Tourists for the day...

So, after a month away we have arrived back in the freezing cold, busy AF, noisy, aggressive city of Quito. That’s not quite true, most people are actually lovely here but aggressive sellers what I should mention and we have been warned multiple times of how dangerous it is here – WE ARE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE!

We arrived last night after 12 hours of traveling – yes, I can’t believe it either for a 2 hour domestic flight there is so much nonsense of public busses, and boats, and taxi’s and aeroplanes that by the time we arrived last night we collapsed.
​
Today however has been filled with fun. Kind of. We spent the morning sorting our lives out as the WIFI here at ‘Hostal Imperial’ is fantastic. I had 17 blogs to post and we have a bunch of new work.aways to apply for. This time round we are staying next to Plaza Foch or as it’s better known the party capital of Quito – why I booked it, I still don’t know… but the Hostal is pretty good.

We left around midday to take a 3km walk to ‘Mercado Central’ or Central market for lunch as we had read it’s great to try local food and it’s cheap – yes, it’s cheap. For stall after stall of some of Quito’s most traditional foods, this is the place to be nestled between Esmeraldas and Manabí.
​
Upon arriving at the market we were greeted with big smiles, lovely warm welcome from most stalls and then it was like a free for all of who could grab us first. Slightly concerning from 100 year old woman but still we eventually sat down, got a fresh juice and llapingachos ( fried potatoes and salad) for $2.50USD pp.

From there we strolled back into the old town – which I am simply in love with the colours, architecture and vibrancy and headed straight to the Basilica del Voto Nacional. The basilica is the most important work of neo-Gothic Ecuadorian architecture and is one of the most representative of the Americas. It is the largest neo-Gothic basilica in the New World. The building is noted for its grotesques in the form of native Ecuadorian animals such as armadillos, iguana, and Galapagos tortoises so I was dying to take a walk inside. It costs $2USD pp and I highly recommend it. The place is fantastic, filled with beautiful stained glass, stunning craftsmanship of the building itself and you can climb to not only the bell tower but another of it’s highest peaks – definitely not passing any health and safety rules for sure!
​
After that we went to the 6th floor where you can actually sit and have a coffee or beer in a beautiful little café overlooking the city! This was a great way to spend a cloudy afternoon when both of us wanted to just crawl back into bed. We have another free day here before heading to Quilotoa and then Brazil but I reckon tomorrow will be spent watching movies as we are both feeling a little under the weather with the altitude of Quito.