Blogs from Historical Center, Quito, North, Ecuador, South America - page 2

Buenos dias DK! Turen startede med et par dage i hovedstaden Quito. Vi var rimelig ramte af jetlag, så det blev ikke til den helt vilde aktivitet. Da vi landede var alt indhyllet i skyer (knap 3000m oppe) og vi kunne intet se, det samme gjorde sig gældende da vi vågnede morgenen efter, men så fik solen fat og vi kunne se omfanget af Quito. Det er en væsentlig større by end jeg troede, der bor 1.7mio mennesker, men den strækker sig 60km i dalene mellem Andesbjergene. Generelt kan man ikke sige at byggestilen er specielt charmerende, det er firkantede betonbyggerier klods op og ned af hinanden. Så vi tog en tur til den gamle by for at kigge os omkring, og det var straks noget helt andet. Super charmerende, velholdte gamle bygninger, kirker og små ... read more

Hello hello, This is my first time writing from South America so I might have to add photos later. All is going well so far, spent Friday visiting the historical centre of Quito with one of those free guided tours. They showed us which were the best churches to visit and took us in front of the presidential building guarded by two 'Granada' soldiers(if I remember the name right), but they are not as disciplined as the British ones cause they moved their eyes. I then went in La Compania church which is completely decorated in gold inside, 51kilos of gold so it has to be guarded with security cause people used to come in scrape the gold off it. Absolutely gorgeous but couldn't take photos in there sorry. Finished the day with a little tour ... read more

After 35 hours in the air and 11 hours of airports in general as the sun rose we caught our first glimpse of Quito. Snow capped, forest draped mountains like islands in a swirling sea of gold tinted clouds the sun rose as we touched down jet lag momentarily forgotten in the wonder of Green. A short walk through the terminal where Passport control and customs officers made great conversation partners upon whom we could practice our apparently dreadful Spanish skills. (I believe that they were very happy to see us leave!) Baggage claim was simply and Tommy was thrilled to see our taxi driver standing with a card with her name on it waiting for our arrival. We sat silently in wonder as we were taken to our hotel. Mountains, trees and winding roads. “es ... read more

So we are now out on our epic 3 month adventure, having spent a full 24 hours travelling from Birmingham, arriving in Quito at 1AM UK time. Thanks again to my sister for getting up in the dead of night to give us a lift to the bus station. Our driver down to Heathrow looked like he was on something, and welcomed all passengers onto the bus by telling them to sit back relax and enjoy their journey in the most monotone Brummie accent possible! The flights were hassle free, the one to Madrid was bumper than crossing the Atlantic Ocean to get to Ecuador! Had an interesting taxi ride into town as our driver was determined not to let any others drivers pull in front of him, but strangely enough I still felt fairly safe ... read more

The taxi driver drove through narrow streets littered with cups, paper, and bottles looking for my hotel. The buildings were covered in Graffiti. After twenty four hours of travel I was finally in Quito, Ecuador. I had chosen to stay in the old city because of the many heritage sites. Now I was having second thoughts. When he finally found the hotel the driver walked me to the door and the concierge, Carlos, helped me with my luggage. My room is on the second/third floor and has two large windows that overlook the plaza and the fountain. I soon discovered life is happening here. There are often lovers embracing, mothers or fathers spending time here with their toddler, men eating lunch, and musicians playing for the passerby. Motorcycles park under the large palm tree. You can ... read more