Pomp and Circumstance ...

Today was our tour of Old Town. Every Monday at 11a the Presidential Palace has the changing of the guards. We arrived at 1050a just in time to get a decent view. Our tour guide told us most time the vice-president oversees the festivities. Today luck was on our side ... the Presidente himself, Rafael Correa Delgado, was present. 

Our next stop was The Basilica del Voto Nacional, built in 1887.

The next church was La Compania. Listed on the 100 most  important architectural buildings in the world. I was not allowed to take pictures so I had to borrow these from the web. 

Everything was covered in gold leaf. 


We then made our way to El Panecillo. A 200 metre hill over looking all of Quito. Standing watch is the Virgen de Quito. A 45 metre tall statue built in 1976.

The weather has been perfect ... clear to partly cloudy with a temperature around 70 to 74. 


As the morning drew to a close it was of to my cousins house, Denise Laniado. She lives on the other side of Quito, in the Valley. 


At around 3p all 19 descended upon the family house. Tour bus and all. And all hungry. 


Stay tuned ...

I'm three days behind

This was the view I was forced to see over coffee on my first day in Quito.

And this one ...

We stayed at a family members house (don't ask to tell you what leaf she is on our tree) for the first 2 nights. It was located on the side of the valley with views from very room. Stunning ! 


The first full day in the city we visited my dad's cousin (?) in the Valley. Now for you Angoleños ... the Valley is not THE Valley. Its just the other side of Quito with a view of Cotopaxi. A snow capped Volcano 17 miles south of Quito at 5,897 feet.
Lourdes home sits high above the valley with gentle breezes across her patio. For lunch Lourdes had made tamales, plantones, pork, flan, and roasted corn. I'm still full. 


The Ecuadorian people are so warm and loving. Welcoming you into their home with open arms. 


I have a lot more to tell but I am so tired ... I have to take a nap and get my notes and pictures together. 




Later ... 


   

One week ...

I can't believe it's a week before we leave. It seems like we have been planing this trip forever. I "ordered" my drugs yesterday ... CIPRO for travelers diarrhea (how glamorous), DIAMOX for altitude sickness and MALARONE for malaria. Not quite the drug list I had in the 80's. I still have to get bug spray and sunscreen of 100SPF, it is the equator after all.   

And the clothes ... PLEASE ! I'm more concerned about what one wears to an APP (Amazon Pool Party) then my health. Hats. I don't wear hat's well. I wish I did but I can't pull it off. I have a big head. There, I said it. What a weight off my shoulders, so to speak. Baseball caps are OK. But I cant be seen in the middle of the Amazon wearing an "EAT AT JOE'S" baseball cap. What would the natives think ? Ecuador is the were the "Panama" Hat originated. Honest, its true: 

A Panama hat (sometimes informally among hat enthusiasts, just a Panama - see Isthmus of Panama) is a traditional brimmed hat of Ecuadorian origin that is made from the plaited leaves of the toquilla straw plant (Carludovica palmata). Straw hats woven in Ecuador, like many other 19th and early 20th century South American goods, were shipped first to the Isthmus of Panama before sailing for their destinations in Asia, the rest of the Americas and Europe. For some products, the name of their point of international sale rather than their place of domestic origin stuck, hence "Panama hats." The 49ers picked up these hats in Panama, and when President Theodore Roosevelt visited the Panama Canal construction, he wore such a hat, which increased its popularity. They're also known as a Jipijapa, named for a town in Ecuador, one of the centers of the hat trade. The Oxford English Dictionary cites a use of the term as early as 1834. 

And that's a direct quote from Wiki, so you know it's true.

Anyway ... I leave a week from today and I am SO looking forward to spending time with my dad and the rest of the family.

I need some time to re-group and re-charge.

Until next time,  Happy Trails ...   

I have boo boo

     I can't believe I leave in less then 5 weeks ! I still have so much to do, but today I got my shots. I was told I only really need Yellow Fever. But by the time I left I felt like somebody who went in to buy a Yugo and ended up with a Cadillac. Three shots and $450 later I had enough anti-body's in me to run a marathon in the Amazon. Naked. Barefoot. Without fear as catching as much as a cold. I did get my Yellow Fever shot ... as well as Heb B and Typhoid. I also got a list of possible side effects. With the Yellow Fever it includes "flu like symptoms". So of course today I have a fever and aches (in my mind). 

 

A trip to the book store ...

Or "How I managed to justify another journal". At  least I managed to get one book on Ecuador. 

And come on ... the leather one with a map ! Can't you see me in the middle of the Amazon ...

writing in by leather map en crested journal.

Dressed in my Panama hat (that originated in Ecuador ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_hat) 

Mont Blanc Pen in hand ...

So Hemingway ... 

In preparation ...

I have been in the travel business for over 15 years and have traveled all over the world;Germany, South Korea, Mexico, Canada, Italy and many more. But I have never been more excited then I am for the trip I will take this year.

On June 17, 2011 I will be boarding a plane to a far off country for 2 weeks. A country that has a lot of meaning for me, Ecuador. My father was born in a small town just inside the Amazon jungle in 1942. The fact that he will be going with me is even more thrilling. Of course I will be blogging everyday, hopefully with many pictures.

Stay tuned !