Cuenca, Home Sweet Home

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Welcome to Cuenca, Ecuador! We made the move. We purchased a great little condo on the road up to Las Cajas National Recreation Area. We enjoy a terrific view through the windows and patio into the Andean Foothills.
Cuenca is a picturesque colonial city located in the Southern Ecuadorian Andean Highlands at an altitude of 8335 ft. It sits along the sparkling Tomebamba river which rushes out of the surrounding mountains. Stunning walks along the river and down the cobble stoned streets abound here. Cathedrals are numerous and colonial architecture is around every corner. The weather here is in the 70's most days with the nights in the 50's. It rains frequently, but seldom very hard or for very long. It would be hard to order up weather that was any more pleasant.
Cristie and I spend our days exploring the city, stopping for lunch at one of the thousands of restaurants that serve typical Ecuadorian fare. Most three course lunches set you back about $1.50 - $2.00 and consist of a soup, main dish, dessert, and fresh juice. (Since I am a Chef, a substantial amount of this continuing blog will be about our culinary experiences). The rest of our day we just enjoy each others company, relax, read, watch TV, listen to music, surf the net, and visit with our newfound friends.
The city has many colorful and vibrant markets , each with its own character. The variety of fresh produce is astounding, I never knew there were so many varieties of potatoes. Finding new food is an adventure. We are always bringing home something new to try. Recently we found the small potatoes that look like ginger root. We roast them up with a little fresh garlic, basil, rosemary, and olive oil. My God, are they flavorful. We have also discovered many new exotic fruits that we still do not know the name of. Smoothie heaven! Not to mention mixed drink heaven!
To aid our travels, the purchase of our Iron Pig, a 1975 Toyota Land Cruiser, has been a blessing. We have had a few problems with the Pig, I learned that you can not ride the brakes from an altitude of 11,000 ft down to 3000 ft without burning them up. We also learned that 30 year old seats are hard on 40+ year old seats. Great motivation to have the seats redone. (Meaning the seats on the Pig). The roads in Ecuador are hit and miss, which means that you are always hitting or missing the pot holes. Fantastic views are the norm, everywhere we look, breathtaking scenery and the colorful life of the Ecuadorian people abound.
We are going to the coast this week for carnival. We have a good friend, Mike, who has a place on the beach, near the surfing village of Montanita. We will post more stuff and pics when we get back.

Love,
Cristie and Norris

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Photos

Catedral Nueva
One of our favorite views in Cuenca

Native Quechau dress
Shopping at Casa de la Mujer

The Pig and Us
The Road to Cuenca

Comments

[David&Sumana]

Way cool guys
Freedom like you describe in a land so rich truly is a blessing. We look forward to more news.

[Art]

The Pig
Take that pig out and get it dirty! Then take some pics... =)