Arrival/Day 1: Historic Quito

After a long day of travel, we finally touched down in Quito! We were all so excited to be in the capital city, that after we checked into the beautiful Hotel San Francisco, in the historic Quito, we went into town for dinner. We had a great first night and prepared for our first real day in Ecuador!

Today we woke up at 6:45 for breakfast in our hotel. We had bread, scrambled eggs, and papaya! After breakfast we headed into Quito for a tour of the famous Iglesia de San Francisco. It was gorgeous! We had the opportunity to walk though during Sunday Mass which was such a privilege.

After going into the church, we went to the museum next door. We had a wonderful tour where we learned all about the history of the church. One story that was very interesting was about Cantuña: The Man Who Tricked the Devil. Cantuña was hired by the head priest to complete the bottom-part/gate of the church. Elated, he of course said yes, but he procrastinated until the last day. Thus, he prayed to God for help, but God never answered. In distress, he called upon the Devil to make a deal: in exchange for his soul, the Devil would complete his job for him. However, he tricked the Devil by keeping one of the stones hidden, making the deal incomplete. Cantuña, had successfully finished the job with his soul in tact. The story goes that the birds flying around the church are looking for the lost stone, and even today, you can find where Cantuña took the missing stone.

After our tour, we had some free time to walk around. We ended up seeing some locals busking and couples dancing. Anna and I joined in!

After lunch, we had our first chocolate tasting in Quito! We tried a bunch of different percentages of cacao and mixes. One of my favorites had sea salt and pepper and was made with the same recipe as the first chocolate bars. One of the most interesting things I learned is that cacao, like coffee and grapes, has different subtle flavors depending on where they are grown. We tried chocolate from a bean grown in the Amazon and it tasted a bit fruity. Of course, I had to buy one of each! We had one of the best brownies I have ever had after the tasting and some hot chocolate to wash down our chocolate.

After the tasting, we had some free time, so we decided to go shopping a bit at the street markets. We had some difficulty haggling in Spanish, but overall, we all came back with something we were all happy with.

We decided to go to the top of another churchcalled Basílica del Voto Nacional, a gothic 19th century church. Walking up all 16 flights of stairs, was definitely worth it!

Before dinner, we decided to take a taxi to the Virgen del Panecillo who overlooks the city of Quito. Hailing the taxi was a bit difficult and we did end up spending a few more dollars than we were planing, but we still ended the day with a beautiful view!

More later!

Maddie