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Saturday, October 19, 2013

Adios Guayaquil y Bienvenido en Cuenca

We have finally arrived at our primary destination of Cuenca Ecuador.  I have concerns that the post title should actually read Bienvenida en Cuenca, but I'm not entirely certain...I guess it's something that I'll eventually figure out.  This is our third full day in our new home and we're slowly starting to settle in.  I'm suffering from a bit of "what-do-I-do-now-that-I'm-not-working" ennui.  Ron asked me what I wanted to do today, and I thought to myself "what does he mean?  There isn't anything TO do."  Honestly, it freaked me out a little bit.  Ahhh, but before I really delve in to the joys and pains of being settled back in a house and out of suitcases, I will reflect a bit more on our journey to Guayaquil...or at least provide some photos:

The Moroccan Tower

El Gato Negro - he's hiding in conduit that is meant for electronic services (phone, internet etc.)

The City of the Dead.  This is a large cemetery in the heart of the city...this is only a small part.

One of the main avenues in the cemetery...it's huge probably @ a 1/4 of a million people rest here.
A lovely little finch that we found as we hiked up one of the hills in the cemetery.

A very large statue of Jesus, benevolently guarding the dearly departed and all of Guayaquil.
 Okay, so the cat...he was hiding in a part of the sidewalk that had been opened up, presumably to install services to one of the shops along the street.  Either Quayaquilines are very cavalier about waste or the work is taking a long time...here's an over view shot of el gato pobre:

We got tired of roaming around the same area of the city so we grabbed a cab (recommended by our hotel...apparently you don't just flag down a cab on the street or all sorts of horrendous things could occur) and headed out to a place called Plaza Lagos (Plaza of lakes.)  It was a "Stepford" like place, which was very lovely, but had little charm, as it was completely man made and precisely designed..

Various stores along the promenade.

Entry way to the Plaza
We did, however, cough over for a really nice lunch at "Don Frances":

Langostinas in a remarkable orange sauce...delicious.

Risotto with Calamari in a sauce with it's ink (Actually very delicate in flavour and quite tasty.)

Passion of Lemon...not sure what it was exactly, but was quite refreshing.

Rice pudding, how can you go wrong?
We did make a couple of little friends at the Plaza...


I'm not sure whether they're cranes, ibises, egrets or herons, but they were lovely.  They frequently hid under the bridge to keep out of sight of the large eagles or possibly condors. What you can't see in these photos is the Guayaquilites passion for honking car horns.  Upset? Honk your horn. Cut off? Honk your horn. Happy? Honk your horn. Recognize someone? Honk your horn. Don't recognize someone? Honk your horn. Someone else is honking their horn? Honk your horn.  I think you get the idea. (You might feel I've over done the repetitiveness of this, but I assure you, I've held back. They must find North America very strange, as our car horn usage is reserved for only the most dire situations (for the most part).

A random photo of my ridiculous tan lines...this never happened with my ballet flats!


Our flight to Cuenca was delayed by two hours, so we didn't arrive in the city until 5pm and then had to find our apartment.  By they time we found the place, dumped our bags and got the grand tour from Bev, our "handler" we barely had time to go grab some groceries and scurry back home before dark.  (We dined on roasted chicken and sparkling wine.)  Here's the view from our roof top, where we've had lunch twice and enjoyed a lovely morning coffee, just this morning:




The final photo is the real "money shot", as it's the iconic Cathedral in Cuenca...it's equivalent to the Eiffel Tower in Paris.  (Don't hate us, it was a truly glorious day today, but we did have some rain over the last couple of afternoons and one real down pour.)  I haven't taken any pictures of the interior of our condo yet, but it's much like it showed on the website. http://casajuanjaramillocondos.webs.com/apps/photos/

Like all things, some things are fantastic, some things are okay and other things you think to yourself "Seriously?".  We think it will work out quite well for us in the end.  I've even cooked two suppers here already, and it's weird to say, but I'm relieved not to always be searching for food...it gets quite exhausting.  That's all from beautiful Cuenca, at least for now.  Be well, travel safely (for those of you on the road) and know that we love you!

2 comments:

  1. I liked your "There isn't anything TO do", comment, it reminded me of having long slow breakfasts in the Bahamas , because there was no rush
    to do anything in particular, I'm sure you will work into it fine.

    ReplyDelete
  2. great pic's, love the architecture, you haven't taken in any cats yet?

    ReplyDelete