Dispatch 1 - Quito

It's worth at least a couple days of exploration.  One of its assets is its natural history and dramatic setting.  From various vantage points, to the west is the Volcano Pinchincha, to the south is Volcano Cotopaxi, to the east is Volcano Cayambe and to the north is Volcano Cotacachi.  Periodically some of these still come to life.  From Parc Metropolitano there are not only great views, but also excellent bike trails and walking routes.

• People are well dressed; cloths are clean, no rips, mostly leather shoes, plenty of suits and ties for men and skirts and nylons for women.
• Among the shops you can find every consumer good (home appliances, clothes, furniture, shoes, glasses, beauty aids, etc.) that you would at a Wal-Mart, only they are spread among intimate, distinctive, small boutiques, not lined up in the long isles of a box store.
• It is a city where people do a lot of walking so shoe stores packed with choices are a common sight.
• There are a lot of restaurants and small eateries so enough people have disposable income to keep these establishments in business and don't have to eat at home or carry their meals.
• The are plenty of service sector business as well, like copy centers, banks, internet cafes, travel agents, hair dressers, and photo studios.
• The streets are filled with traffic, mostly small sedans and pickup trucks.  The expensive car of choice is the out-of-scale oversized Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV).  The sidewalks are also full and buses are crowded with people heading to work, school, markets and recreation. But there are almost no bicycles.
• There is a lot of construction around the city and money is being spent on good design and architecture.  This is complimented by a good deal of contemporary public art.
• The parks are well maintained and around the city, both the parks and streets are generally clean.

Contradicting this image, the favorite local topic of conversation seems to be how bad the economy is.  It may have slow growth, but there are few hallmarks of being really bad. A couple indicators of not everything being rosy for everyone:

• Street vendors with small stock and inexpensive goods or food wait for their next customer, often women with small children at their feet.
• Guards at the door of most commercial properties.
• Much of the population lives in small and/or cramped abodes.

Walking or cycling into the neighborhood and reading the signs over the shops and looking at the street life is full of contrasts and curiosities. Because of the geography of the city, in Quito, there is very basic housing with million dollar views.

Even without expending much energy the streets of Quito can keep you amused.  One of the prime menu items is Quito is a wide variety of succulent fresh squeezed fruit juice drinks.  Find the right restaurant with outdoor tables, order a fresh fruit juice and watch the parade of interesting faces that pass. 

P.S. On several consecutive days the comment was made that this is the best meal yet.  It is always a question whether the food is getting better or the cyclists are getting hungrier by meal time.  Even if the later is true, we ate a lot of superb meals in Ecuador.

On Independence monument, the condor, symbol of Ecuador perches above, and the lion, symbol of Spain, slinks away below with a spear in its back.

Far Left: Senor of Devine Love, Church of La Merced.

Left: Front of the National Basilica.

Right: Fanciful art on the balconies of the Casa del Artista.

Far right: A colorful stairway leads up into the neighborhood.

Socializing, relaxing, eating ice cream, Ecuadorian 3 on 3 volleyball, and traditional music and dance is the order of the day in the park on Sunday afternoon.