We are officially done with our first full day in Ecuador! Yesterday, we left campus at around 9:30am and arrived in Quito at around 8:30 pm. We then drove about an hour to Hotel San Francisco de Quito, where we will be staying for the next few days. When we arrived at the hotel, we went to the rooftop to see the amazing view of the city. It was so beautiful, and I could not wait to see it in the daylight. Then, we went out for a quick late-night dinner and went to bed. Today was packed with activities. We had breakfast at 7:30 and were out the door for the rest of the day! Our first stop was Iglesia de San Francisco. It was the most beautiful church with gold detailing all around. Because it was Sunday, we were able to walk in during a service. It was very peaceful, and you could see and feel the passion coming from the people in the church. The church also had a museum which we took a guided tour of. During the tour, we learned about the history of the church and the story of St. Francis. We went into the part of the church where the choir sings and were lucky enough to be there when there was a church singer playing the organ. We then walked up a little further to where the bells of the church were and saw another amazing view of the city.

After the tour, we had about 15 minutes to explore. We walked around the plaza and looked at some of the street vendors. Because it was Sunday, the streets were packed with vendors and people. We also saw many dogs; most were in clothes or costumes, which was so cute. We saw a street band playing and there were many people dancing. It was very wholesome.

After this, we stopped for lunch and then headed off to our chocolate tasting. We went to Yumbos Chocolate for the tasting. We probably tried around ten different kinds of chocolate. We tasted 100% dark chocolate, which I’ve never had before. We also tried the original recipe of chocolate that the indigenous tribes of Ecuador used to make. It was made up of cocao, chili peppers, and sea salt. I liked this one a lot. After the chocolate tasting, we were served one of the best brownies I’ve ever had. And as if that wasn’t enough chocolate, we were given hot chocolate to wash it all down. But it wasn’t the kind of hot chocolate I expected. It had no sugar, but it was still very good, and it tasted so fresh and real. After we were done with all of that, we had some free time to explore the city! We decided to go to the Basílica del Voto Nacional first. This was another amazing church. We had to walk up 16 flights of steps, some of which were extremely narrow, windy, and tight, to make it to the top. Once we were at the top, we got another beautiful view of the city.

We walked back down all 16 flights, hailed a taxi, and were off to our next stop – Virgin of the Panecillo. This is a statue that sits on the top of a large hill and can be seen from almost anywhere in the city. When we got to the top of the hill, we were able to go into the statue, climb up a few flights of steps, and see the city from a completely new point of view.

After visiting the statue, we headed back to the hotel to relax for about an hour before dinner. Dinner was good and consisted of a few things I’d never tried before. I’ve tried so many unique foods since being here already. Ecuador has been amazing so far, but I do need to brush up on my Spanish. Luckily I haven’t been feeling any altitude sickness so I am able to fully enjoy the city and all the wonderful sights!