Buenas Dias amigos! Where to start… I suppose I do feel like I am on top of the world right now, if were being literal, we are about 10,000 feet above sea level.. Anyways, our journey to Quito started with a 3 am wake up at towers, followed by a 6 am flight to Miami, an 8 hour layover – which we took full advantage of ( Miami Beach!!!! and 90 degree sunny weather) – followed by a 4 hour flight to Quito which I happily accepted as a foolproof method to catch up on some well needed sleep. After landing, grabbing our bags, and getting through customs, we grabbed some food and hopped on our bus and drove 40 minutes into the heart of Quito’s old town, known as the Centro Histórico or Historic Center where we arrived at our hotel, the Hotel Real Audiencia. At that point we were all exhausted and ready for bed, after all we had a busy day ahead of us.

The next morning, Sunday, May 10th, Mother’s Day, our exploration officially started. We got up around 7 am and had breakfast at the hotel at 8 am. From there we walked a few minutes to the Plaza de San Francisco named after the Iglesia y Monasterio de San Francisco, which is also the largest monetary in Latin America. We had the privilege of entering the Basilica and getting to watch part of the mass being held. The basilica itself was absolutely gorgeous, adorned with intricate details and gold designs, and it was absolutely packed (there was even a dog present for the service). I felt really moved being able to witness an event so important to the Ecuadorian people, surrounded by beautiful organ music and singing in Spanish. After visiting the Basilica, we walked over to the attached monastery and went on a tour around it. The monetary was undoubtedly beautiful and its history was really incredible. During the tour we learned about how when Latin America was conquered and Catholicism was introduced, they shifted elements of Catholicism so that it aligned more with indigenous beliefs so that it would be accepted by the people. As a result it created a really unique version of Catholicism that contains indigenous elements – when looking at artwork in the monastery, our tour guide pointed out that the religious depictions contained both indigenous elements as well as the traditional ones. In addition to learning about religion adapted to be accepted here in Ecuador, we also learned that it was a Franciscan order rather than the Dominican. During our tour we were able to climb up into one of the towers and get an incredible view of the city – I thought that would be the sight of the day but boy was I mistaken.

After our tour of the monastery, we hung out as a group in the square for a bit, tried some fried dough balls ( similar to doughnuts) and then started walking towards our next destination. On the way we got to try some delicious chocolate and dulce de leche stuffed churros and took some group pictures. We then made our way to a restaurant recommended by the locals. At the restaurant we had some yummy empanadas , I tried the pollo and cheese ones, both were really good.

Following lunch, we had free time to explore the city so Skip, Rick, Leah, Malini, Emily and I decided to make our way to the Basílica del Voto Nacional (The Basilica of the National Vow) where we met up with Natalie and Lily. The Basilica was astounding to see in person and quite massive, and obviously beautiful – it is the largest Neo-gothic basilica in the Americas and was inspired by the Notre Dame in Paris. We got tickets and began our ascent up 9 flights of stairs, just to go up 2 seriously steep stairs to get to the top of one of the towers. I was absolutely terrified, I don’t love heights, more than anything it’s the fear of falling. That being said, with the encouragement from my friends we all made it up and the view left me speechless, we could see everything, even the volcano Cayambe in the distance.

We spent a good amount of time at the basilica and then decided we would make our way across the city towards The Virgin of El Panecillo. On our way we were all starting to feel the exhaustion of the day prior and stopped in a cafe/chocolate store to get some coffee. We were pleasantly surprised with an impromptu chocolate tasting where we learned about the chocolate produced by the bean to bar chocolatier Huma. I ended up buying two chocolate bars, one with coconut and another that was made with cocao from the Manabní region of Ecuador. The cafe was the perfect unplanned stop, it had delicious chocolate and coffee and gave us just enough energy to continue with our day. The best part was when we got to sign the Ecuadorian flag hanging in the shop, able to forever leave our mark.

At this point we ended up splitting from Rick and Skip, walked a good distance and hailed two taxis to get us up the statue of the virgin. The taxi’s cost between 2-7 USD each way and gave a stunning view of the surrounding landscape. Once we got to the top we were met with the most incredible view, that topped both the view from the monastery and basilica. Us being us, we of course has to take some pictures and walked up to the viewing deck on the statue – we once again took a group selfie. It was starting to get close to twilight so we decided to walk around a bit and try to find a taxi down, it was here that we go greeted and followed by some stray dogs (they were really cute). We ended up grabbing two taxis and went back to the hotel. Shortly after we had dinner at the hotel and got to catch up with the other half of the group – who had their own adventure. Following dinner, we went to a local restaurant with live music and got dance with the locals, I don’t remember the last time I laughed so hard. It was an amazing way to connect with locals despite the language barrier and I was so grateful for their warmth and friendliness towards us. I couldn’t have imagined a better start to our journey.

For now, hasta luego!