Tuesday May 10, 2011
The day started in chaos. The city of Miami shut off water to the hotel between 10am and 2pm. We snuck in our showers just before the deadline. In fact, the water went off as Diane was finishing. Understand this: We have much more luggage than we should. Never having gone anywhere for six weeks let alone six months, we way overpacked. We decided to change to a third large piece of luggage to reduce the number of bags. Repacking was time consuming. Our flight would leave at 2pm and we missed the noon shuttle to the airport so we caught a cab to the terminal. Our driver, Sajjid, tried to calm us telling us we would make the flight. Yet we faced the rigors of the TSA and an unknown airline, LAN. When we got to the ticket counter, Isabel was our agent. She was the angel of the day. She checked six of our bags, one overweight by almost 10 kilos, and pointed us to the J Concourse, boarding passes in hand. No charge for the extra baggage! For whatever reason, we sailed through Security. To me it is hardly satisfying that much the same issues existed in Miami that existed in Denver yet the two experiences were completely different. We sat at the gate for about 15 minutes, counting our blessings. We flew on a not-quite-full Boeing 767 with 2-3-2 seating. The flight was a joy, smooth with great service - even a meal. I listened to Paul Simon on the headset and was continuously jealous of our daughter Emily who will see him in concert in Chicago soon. It was a long, smooth flight and the skies below were cloudy the entire way, we were grateful to arrive on time.
We arrived around 5pm local time. Ecuador is in the Eastern Time Zone but remains on Standard Time. There is but one hour difference between Denver and Quito during Daylight Savings Time in the States. The airport at Quito is Mariscal Sucre. It is not up to the standards of modern US airports. Much less pretense, yet retaining all the practicality of airports of the 50's. It reminded me of the airport at Newark we used to fly into for summer training with Arthur Young - lots of concrete block, little else. Getting through Customs took time but was a breeze compared to everything the TSA has to offer. Diane took some interesting pics of Quito on the flight in. It is a long narrow city situated among the Andes. I hope she gets a chance to post a shot or two.
We hoped that our hotel would send a shuttle but it was not to be. We caught a $7 cab to Hotel Rio Amazonas. On the way to the hotel we caught a look at Cotapaxi, the highest point in Ecuador. It is a beautiful mountain along the lines of Fuji [which I have only seen in pictures], with a thick covering of snow at the summit. The HRA is very nice hotel, ten stories with 74 rooms. We are on the 9th floor and were told we would see Cotpaxi in the morning but clouds marked the day today. In Ecuador, the sun sets at 6pm [and comes up at 6am]. By the time we settled in, it was after sundown, so we opted to dine at La Canoa in the hotel. Since I was looking for local fare, I had a potato soup with fresh cheese and avocado and empanadas stuffed with Yucca. Diane had a lomo [steak] plate with green beans, carrots and potatoes. We both were pleased and primed to enjoy more of the local food. We topped off dinner with dessert: tres leches cake and flan.
We are both thankful for all the well wishes and prayers which accompanied our departure to and safe arrival in Ecuador. We are still recovering from the rigors of the move but look forward to the adventure here. Although we will likely not post every day while we are traveling, here at HRA with good Internet access we will do our best.
Wednesday May 11, 2011
It took until noon for us to get out of the room. God watched over us today as Diane took a tumble stepping into the shower. She hit her back on the edge of the tub but other than a nasty red welt she emerged unscathed. When we left the room to explore Quito, the chambermaid greeted us with a hearty, Buenas Tardes, perhaps to draw attention to the late hour.
Wednesday was a cloudy day with comfortable temps, and a kite-worthy breeze. We walked over to Plaza Foch in part becuase it was recommended by another HRA guest. While Diane and I talked about which cafe to patronize, a nearby local said to try the Juan Valdez, as it was much like a Starbucks. He turned out to be a lonely but helpful electronic engineer and part-time symbologist who picked up on the coins necklace Diane bought on a prior trip to Peru. He gave some advice on where to look for apts in Quito and gave us specific buildings and addresses. He had a cup of coffee with us and tried to be helpful on other cities to see - yes to Cuenca, Rio Cabamba, Banos and Loja; no to Cotacachi. We sat outside and talked for quite a while enjoying the strong Colombian coffee [remember this is the Juan Valdez Cafe, after all] and his great insight/attitude toward Ecuador. Although his wife was from NY, and they had a son and lived in Manhattan for some length of years, yet he is quite happy to remain here.
We had lunch on the Plaza, again Ecuadorian food. During lunch a well-dressed man as old as any came into the restaurant carrying a type of harp. He sat and played for about 20 minutes, circulated among the patrons collecting tips, and then took his harp upstairs to enchant the people above. It was an unexpected interlude and a joyful addition to a tasty lunch. It was about 5pm by the time we got back to the HRA. Diane discovered that we had received a response to an email I had sent in the morning to a company that would advise us on Quito lodging. We caught a $4 cab to Quito Colonial and met up with Matthew at his new cafe not far from the Grand Plaza. Matthew is an ex-pat who came to Quito nine years ago and has since married a Ecuadorian wife and has a family. He is from Louisiana, but not planning on returning. He gave us help on finding a place to live in Quito if we want. He was very helpful and left us with his card as he had to meet with the ice-cream vendor. We will not be using Matthew's services for awhile as we have already arranged to fly south, a plan he heartily endorsed.
More on this in the next post. Thanks for looking in on this blog.
God bless you as He has blessed us, and more.
Bob
The day started in chaos. The city of Miami shut off water to the hotel between 10am and 2pm. We snuck in our showers just before the deadline. In fact, the water went off as Diane was finishing. Understand this: We have much more luggage than we should. Never having gone anywhere for six weeks let alone six months, we way overpacked. We decided to change to a third large piece of luggage to reduce the number of bags. Repacking was time consuming. Our flight would leave at 2pm and we missed the noon shuttle to the airport so we caught a cab to the terminal. Our driver, Sajjid, tried to calm us telling us we would make the flight. Yet we faced the rigors of the TSA and an unknown airline, LAN. When we got to the ticket counter, Isabel was our agent. She was the angel of the day. She checked six of our bags, one overweight by almost 10 kilos, and pointed us to the J Concourse, boarding passes in hand. No charge for the extra baggage! For whatever reason, we sailed through Security. To me it is hardly satisfying that much the same issues existed in Miami that existed in Denver yet the two experiences were completely different. We sat at the gate for about 15 minutes, counting our blessings. We flew on a not-quite-full Boeing 767 with 2-3-2 seating. The flight was a joy, smooth with great service - even a meal. I listened to Paul Simon on the headset and was continuously jealous of our daughter Emily who will see him in concert in Chicago soon. It was a long, smooth flight and the skies below were cloudy the entire way, we were grateful to arrive on time.
We arrived around 5pm local time. Ecuador is in the Eastern Time Zone but remains on Standard Time. There is but one hour difference between Denver and Quito during Daylight Savings Time in the States. The airport at Quito is Mariscal Sucre. It is not up to the standards of modern US airports. Much less pretense, yet retaining all the practicality of airports of the 50's. It reminded me of the airport at Newark we used to fly into for summer training with Arthur Young - lots of concrete block, little else. Getting through Customs took time but was a breeze compared to everything the TSA has to offer. Diane took some interesting pics of Quito on the flight in. It is a long narrow city situated among the Andes. I hope she gets a chance to post a shot or two.
We hoped that our hotel would send a shuttle but it was not to be. We caught a $7 cab to Hotel Rio Amazonas. On the way to the hotel we caught a look at Cotapaxi, the highest point in Ecuador. It is a beautiful mountain along the lines of Fuji [which I have only seen in pictures], with a thick covering of snow at the summit. The HRA is very nice hotel, ten stories with 74 rooms. We are on the 9th floor and were told we would see Cotpaxi in the morning but clouds marked the day today. In Ecuador, the sun sets at 6pm [and comes up at 6am]. By the time we settled in, it was after sundown, so we opted to dine at La Canoa in the hotel. Since I was looking for local fare, I had a potato soup with fresh cheese and avocado and empanadas stuffed with Yucca. Diane had a lomo [steak] plate with green beans, carrots and potatoes. We both were pleased and primed to enjoy more of the local food. We topped off dinner with dessert: tres leches cake and flan.
We are both thankful for all the well wishes and prayers which accompanied our departure to and safe arrival in Ecuador. We are still recovering from the rigors of the move but look forward to the adventure here. Although we will likely not post every day while we are traveling, here at HRA with good Internet access we will do our best.
Wednesday May 11, 2011
It took until noon for us to get out of the room. God watched over us today as Diane took a tumble stepping into the shower. She hit her back on the edge of the tub but other than a nasty red welt she emerged unscathed. When we left the room to explore Quito, the chambermaid greeted us with a hearty, Buenas Tardes, perhaps to draw attention to the late hour.
Wednesday was a cloudy day with comfortable temps, and a kite-worthy breeze. We walked over to Plaza Foch in part becuase it was recommended by another HRA guest. While Diane and I talked about which cafe to patronize, a nearby local said to try the Juan Valdez, as it was much like a Starbucks. He turned out to be a lonely but helpful electronic engineer and part-time symbologist who picked up on the coins necklace Diane bought on a prior trip to Peru. He gave some advice on where to look for apts in Quito and gave us specific buildings and addresses. He had a cup of coffee with us and tried to be helpful on other cities to see - yes to Cuenca, Rio Cabamba, Banos and Loja; no to Cotacachi. We sat outside and talked for quite a while enjoying the strong Colombian coffee [remember this is the Juan Valdez Cafe, after all] and his great insight/attitude toward Ecuador. Although his wife was from NY, and they had a son and lived in Manhattan for some length of years, yet he is quite happy to remain here.
We had lunch on the Plaza, again Ecuadorian food. During lunch a well-dressed man as old as any came into the restaurant carrying a type of harp. He sat and played for about 20 minutes, circulated among the patrons collecting tips, and then took his harp upstairs to enchant the people above. It was an unexpected interlude and a joyful addition to a tasty lunch. It was about 5pm by the time we got back to the HRA. Diane discovered that we had received a response to an email I had sent in the morning to a company that would advise us on Quito lodging. We caught a $4 cab to Quito Colonial and met up with Matthew at his new cafe not far from the Grand Plaza. Matthew is an ex-pat who came to Quito nine years ago and has since married a Ecuadorian wife and has a family. He is from Louisiana, but not planning on returning. He gave us help on finding a place to live in Quito if we want. He was very helpful and left us with his card as he had to meet with the ice-cream vendor. We will not be using Matthew's services for awhile as we have already arranged to fly south, a plan he heartily endorsed.
More on this in the next post. Thanks for looking in on this blog.
God bless you as He has blessed us, and more.
Bob
6 SUITCASES??
ReplyDeleteI should have given you a "how to go abroad in one backpack" course.
Sorry to hear about the fall. That sounds rough!
Looks like you're already making lots of friends! Are you using your spanish?
Really, after getting to Miami, we regrouped...it ended up being 3 LARGE suitcases, 2 carry-on size suitcases, 3 backpacks, 1 camera backpack and my purse!
ReplyDeleteAnxious to get "how to go abroad in one backpack" course!
I definitely want a photo of the two of you carrying 4 backpacks!
ReplyDeleteKate has a really good question....where is the dog??
ReplyDeleteAlso, that's an insane amount of luggage and I also want to see the 5 arms (for the suitcases) and the 4 backs (for the backpacks) and 1 shoulder (for the purse) you must have to get it from point AH to point BAY.
Mike has Isabella. They have a bond that works for both of them.
ReplyDeleteThe luggage was lugged by the porters. In fact, the porter in Quito (when we were leaving for Cuenca) stayed right with us with the luggage on the cart right up to the ticketing counter. In Cuenca, the porter was right at the entrance and took us right to the taxi. Piece of cake...