Farewell Ecuador!

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The 7th was a free day that was spent by most studying for our final exam on the 8th. After our exam that night we all went out to the Mariscal in Quito which is a touristy place that has lots of cafes, bars, restaurants and clubs. We went to Papaya.net which was an internet café that had good food and drinks. We had been to it many times previously in the trip. Then we went to NoBar where we put to good use our salsa moves we had learned in the Galapagos at Iguana Rock.

Today was completely free for us to do whatever we wanted and was our final day in Ecuador. A group of people went to the Otovalo again and then the Condor Park and finally went to the hot springs in Banos. Everyone else decided to get up early and go to the Teleferico which is a cable car that takes you up the active volcano Pichincha. Pichincha is the mountain that we woke up and saw every morning from our hotel in Ecuador. The view was absolutely amazing from there. We could see all of Quito which went on forever. Ljubica and Adam decided to climb further up the mountain, but the rest of us were satisfied with all the climbing we had done earlier in the week. A group of us with our Toronto professor Tony went to the market in Quito where we bought our final souvenirs. Then with it being the final game of the World Cup we went in search of somewhere the game the playing. This was not very hard as most everyone was watching the game. We ended up at a Italian bar/restaurant where we had pizza and beer for 2 bucks. Of course everyone in place was cheering for Italy and so we pretended to be too, but secretly we wanted France to win. After the game we went back to the hotel. For dinner we didn’t have it planned at the hotel so we went out. A few of the girls went to a Cuban restaurant we had found in a guide book. We got lost on our way there and finally we decided to take a taxi and had to split up into two cabs. Half of us got there while the others were nowhere to be found. They had been dropped off at the wrong spot and didn’t have the address and so were walking around aimlessly. Finally we all got there and we ordered. The only things on the menu were beans, tamales, steak, beans, beans and beans. The beans were really good! I got tamale in a pot which was good at the time but now I can’t think of it without gagging. I believe that tamale is the reason I felt sick on the plane ride home.

Speaking of the plane ride home! We got up really early the next day and left Quito and stopped in Miami. At Miami we had to get our luggage, go through customs, and find our next plane. Luckily our flight was delayed or we certainly would not have made it. Once we got onto to our plane in Miami we thought it would be smooth sailing. Not so. At Toronto airport we landed and then had to wait on the tarmac for close to two hours because there was a fire in the control room that had messed up the computers or something. Finally we were allowed to get off and go home.

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Photos

Lobby of Hotel Walther
About to go out to the Mariscal

Shopping
The Quito Market. Janet and Natalie

Enjoying the Game
Bea, Vince and Natalie watching the World Cup

Cuban Restaurant
Janet outside of the Cuban restaurant