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Published: December 12th 2009
Hotel Cartuja
Our hotel. Previously the British Embassy. Lovely place with parquet floors, a nice courtyard with grass & flowers & a wonderful staff.You are receiving this notice because I have added you to my Ecuador - Galapagos Blog posting notices. If you do not wish to receive these emails please let me know and I will remove you.
This is my second try at posting this entry, please forgive me for getting so many posting emails. I've had a bit of challenge with the travelblog website and internet connections. ~Sue
Getting There
We started ar 1230 am Wednesday morning and flew to Dallas and then to Miami and then to Quito.
We arrive in Quito at 730 pm and got to the Hotel Cartuja at 9:30 pm. The flights were ok, the last leg was the worst as we were seated in the exit aisle over the wing and the seats there are different, sort of box like things that do not allow for wide hips such as mine. So I was a bit uncomfortable, but it was bearable. We were dead tired from the flights and took a shower and crashed upon arrival. The hotel is nice and the staff is great.
First Impressions
We slept until 11 am and I woke with a killer sinus headache and Lorin's
Authentic Ecuadorian Restaurant
See other pictures of the local food in the window body ached all over. The power had gone off at night and the hot water wasn't available, so we skipped showers and headed out to find coffee as the hotel breakfast ended at 10 am. We wandered up to Ave Amazona and walked up the street until we found a coffee shop/cafe. We virtually had the place to ourselves and spend a couple of hours lounging with our coffees and people watching.
Traffic here is not too bad. A few horn honks here and there and the lanes seem invisible to the drivers, but they get where they are going without too many close calls. There are bike lanes on several of the roads and small off-road motorcycles 250cc or less putter around here and there. Some are used as taxis, the police and security use them and others use them for transport as well. They have good mufflers, so the traffic noise is minimal. The only drawback is that most of the vehicles are diesel and so there is that smell in the air, but it isn't too thick.
The people are nice and helpful, but not pushy. Begging is not common practice which is nice. We had a
Local Food - Beans & Plantains
We were not brave enough to try it though. couple of young boys offer to shine the hiking shoes we were wearing, which was a bit odd as we could not figure out what they were going to polish. We politely told them “no, gracias” and “adios”.
The altitude is approx. 8000 ft here and I am not very affected by it, Lorin has a bit of short breath here and there, but is adjusting nicely.
We had lunch at the coffee place and it was good. We ordered pork chops, but they were more like ham chops with potatoes and a nice Caesar salad. It was yummy and just what our tummies needed.
We wandered around a bit, took a few pictures and then headed back to the hotel for a nap as I was still suffering from a terrible headache and Lorin wanted to rest as well.
After our nap, we both felt better and wandered downstairs to the internet room and I worked on getting the emails exported into travelblog. We met a few other travelers and exchanged info and then headed to dinner at the hotel next door. I had sea bass and Lorin filet steak. Both were yummy, especially with the Chilean Cabernet we
Local Food - Corn & Hominy
Traditional Ecuadorian food. got.
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Guadalupe
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feliz viaje
Sue, Gracias por compartir tus experiencias. Thank you for sharing these experiences. I would love to go to Galapagos. Niko was there and enjoyed it. Waiting for the future pictures Happy Holidays (without snow) Lupe