¡Hola todos! Dad and I have been in Quito, Ecuador for the past four days, since 21st of September. We came from our very brief stay in La Paz, Bolivia where the shopping was cheap and the traffic plenty.
On arrival at Quito airport we weren´t sure if we´d be greeted by anyone in the family. Upon our exit from customs we didn´t see anyone from the family so we were quite disappointed. Dad then proceeded to go to one of the phone booths at the airport when I noticed a young man with aviation sunglasses walking towards me with another lady beside him. I was my cousin Carlos Alberto who had come to Australia to study a few years ago with his mother Susanna! Some of our family was there!
We were so happy because it turned out that a lot of our family had come to the airport to see us! About 10 people! I just wish I knew a lot more Spanish because most of them don´t speak English. I´ve been trying to speak in Spanish most of the time. It´s been quite trying and funny at the same time.
We´re currently staying at my tia (aunt) Lupe´s house in Quito. She has a lovely house right in the city not far from the city´s (old town) where there are many beautiful museums, parks and wonderful examples of colonial architecture. Her family is wonderful too! Lupe, Tito Fernando, Ismael (17yrs), Samantha (15yrs) and Veronica (30yrs) who lives nearby.
My uncle Oswaldo and aunt Lupe has been showing us around town so far which has been great!
We´ve been to the contemporary art museum where we saw some beautiful religious artworks and an amazing wax museum of people who were important figures in the history of Ecuador.
Two days ago we made our way to Otavalo (3 hours by bus) with my aunt Lupe. Otavalo is Ecuador´s most successful indigenous arts and crafts city. The Saturday markets are the best there and lucky for us we went on a Saturday! The market is amazing there! The colours, music and the political representatives in the Quechuan speaking community was very lively.
Shopping there was very cheap and excellent! I could have been there for days just admiring everything and possibly buying everything!
Yesterday we made our way to my Uncle Carlos Alberto´s place just outside of Quito. His house and property is HUGE! Soccer fields, pool, tennis and volley ball courts lent for some great choices of active sports!
Almost the whole family gathered for the day to have a late lunch and play some exciting games of soccer! I made a pretty good goal before lunch which felt so good! lol However after the beautiful lunch with the family it was a mens game. Dad, my cousins, uncles and family friends shared in a friendly and thrilling game of soccer. It was so exciting to watch! My family are really good soccer players!
Today was a rather easy day strolling through one of Quito´s parks which is up on a hill where you can wee a 360 degree view of Quito. A very tranquil place away from the bussle of the city.
I haven´t been feeling all that well the last few days because I caught the flu from my temporary brother Yoni from Lake Titicaca and haven´t managed to shake it off. Hopefully I´ll wake up tomorrow feeling a little better because there´s so much here that I want to go visit! The Galapagos Islands and the Amazon are on the top of the list. We´ve got some tourist info now so we´ll be booking these trips very soon. So stay tuned for further posts.
On arrival at Quito airport we weren´t sure if we´d be greeted by anyone in the family. Upon our exit from customs we didn´t see anyone from the family so we were quite disappointed. Dad then proceeded to go to one of the phone booths at the airport when I noticed a young man with aviation sunglasses walking towards me with another lady beside him. I was my cousin Carlos Alberto who had come to Australia to study a few years ago with his mother Susanna! Some of our family was there!
We were so happy because it turned out that a lot of our family had come to the airport to see us! About 10 people! I just wish I knew a lot more Spanish because most of them don´t speak English. I´ve been trying to speak in Spanish most of the time. It´s been quite trying and funny at the same time.
We´re currently staying at my tia (aunt) Lupe´s house in Quito. She has a lovely house right in the city not far from the city´s (old town) where there are many beautiful museums, parks and wonderful examples of colonial architecture. Her family is wonderful too! Lupe, Tito Fernando, Ismael (17yrs), Samantha (15yrs) and Veronica (30yrs) who lives nearby.
My uncle Oswaldo and aunt Lupe has been showing us around town so far which has been great!
We´ve been to the contemporary art museum where we saw some beautiful religious artworks and an amazing wax museum of people who were important figures in the history of Ecuador.
Two days ago we made our way to Otavalo (3 hours by bus) with my aunt Lupe. Otavalo is Ecuador´s most successful indigenous arts and crafts city. The Saturday markets are the best there and lucky for us we went on a Saturday! The market is amazing there! The colours, music and the political representatives in the Quechuan speaking community was very lively.
Shopping there was very cheap and excellent! I could have been there for days just admiring everything and possibly buying everything!
Yesterday we made our way to my Uncle Carlos Alberto´s place just outside of Quito. His house and property is HUGE! Soccer fields, pool, tennis and volley ball courts lent for some great choices of active sports!
Almost the whole family gathered for the day to have a late lunch and play some exciting games of soccer! I made a pretty good goal before lunch which felt so good! lol However after the beautiful lunch with the family it was a mens game. Dad, my cousins, uncles and family friends shared in a friendly and thrilling game of soccer. It was so exciting to watch! My family are really good soccer players!
Today was a rather easy day strolling through one of Quito´s parks which is up on a hill where you can wee a 360 degree view of Quito. A very tranquil place away from the bussle of the city.
I haven´t been feeling all that well the last few days because I caught the flu from my temporary brother Yoni from Lake Titicaca and haven´t managed to shake it off. Hopefully I´ll wake up tomorrow feeling a little better because there´s so much here that I want to go visit! The Galapagos Islands and the Amazon are on the top of the list. We´ve got some tourist info now so we´ll be booking these trips very soon. So stay tuned for further posts.
Comments
And I hope you get better. Take some vitamins, it will speed up your recovery. Really enjoying reading about your adventures. Put up some photos soon eh?
Sounds like your having a great time, especially being around great folks like your family.
Take good care of urself while ur there. Can't wait to hear ur stories and see the pics when you get back.
Juan