Travel Day 012 – Quito, ECUADOR
After a good night of sleep and some nice breakfast on the great roof terrace overlooking Quito, it was about time to explore the Old Town…
Monasterio San Francisco in Quito, Ecuador
My hostel had a little travel agency included in the same building, run by former travelers and they offered a free 3 hour walking tour through the Old Town. Even if I am not a big fan of tours in general, this was still a great chance for me to see a bit of the city and to meet some fellow travelers who also just recently arrived in Quito. Additionally being in touch with the travel agency made a lot of sense for me anyway, because I needed to figure out how to get a good deal for the Galapagos Islands… : )
Anyway, the city tour tuned out to be great and gave me a good overview of the Old Town with its nice colonial buildings and historic places. The history of Ecuador seemed quite interesting anyway, because it first used to be a province of Peru, with Lima being the administrative capital. Then Ecuador became part of greater Colombia as part of Simon Bolivar’s plan to create a liberated and united South America. After being only 8 years part of Gran Colombia, Ecuador finally became funny independent in 1830…
Today the colonial buildings showed an interesting blend of indigenous and Spanish culture. So most of the buildings we visited were arranged around a central courtyard, but they had the entrance plastered with animal bones. For me personally the combination of wood and stone, of columns and beams, of open space with fountains and of narrow cobblestone streets with historic buildings was just simply amazing. Also the intense sun in the altitude and the mountains in the background made this an absolutely great Arrival Day in Ecuador…
When I came back to the hostel, I spoke for a while to the travel agency downstairs and I narrowed it down to the seemingly best option. Booking through the hostel seemed the best idea, because I would have company from other hostel mates and waiting to book here in Quito was the best thing I could have done anyway. Because everything was last-minute now and because of the global economy crisis, all the sailing trips were basically 50% off, yay… : )
In the afternoon I went to my pre-arranged Spanish school to check-in for my Travelling Classroom. As it turned out, I was the only participant and so I would have one-on-one lessons for a week while travelling. Not quite knowing what to make out of it, I ended the day with some hostel mates who came to meet me in the New Town and we had dinner together on one of the open plazas while enjoying the nice weather… : )
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