Fast forward a few decades, and here we are living in South America, right next to Ecuador, the home of the Galapagos. I knew I couldn't let this opportunity pass by, but it is not a cheap trip, and it is also not necessarily a kid friendly trip. My first thought was to ask my mom to watch the girls, so that Jeff and I could go. But she surprised me by saying that SHE wanted to go too. She offered to help pay for the girls, so that we could all go together. Then my sister said she wanted to go too. We also invited my cousin who lives near D.C., and then her dad (my dad's brother) said HE wanted to go, and then my mom invited my aunt who loves to travel to come too. My mom took my idea of a two person trip and turned it into a ten person full on family adventure!
Adding the extra people meant adding some extra activities to appeal to everyone. For example, my dad really wanted to see the historic part of Quito, the capital of Ecuador, so that's where our adventure started. Since we were such a big group, I got us an AirBnb in the old town. It was a beautiful villa with an open courtyard.
The rest of my family had arrived the night before, so we all met up, ate a quick lunch, and then headed off in a bus to tour the old part of the city. We drove past some of the historic sights on our way to visit the Virgin of Quito who is on a hill overlooking the city.
Our guide explained to us that the Virgin of Quito is a rare winged Mary statue derived from the Book of Revelation. She is Mary of the Apocalypse, and she is defeating a creature with the body of a snake and the head of a dragon.
From the hill, we had a good view out over the city, despite the overcast weather. Bogotá has some serious hills, but Quito is literally carved from the mountains, and most of the roads go up and down at crazy angles.
Elena noticed that people were walking around the foot of the statue and promptly demanded to be taken up there. She went up with Jeff, Vivian, and my dad. You can kind of see them in this picture.
Jeff also got a cute picture with the girls while they were up there.
Our guide took a picture with our whole group, before we retreated to the bus ahead of the storm.
We made it to Plaza San Francisco without any rain. The girls had fun chasing pigeons, and we managed another group photo.
Inside, the church was magnificent. It was covered in gold and intricate carvings. There was even a smaller version of the Virgin of the Apocalypse on the altar.
Elena was, understandably, a bit freaked out by some of the carvings. She kept asking if they were going to move or speak.
After the church, we walked along some of the old city streets. There are some lovely buildings and churches.
There were also the usual street vendors, and people dressed as various characters (in clear copyright infringement) trying to make a couple bucks posing for photos. I managed to steer Elena away from an Elmo, but then she spotted Predator and wanted her picture. Judy thought it was so hilarious that she and Viv went to join in. My kid is so weird.
At that point, the rain started in earnest. I had an umbrella, and Judy and Viv tried to cover each other's heads.
We rushed through the Plaza Grande and took shelter in a coffee shop that also served hot chocolate.
We got back on the bus and rode over to the huge, neo gothic basilica. The girls were churched out, so I stayed on the bus with them, while the rest went in. Jeff said it was okay inside, but not as nice as San Francisco.
Finally, the bus dropped us off at the restaurant Vista Hermosa for dinner.
Even with the rain, the view was quite nice.
Although, the decor was a bit odd.
The food was okay, and the service was slow. It was also much more expensive than restaurants in Bogotá. We were not that impressed, but we enjoyed the company.
When we got back to the house, we realized we had a lovely view of the Virgin of Quito from the upstairs windows.
Despite the weather, it was a nice introduction to the mountainous capital city.
No comments:
Post a Comment