Snippets of Life: Part 2 - An afternoon in Colonial Quito
Within several days of returning to Ecuador from the trip to Argentina, my friend Heather from Oregon came to visit me! Her 3-week visit to Ecuador was the perfect chance for me to finally tourist it up and go to many of the places I've been wanting to see. We started things off with a day in Colonial Quito, the old part of the city with much Spanish influence, beautiful churches, and old cobblestone alleyways. As I live 30-40 minutes outside of the city, I acutally haven't spent much time in Quito in my months here.
Off we went on our first excursion, beginning with a 40-minute bus ride into the city (for only 25 cents!), and then a crowded, stop-and-go bus all the way across the city to the historical district. We spent a wonderful afternoon visiting breath-taking churches, eating delicious treats we came across, and trying to avoid involuntarily taking part in the activities of Carnival weekend, which was just commencing.
La Basílica with Heather
Carnival is one weekend in March during which apparently it's the custom to spray friends/ passers-by with any combination of water, flour, or a foam-type product in a spray-can. No one is exempt, especially not 2 tourist-looking gringas with cameras. It was all in good fun, except that we had to be very watchful, as Heather was toting her extremely nice dSLR camera, and it was not uncommon for people to throw water out of their 3rd-story windows onto people passing by in the streets.
Carnival festivities in the streets of Colonial Quito
Here is a taste of the afternoon in Historical Quito:
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Posted by Whitney 03/30/2011