Quito, Ecuador. Wednesday August 9th 2006

Technology is wonderful. I seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time trying to upload photographs etc for my students to access. It is really difficult conducting this project without a computer, but it is also great fun.

It is a lovely morning here in Quito...I await the day´s adventure.

After breakfast at my hotel...and I would recommend it to anyone. It is the Eugenia Hotel and it is not only comfortable, it is very friendly and has a family atmosphere; I hit the road. Quito feels truly South American set amongst spectacular mountains.

I believe that the only way you can get to know anywhere is to meet the locals. Not for me the closeted atmosphere of the taxi...it's time to hit the streets, get lost, meet the locals and see life.

I finally find my way to the offices of G.A.P. Adventures (my sponsor tour company) and I am made most welcome.

After introductions and some work on the website, I am off to explore Quito. Outside in the street I hail a taxi and ask the driver to take me to the Plaza Grande. On our way from the New into the Old Town we pass a pro-Israel demonstration with only two or three dissenting voices also protesting.

The driver suggests that we "vamos Panecillo". I have never heard of Panecillo but he assures me that we should "Vamos Panecillo amirar bonito. Piden apoyo paz"...which roughly translated means..."let´s go to Panecillo to look, it´s very pretty. You need some peace".

I decide to take my chances. What´s life if its not an adventure and he seems trustworthy enough...so we head off up into the hills. It is an experience and the area feels truly South American with colourful, well kept and dilapidated houses around us. There are lots of old style US cars and I even get to see my first hearse drive past playing loud rap music as the driver grooves along.

I discover (from my pigeon Spanish) as we make our way through the Tunel de San Juan and then the Tunel de San Roque and then the Tunel de San Diego, that my driver´s name is Pabien.

You really need to have faith in people and wandering off into the hills that surround this city in the valley; the cars, the people, the walls and even the sofas for sale in the street are colourful. Police blowing whistles or directing traffic in face masks (to protect against the pollution...you simply cannot paint a picture of such colourful chaos).

It is a bumpy drive up El Panecillo, the hill is known as the little bread loaf. As we climb you get to see just how large this city is as it climbs up into the surrounding mountains. La Virgen de Quito was inaugurated in 1975 and it has a halo of 2.6 metres in diameter.

From El Panecillo you can see the Museo Libertad Heroes Batalla Pichincha which also commands great views. However it is only open on February 27th.

I discover on returning to the office that I did the right thing getting a taxi up to the statue. You can walk up the steps from the García Moreno, but I am told this is a hot spot for robbing tourists...That said, I am also informed that my return trip should have cost $10 and not the $30 I was charged.

This is precisely the lesson I was giving on Monday night in my business lecture.
Do your research...in this case I left something to chance.

Now in the Plaza De La Independencia (or Plaza Grande to the locals) I set about exploring the Church of El Sagrario. This highly ornate building is rich in gilt with the most beautiful dome that cannot help but inspire.

As I sit in this church I enjoy the reciting of the Rosary and the most beautiful of hymn singing.

In the square they are preparing for a symphony tonight and so I make my way to the Palacio del Gobierno (the beautiful Presidential Palace)...it is a shame that its opposite number across the square (the municipal offices) is such an ugly building...although softened by the white wash.

The former Palacio Arzobispal (Archbishop´s Palace) is now restaurants and retail outlets.

I eat in a covered courtyard inside this palace at Cafê Del Fraile and try Ecuador´s version of the Caipiriña.

My second brush with con-men comes here. The waiter attempts to fiddle the bill. Maybe he assumes I don´t understand dollars (I lived and worked in the USA). Maybe he thinks after a Caipiriña I am drunk...or maybe he is just chancing his luck.

He pretends not to understand my complaint. I stand my ground. One thing for sure, my brain is an instant calculator...ask any students from my Maths class (isn´t that true Emily & Co). Eventually he agrees in perfect English that he has made a mistake...but only after I write down all the figures and threaten to call in the police.

One thing of note today is that there are icons everywhere. On walls and in doorways etc.

After walking around so much today my feet are blistered...a night on the computer me thinks!

As I work late into the evening on the computer, a rather rude American gentleman makes so much noise around me to show that he wants to access this computer that I offer to let him use some of my time. The only thing I ask is that he does not close my files...the first thing he does, of course, is to close my files!