Our Spanish class went on a tour of four museums today, three of which I didn’t even know existed in town.  The first was Simon Bolivar’s home, which has been converted into an art gallery, shown above.

I knew of two Panama Hat museums in town, but we went to a third I had not seen before. This was actually a smaller museum, with fewer of the production steps shown than the one out by the airport.  As with the other hat “museums” it was actually more of a hat store than museum…  By the way, all “Panama Hats” have always been made in Ecuador. In the 19th century, hats from Ecuador were shipped to Panama, and then on to Europe.  Because they arrived from Panama, they became known as Panama Hats.

Third stop on our trip was at the oldest hostel in Cuenca.  The museum guide (center man with white beard in top photo) was the best guide of the day, regaling us with stories of how the hostel was originally on the very edge of the city, and was used as a stop by those arriving from the Amazon after a four day trip.  He also told us of the rumors of treasure still buried on the property, and how people prior to the 20th century did not have banks, so buried their gold coins or valuables — and then often forgot where they had been stashed.

I bailed before the group went on to the Modern Art Museum.  I have seen that one three times, and each time thought someone conned the management to call that junk art…  [At the next class the following Tuesday, I asked the other classmates what they thought of that museum, and they universally said it was a waste of time…]