The Thorlitzer's Grand Adventures: Old Town Quito

We only spent on full day in Quito, as we arrived late at night on Saturday from the U.S. and left early morning Monday for the Galapagos. We had fun seeing the classic architecture and soaking up the culture of churches and local people wandering around the carless old town area.
We started the day bright and early around 9am (thinking we had to get a jump to see everything because it seemed that things would be a decent walk away from each other). This was a mild mistake though as it was Sunday and churches were definitely in session, and many of the highlights in Old Town are churches.

After an hour or so of enjoying the architecture from the outside and getting shut out of churches after walking on squeaky wooden boards during mass we decided to head into the Presidential Palace or Palace De Gobierno (after having to get our passports from our hotel in order to enter). The tour was all in Spanish, so I was mostly lost but I still appreciated the fine pieces of art and the rooms, and Carrie translated most of it for me. The highlight was actually seeing the president at work. He was discussing some things with his advisors and although we were told repeatedly to remain silent and serious, we still got to see the President in action, which was some nice access to which we were not accustomed.

In the early afternoon we headed off to Iglesias San Francisco and Iglesias de la Compañia de Jesus, which were nice on the outside and splendid on the inside. The Iglesias San Francisco has a longer history and more dramatic exterior but the Campania de Jesus was stunning the inside with almost over the top decorum with great pieces of art all over the walls and altar.

We also had fun wandering around the plazas, including the Plaza Grande where we say Espumilla vendors, street performers, lots of police, and a few random clothing vendors. For those of you who don’t know what Espumilla is, check out the link here, and basically it is a mousse like substance that is flavored with various local fruit flavors and is served all over Quito by women carrying a pile of it with ice cream cones on top (we even thought it was melt proof ice cream for awhile).

For lunch that day we stopped at Tianquez café for some local treats, and I would recommend it for a nice and slightly pricier take on traditional Ecuadorian food. For dessert, Eric and I went the local route and had ice cream from a friendly cart vendor off the street, which was serving Guanabana (Sour sop) ice cream with blackberry on top. It was delicious and neither of us had any stomach issues as the refrigeration looked good to me.

After lunch we headed up to the Basilica del Voto Nacional, which was a somewhat breathless walk for some due to the elevation. This was a place I really enjoyed for the wonderful city views from the high towers and parapets that were opened to us for small fee. I was also enthralled by the gargoyles of unique Ecuadorian wildlife including iguanas, tortoises, penguins, booby birds from the Galapagos and pumas and ant eaters from the Amazon regions. I think this is a must do when you are in Quito.

We then headed back down the hill to La Ronda (which we walked by in the morning) hoping to find people out and about, as La Ronda is a walking street in old town Quito that has been shut down to cars and filled with cafes and stores for people to enjoy. However, as we were there on Sunday there was nothing going on in the morning or the evening when we stopped by. There were about two cafes open, and no one in the streets enjoying themselves. So we settled up to an open café and enjoyed some beer to round out the afternoon.