Old Town Quito

The Hotel Plaza Sucre manifests that entirely overused descriptive: charming. It's bright, quiet, clean, and filled with boldly colored paintings and sculpture. The best rooms are probably 201, 303--pretty much any room that looks over the interior library area--mainly because latecomers (there are plenty of those due to the late flights into town) have to ring the loud buzzer to get in. Walls are a bit thin, but these are really quibbles in an overall pleasant stay. The location in old town is right in the middle of everything. 

The top-floor restaurant  where breakfast is served looks out over the rooftops toward the winged Madonna that guards the city. The Madonna, which is visible from most parts of Quito was commissioned in 1976 by a religious order; Spanish artist Agustín de la Herrán Matorras built a 150-foot-tall (45 metres) monument made of seven thousand pieces of aluminum.  The Madonna may be the only one in the world with wings: it was inspired by the famous "Virgen de Quito" (Quito's Madonna) also known as "the dancer" sculpted in 1734, which now decorates the main altar at the nearby Church of St. Francis.

Ceiling detail from Inglesia de San Francisco, another of Quito's many churches

As deserted as the streets were at 11:30PM last night, today they are teeming with people, mostly locals. I stand out like a salt shaker in the middle of a plate filled with ground chili pepper--I'm that much taller. Also, next time I'll bring a skirt that covers my knees--I keep getting the "puta look" from women, the somewhat sour face that's the visual equivalent of "American tart". Here in old town, each building's street floor holds a dozen tiny businesses, selling everything from fruit to toys, pinatas to clothing. 

There are many hawkers wandering the streets--I take these to be country people from their style of dress and method of carrying goods, sometimes wrapped in shawls, or in buckets or plastic bags.

Finding one's way around requires an infallible sense of direction and sturdy shoes--I only have one of those two requirements, and spent considerable time walking in circles.

I couldn't find the restaurant I was looking for on Av. Junin, but with the aid of an army officer (there are quite a few of them about, as well as policia--the entire area is highly militarized), I found the Inglesia de Compania, recommended to me by friends in Cuenca, a town two hours by plane to the south. The exterior is ornately carved volcanic stone, but it hardly prepares you for the inside. I've always associated the Catholic Jesuits with a certain level of modesty, a theory blown to hell by this structure built between 1605 and 1745. Let's start with the obvious--there are roughly 114 pounds (50-52  kilos) of gold leaf covering nearly every vertical surface, all carved into a mass of phantasmagorical fruits, flowers, figures and curvaceous columns. Unwilling to stop with the walls, the artists covered the football-sized curved ceiling with yet more carvings and gold. You get the feeling that if you sat long enough inside, you'd absorb some of that richness. The sides of the church are lined with ornate altars dedicated to various saints including the local gal, St. Mariana. Overhead, a series of small round dome windows let in light; above the nave, in front of the impressively carved altar, a single large dome painted with saints floating in a heavenly blue background lights the front section of the church. This church is both impressive and inspiring; St. Peter's has nothing on this as a paean to the dedicated strength of faith of the many hands that created this magnificent structure.
 
Later this evening, I went out for a walk to parts I hadn't been to, and my unerring travelwriter instincts led me to what could only be described as a favela--a real shantytown with dirt streets. It didn't look like a good place for little old sweet me (read "target") to hang around, and I didn't think I needed any cd's or computer equipment--which the street businesses were selling at greatly reduced prices--so I turned around and walked back on the "street of schmatas", shops filled with ornate formal wear and other items of South American fashion.

I'm on my Way/Galapagos

 

This morning I fly from San Francisco to Houston, then Houston to Quito, Ecuador. My anxiety level was such last night that I woke up with a stomachache at 1:30AM, managed to doze until 2:30, then gave up and got up. The airporter didn't leave until 4:30AM, so I dealt with a cranky cat and assorted compulsive actions, like reboiling my eggs because I left them out (I ended up eating one and throwing the other away in the Houston airport. I just couldn't face another egg.). One real gift--and I recognized this with enormous gratitude as the universe watching out for me since I did ask for help--I remembered that the second half of my flight itinerary had a little "check in" button after it, and I had only checked into the first half, to Houston. I got up, turned on the computer (all the while accompanied by Ozzie's yowling over my strange behavior) and took another look. I got the confirm number and went to check it against the one I already had, only to discover that my passport was nowhere in my bag. I had laid it on top of the cabinet when I repacked, and I might have left it altogether. Disaster!

The first flight from SFO started out in the dark at 6:45 and I tried to sleep through the bad stomach with little luck. The gasses in the body expand with the canned air pressure in the cabin, and apparently I had plenty to expand; ginger ale helped. 






When I looked out the window, the dawn formed a thin red line on the horizon in front of us. The ground below was perfectly clear, a study in Chiarascuro; white snow and black trees, stitched together by a few thin roads. The wrinkled terrain looked like carelessly dropped velvet. 


That broadened into something extraordinary--a series of mountains and deep canyons, and a river so wide in places it was a tin foil-bright lake.
Considering we were 30,000 feet up, those were some mountains! It was exquisite in the sharp light of dawn. I took some shots out the plane window, though I doubt the pix will do justice. After a while, arrow-straight roads began to appear, so long and thin, you could have darned a giant's socks with them. Then further signs of human taming of the landscape...neat squares and circles connected by lines. I wonder what that wonder was:-)


***
During a very dull 4-hour layover in Houston, I met a friendly, studious-looking guy while waiting for the Quito flight. An Ecuadorian, a university teacher...he wanted to show me around, but he's working the only day I'll be in town. Hard to determine whether he was just friendly or hitting on me. Most likely the former. He wanted to give me his phone number--I had to let him know my phone doesn't work outside the US, much to my disgruntlement (It's one of the reasons I bought an iPhone, but only iPhone4 and above can take international SIM cards). We chatted about the recent election; he said most Ecuadorians like President Rafael Correa, but few know that he's shutting down a number of colleges in the country, and eliminating career tracks. I didn't know that education, even higher education, is free in Ecuador, at least for now. A recent article on RT asks, "Is Ecuador America's new enemy number one?"


***
We've begun our descent into Quito. It's a four-hour time difference (all together, counting the 2-hour difference in Houston). I've been in the air a total of 10 hours, plus a 4-hour layover. However, I made every flight. Another part of my adventure begins. I'm looking forward to seeing southern stars--another first.

Well, that's settled.

The Fragata, looking its best

I've found it pays to ask if there are deals. I found a very good price on a five-day/four-night trip aboard a first class yacht, the Fragata. The price came from a site called "Galapagos Last Minute". I ended up paying about $1600 for the cruise, including all meals and flights from Quito to Baltra and back ($250--muchas gracias, Rodrigo!). I considered a less expensive boat from the same company (tierraverde tours)--the Golondrina--but I read reviews and it appeared to be smaller and more rickety; I was concerned about seasickness and personal space, as I'll probably have to share a cabin. Fortunately, they offered me the deal, and I took it. As for a hotel, I found a place called Boutique Hotel Plaza Sucre in old town Quito for a very good price (half of the hotel's website price, so I paid $50/night instead of $100) on Booking.com. I have no idea what I'm getting into; everything looks good on the internet. I was so nervous about sending a bunch of money via wire to a company I didn't know that I paid with my credit card instead, which cost me an extra Ben Franklin--but I felt better about it in case I was being conned. It happens. I plan to be in Quito a day ahead of the boat trip, as I can't be sure I'll get my flights.