This past weekend we noted that we visited an art friend’s home, and fell in love with it. We were wondering what the neighborhood would be like living in that part of town, so yesterday we took the Blue Bus for 25 cents to there and wandered the neighborhood.  At first it appeared to be strictly residential, with very little to do or restaurants to walk to.  Soon though, we hit the local commercial district, and found a nice variety of places.  We stopped into Iberia restaurant, and had a very nice chicken plate lunch for $2.50, and added an unexpectedly large plate of French fries for another $1.

Pauline (Evelyn’s sister) joined us today to start a two week visit. Since she was coming in on LAN airline, we went to their website, and also tried their iPhone app to see if the flight was on time.  Every flight for LAN said “not yet departed” or “no information.”  Such is life in Ecuador, so we just headed out to the airport with no real idea if the flight was on time or not. When we arrived, we found the flight had actually landed a few minutes early.  We waited outside baggage claim, and she finally emerged… the last person to come out…

She had a LAN airlines woman in tow, and wasn’t carrying any luggage…?  Seems that a mix-up in Quito left her baggage back at her airport-of-entry.  Ah, the joys of international travel…!  We spent the next couple hours at the airport while paperwork was filed, passports were copied, letters were faxed to Quito, and we were finally told they would call us with information later today. 

While we were waiting in the airport, Pauline told us she had to wait 2 hours on the tarmac in Miami before taking off, and arrived in Quito well after midnight.  She had not made hotel reservations, expecting to get in much earlier and simply grab a quick overnight room before hoping the flight in the morning to Cuenca.  Her seat neighbor on the flight ‘adopted’ her, and the woman took Pauline home to sleep, and back to the airport in the morning. I’ve been crowing about how friendly Ecuadorians are, and Pauline got a first-hand experience within minutes of entering the country.

Once we were settled back in the apartment, we headed out for some exploration of Cuenca.  First stop was Parque Calderon, the center of town from which everything else radiates. We then visited Plaza Flores, where you can buy a dozen roses for $2.

Roses of just about any color can be bought here.  The flowers are constantly culled of imperfect petals, with those petals saved for throwing at processions.

Next we walked over to the Rotary Central Commercial Plaza where the healers beat up the kids before spitting on them, in the name of driving out evil spirits. [See last Thursday’s post for more information on that practice.]

Evelyn made a friend of a girl who had just been cleansed and had fun seeing her own photos on the camera LCD.

We followed that with a bus tour of Cuenca.  For $5, you get a two hour orientation to the city in a double-decker bus, including a trip to the church overlooking the city.

Evelyn on the bus, landmark church towers, and finally a panoramic view of Cuenca

We stopped in a local mercado for some fruit and vegies for home, plus a tour (not buying!) of the meat section, before catching a Blue Bus back to the apartment.  After a couple hours rest, and a rather long phone call to LAN to determine when Pauline’s luggage would arrive (answer finally received — tomorrow afternoon), we headed out to dinner.  Since Pauline only had about 3 hours sleep last night, and was running on adrenaline, we opted for a favorite restaurant of ours that is only about 2 blocks away — Vinotecca.  We split a filet mignon meal, a grilled salmon meal, a salmon & avocado tartar starter and a bottle of wine.  All excellent and highly recommended, and coming to a total of just over $60.  High by Ecuadorian standards, but one fourth what it would have cost back in Berkeley.

Headed home, and after a few hours catch-up with Pauline, everyone is now asleep while I finish this post.  Guess it is about time for me to head off to bed too… [Don’t believe the post time shown here. It is giving California time rather than Ecuador — 3 hours later.]