After our first few days in Quito, the city began to grow on me, especially once we left the Mariscal area and began to explore a little bit. We began by venturing up to the Panecillo, which is a controversial statue located at the top of a hill in the middle of the city. From there, we had a terrific view of Quito to both the north and south. This put into perspective just how massive and sprawling the city really is. We then made our way down to the Old Town and hung out in Plaza Grande, a beautiful old plaza containing a statue and a fountain, and surrounded by churches, museums, and political buildings dating back to the 1600’s. One of these buildings is a gothic style Basilica that we trekked to the next day. On our walk over, we crossed through Elijdo Park, a beautiful green space containing old wooden playgrounds, food stands, and an artisan market. Once at the Basilica, we made our way up way too many steps to the highest peaks of the church. Although the inside of the Basilica was not overly impressive, the outside is haunting, and the view from the towers is both terrifying (looking down), and awesome (looking at the city).
Despite my warming up to the city, my stomach and Quito continued to disagree. I’ll spare the gory details, but I will say that throwing up in a hostel washroom is something I would prefer to never do ever again. Between having a sprained (but healing) ankle, and being sick for 3 days, I think it is safe to say that Ryan and I had a significantly tamer time than everyone else staying in the Mariscal area. Being sick also made me even more excited to see my parents, who arrived late on Saturday night. We met up first thing on Sunday, caught up over breakfast, and then set out to see the city via the hop-on, hop-off tourist bus. The sun was shining as we adventured through the city, learning about the history of Quito. After an afternoon siesta, we finished off the day with a classy Ecuadorian meal, where my dad proceeded to order a half cuy, more commonly know as guinea pig. He dug into the fatty meat saying, “when in Rome!” I have to say I’m fairly impressed that he ate the whole thing, and I must admit that the very small bite I took wasn’t all that bad.
Both my parents commented on the cleanliness of Quito, and the fact that it doesn’t really feel like a city in a 3rd world country. This really put the city into perspective for me, as it is a fairly well kept city. Despite the constant warnings of danger, I have yet to feel unsafe walking during the day and at night. Now that I have warmed up to Quito, I’m looking forward to spending few more days in and around the city when we return from our Galapagos Island adventure!