Corpus Christi started today, and not many places celebrate it as largely as Cuenca, Ecuador. Also known as Septenario, this was originally an indigenous celebration of the June Solstice, but was co-opted by the Catholic Church in the 1600’s and turned into a Christian event. One of the highlights for many is the booths filled […]
Wooden Car Race
Today, April 12, is Foundation Day in Cuenca, Ecuador. The city was founded 458 years ago, and there are celebrations of various types for the entire month. Last night we saw one of the largest fireworks displays from our apartment window that we have seen since arriving here. Today, there was a “Wooden Car Race” […]
Carnaval Night Parade
Music and Dance were again a major part of the night parade. The children and the congo line were new tonight We wound up our week in Ambato by watching the Monday night parade. We were surprised to discover there were two parades. Yesterday’s daytime parade, and then another one tonight, called Ronda Nocturnal. We […]
Ambato Carnaval Parade
The numerous floats looked like they came out of the Rose Bowl Parade, created almost entirely of fresh flowers and fruits We are spending the week in Ambato, Ecuador to see a different kind of Carnaval than we have had in Cuenca for the past couple years (where the week is a snoozefest punctuated by […]
Toro!
For decades, we have wanted to see a bullfight. Not that I endorse cruelty to animals, but I do like seeing different cultures and their customs (the USA ain’t the arbiter of morality to the world…). Though we have been in Mexico at least 50 times, plus to Spain and other Latin American countries, but […]
Ambato Prepares for Carnaval Parade
We spent today exploring Ambato, seeing the city prepare for the big parades of the next two days. We started up by having a taxi take us to “that big Ecuador flag up on the hill.” We discovered that it is the “parque de la familia” and is an educational park intended to attract family, […]
Carnaval Ambato
Flambé dinner our first night in Ambato It took us 12 hours of driving yesterday to end up at Black Sheep Inn — an isolated vegetarian eco-lodge that had gotten rave reviews. Suffice it to say that our reviews were not as high, and that we left early to arrive in Ambato today… We have […]
Carnaval La Merced
As usual, the kids were the center attraction of these parades Today starts off Carnaval week in Latin America. Cuenca has always been a snoozefest in past years, but the government is now trying to encourage tourism and this year has some “first time” events planned. We heard a band playing outside our condo this […]
Another Niño Parade
The parade was led by roughly 30 horses, most with children riding in costume. Christmas eve has the biggest Pase de Niño parade (click here for our 2012, 2013 and 2014 Christmas parade posts). Between then and Carnival though, there are a series of smaller Niño parades put on by various church congregations and neighborhoods. […]
Another Inocente’s Parade
Food vendors were the first to set up, and kept the audience fed all night. This is our third year attending the “Día de Los Inocentes” Parade in Cuenca. It seemed this year was a bit more subdued than last year (2014), which was our favorite so far. You can also see our first year […]