out to conquer the volcan. Pinchincha is around 15,700 feet high. After a long trek and a steep climb, I reached the top, that of which was climabale without equipment. Cold and a little dehydrated, ran down to meet my sister who made it half way and proceeded back down the mountain to get some much needed food and beer. We walked around colonial Quito to get a feel for the place and ended up going to a market and making our own sandwiches, before heading back up to the hostel. We were staying at a low key place that was perfect for starting out the vacation, quiet, yet still close by to all of the action. After a quick siesta, the drinking commenced. A few beers later, my sister and I headed down the hill to grab a quick bite to eat. My meal was the almuerzo, which is essentially the deal of the day for that place. Almuerzos can vary, and sometimes you have no idea what you are eating. My first meal was brought out to me and it was a soup and a plate of rice and grilled chicken. As I stirred the soup around and went in for the first sip, I noticed some large pieces floating around, but figure, what the hell. A few spoonfuls of this chicken and rice soup, a claw like piece came to the top... it was a chicken foot. Literally thought to my self, eff it, and continued with the rest of my dinner, which was only 1.75 dollars. We headed back to the hostel, but not before stopping at the panaderia and picking up some amazing breads and pasteries. At the hostel, the Jack was cracked and before we knew it, the fifth was done, and we were on our way to La Mariscal with Mike, a person who worked at the hostel, more on him later. After some very, very large beers, 2 bars and an interesting club experience later, made it back to the hostel to wrap up day 1.



Doc P