Nice breakfast in the hotel. I heard the juice being squeezed around the corner in the kitchen. Fresh fruit washed and cut for me - apples, grapes, pineapple, and my favorite, mango. Wonderful, strong, brewed coffee (and hot water to thin it!) Eggs cooked to order. $5 and service with a smile, but no English!
I had decided to hook up with, or at least locate, the free walking tour. This required about a 5K walk and I made myself a map.
It was a beautiful, sunny and very warm morning.
crossing over Avenida Americas looking back to the north from whence I came
south on the bridge
Along the way, I got off course, I think where the major streets intersected. I stopped to buy sunscreen at a drugstore. All 3 ladies working there said they had no English. But I insisted on making them understand what I wanted and bought it. And applied it. I don’t think they understood I wanted to find my way back to Avenida Americas, so I just kept walking. Eventually, I walked south far enough, and uphill, to reach this huge church I could see the twin towers of from back at my hotel, across the valley. I think this is Cathedral de Quito. Very impressive. I took several photos of interesting buildings on the corner just below the church.
Then I walked up through the Plaza Garcia Moreno to the church, and into the plaza on its south side. I spoke with the entry person there but did not go in. My GPS watch had been telling me it had a low battery, and as smart as I thought I was to use the watch to make myself a trail of breadcrumbs, I wasn’t so sure I could get back without it, so I decided to walk around the block the church was on, and head back in the general direction.
This is the side street going up past the church plaza. Much steeper than the photo reveals
A beautiful building on the way back.
A hostel
Coming from the south now, this is the pedestrian bridge on which I had crossed Avenida Americas earlier.
I am staying in room 16, where Angelina Jolie stayed when she was here. I don’t think my photo will go on the wall outside though.
That was my morning - about 6 miles of walking, and 45 floors of climbing (and descending.) When I got back, I was very warm and tired, and took a rest at my kitchen table while planning my afternoon. I had decided to go to an area that my host, Santiago, showed me where good restaurants and local cuisine prevailed. It looked to be a 5K walk.
The red pin is where my hotel is. See where the map says Teleferiqo on the western side of the city?