Three Days in Quito

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I arrived in Quito Saturday night. It is a lot bigger than I expected. Looking down from the plane it was beautiful to see the lights of the city spread out up and down the hillsides. After some confusion I made it to my hotel. I was getting picked up at the airport and I was searching for the person holding the sign with my name. Finally I realised that the sign saying Kelie Vraele was me. That is how my name translates from spoken to written in Spanish.
On Sunday morning I woke up very early (no more sleeping in!) and with my guidebook in my pack, headed to the Old City. Quito is divided into the Old City in the south and the New City in the north. The Old City is listed as a World Heritage Site and it is beautiful. The streets are sttep, narrow and cobblestoned. I visited a lot of churches but the most impressive was la Basillica. We climbed to the top of the bell tower and had a perfect view over the city and the surrounding snow covered volcanoes.
You could tell that Ecuador was playing football that day. Everyone was dressed in team shirts and the children had on the full uniform, including hats and headbands. There was yellow and blue everywhere. When the game began everyone was gathered around televisions in the street and in shops. Unfortunately the team lost.
That afternoon was my first trip on the local transport. That was an adventure. We took the bus to Mitad del Mundo (the equator) and then back to Quito. Bus drivers are not very patient here, but neither are the other motorists. At every stop someone would get one and try and sell things to passengers. I was offered ice cream, apples, watches, telephone cards and drinks.
Monday I went to Otavalo, a market town north of Quito. The men wear white trousers and blue ponchos and the women wear embroidered blouses, shoulder wraps and colourful beads. Saturday is the major market day but there were still many stalls and many opportunites to buy the beautiful weavings and handicrafts the locals make. It was very difficult to resist making a purchase so I bought a few things. It was a great opportunity to practice my bargaining skills in spanish.
After walking through the produce market and seeing the variety of meat on offer I´m considering becoming a vegetarian again. There were a lot of pigs heads for sale.
The bus trip was interesting. On the way there the bus was decorated in fringed blue curtains and religious pictures and they showed a Steven Seagal movie dubbed in spanish. On the way back to Quito the curtains were maroon and it was a Jet Li movie.
This morning was spent in the shops and markets of the New City and now I´m about to go south to Latacunga, down what is called the Avenue of Volcanoes.
I´ll attach some photos very soon.

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Fashion in Quito
Love the fashion commentary!!