Many thanks to the Cuenca International Chorale, el Coro Infantíl from the Conservatorio “José Maria Rodriguez” of the city of Cuenca, and the Cuenca Symphony Orchestra for their Christmas concert at the old cathedral (Iglesia del Sagrario). “Conciertos Navideños” was the 4th annual concert presented by the Cuenca International Chorale, with songs in Spanish, English, German […]
Tulcán, Ecuador
After our anniversary celebration, we drove to Tulcán, the highest city in Ecuador at 2,980m. There are two famous tourist sites in this area, though one is actually about 10 km across the border into Colombia. To get to the iconic Las Lajas Sanctuary (a Catholic church and pilgrimage site, as shown above), we took […]
Mindo, Ecuador and 45 Years!
We have explored most of Ecuador in past trips, but have never been to either Mindo or Tulcán. Since we were flying through Quito on our way from Panama back to Cuenca, we decided to spent a week in this part of the country. We rented a (highly underpowered…) car at the airport, and took off […]
The Magic Flute – Opera in Cuenca
We attended an opera tonight, Mozart’s classic fairy tale (Spanish version), The Magic Flute, where Evelyn’s Spanish teacher’s daughter, Estefani Ortiz, performed both in the youth chorale and aerial dancing. This is only the second opera performed in Cuenca, and was easily on the same level as we’ve seen at the New York metropolitan with strong […]
Cuenca Drone #1
I haven’t posted any new images since returning from our 3-month Europe/Asia trip in June. Partly from medical issues that came up, partly from “blog overload” and partly because I have been experimenting with a new toy. Evelyn bought me a Phantom 4 Pro drone for my birthday this year. Due to the difficulty of […]
Gualaceo Carnaval 2017
Vendors were selling food, cans of foam, and hats (including umbrella hats) Carnaval has traditionally been celebrated in various towns outside of Cuenca, so we decided to check out the Sunday parade in Gualaceo, about 45 minutes away. The parade was much larger than Cuenca’s, with some elaborate floats, performances by dance groups. There were […]
Cuenca Carnaval – Orquídea Parade 2017
Orquídea Cuenca 2017 was dominated by dancing and foam (from Burt Johnson on Vimeo). During our first Cuenca Carnaval in 2012, the city was practically deserted. In those days, Carnaval in Cuenca consisted solely of roving kids with squirt guns and occasional buckets of water from balconies overhead in El Centro. More events have been […]
Cuenca Carnaval–Foam Attack!
In recent years, Cuenca has celebrated Godparent’s Day with a foam party in Parque Calderon, in the center of town. Cans of foam (“espuma”) come out at 5:00, and the entire park becomes a slip-and-slide zone within minutes. In past years, we walked over to the parque later in the evening, when teenagers were in […]
The Russian Circus is in Town
The Russian Circus (Circo de Rusia) is in town this week for the Cuenca Independence Day celebration. We went to the Sunday matinee show yesterday, and had a grand afternoon. There were no animals (other than a small dog masquerading as a lion), however there was cotton candy, candied apples, popcorn, hot dogs and chili […]
Cuenca Independence Schedule 2016
This is a a quickie post to help out those in the Cuenca area. This weekend launches the 196th anniversary of the independence of Cuenca, Ecuador, and whole slew of events over the next couple weeks. You can get an electronic version of the official schedule by clicking here. It can also be read online […]