Quito

We have been in Quito for three and a half days now and there seems to always be a rim of clouds covering the volcanoes and mountains surrounding the city. It lends the city a bit of mystery. It unfortunately, also lends the city rain. You can be safe to guess that around five in the afternoon it is going to start raining and usually last most of the night. In fact it is raining as I am writing this. I don’t know if it is a seasonal occurrence but it puts a damper on the night life.

The city is broken up into two main sections the old town and the new town. The old town quickly became our favorite and we spent most of our time there. The old colonial style buildings reeked of history, and the tight streets allowed for a surprise around every corner. Usually these surprises were churches or convents. Our response to this eventually became, “Oh look another church.” We went to quite a few churches. They were all beautiful, but after a while they started running together. Another delightful surprise was the festivals we just kept stumbling upon. On our first day in the city we happened upon a birthday celebration for the municipality. There were bands representing all four branches of the military and police with local dancers performing to the music.

Another aspect of old town that we didn’t get tired of seeing was the numerous food stalls and little restaurants, mainly the pastry shops. There were cookies and biscoches and cream layered pastries that were amazing. Not to mention the savory pastries. Oh empanadas how I love thee. One very memorable meal was at the top of el Panecillo where the giant monument of the Virgin of Quito sits. We happen upon this restaurant when we took a taxi up because a shanty town covers the hills below, and it is highly unadvised to walk through these for fear of rape or mugging, both of which might have interrupted our day. When we arrived to the top … surprise another celebration was happening. We watched for a while and then realized that we had no way down. There were no taxis in sight so we made our way to the edge of the hill where there was a little food stand that smelled amazing. We had fired pork, fried chicken, fried and boiled corn, and this amazing salsa that seems to go on everything here. The little lady cooked it all there in front of us in this shack like kitchen. It was delicious, but most of it was fried so how could we not like it.

One of the other great meals we had was at the traditional Ecuadorian restaurant in new town. This area is definitely more modern compared with old town with which comes a more commercial tourist driven atmosphere. When we asked a local where to go to get good traditional food we did not expect to be directed to a section of town dominated by bars called Beertropolis and Kelly Clarkson blaring cafes. Needless to say we had doubts about the restaurant. Upon entering we were disappointed but not shocked to see that most of the dinners were tourists. We had French people to our right and Germans to our left. Despite this the food was delicious. We started with a humita, which is very similar to tamales but filled with cheese. Our main dishes of seco de chivo (lamb stew) and roasted chicken with llapingachos (a patty of mashed potatoes stuffed with cheese then fried on a griddle) where worth the splurge. We ended the meal with a pristinos, a traditional Ecuadorian pastry served with a brown sugar syrup. It is made with empanada type dough filled with cheese then fried. It had a nice savory, sweet flavor combination. Well if you haven’t seen a trend develop yet, there is a lot to of cheesy fried food here. No complaints from me though.

The city as a whole was much safer than the travel guides made it out to be. We seldom felt threatened in any area. Granted we would not walk in certain areas after dark, but the same can be said for any city. We were seldom even bothered by beggars. I did get tricked into helping a blind lady up some stairs and when we reached the top she latched onto my arm and started going on a rant about her eyes and Jesus and how she needed a surgery and I could be her savior for the low low price of thirty two dollars. Well, the sucker I am gave her some change I had in my pocket. Ok, I know it was just some change, but we can eat a whole meal for two dollars. Well, she disgustedly shoved the money back and said she was no street beggar and walked off. I was left shocked. I guess that’s the last time I help a blind lady.

Christina