Well, the day was wonderful and we went to an inactive volcano where we were able to view a small valley that had farms. It was very quaint and interesting to see the effects of fertile farmland that used to be an active volacano!
Then we went to eat at an Ecuadorian home. The family was wonderful and the food was excellent. I thought perhaps I would lose some weight while walking and hiking but with food like this, I doubt that is possible.
Then we went into the center of Quito and looked around the middle of the town square. We were able to go into the Presidential palace -just the main portico area. It was interesting. The area was crowded with people watching a show with two actors entertaining. I have no idea what they were presenting, but it was drawing a crowd.
I will write more and include pictures later.
We are headed to dinner now and then tomorrow we leave for three days in the Amazon Rainforest. I have to take only a small backpack! It will be an adventure and I will not be able to post for awhile.
Velma
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Howdy - we just got back from a day of touring and have alittle bit of time to email. The hotel here in Quito has free internet - so it seems that everyone in our group is taking advantage of the service. We leave tomorrow for the Amazon Rain Forest - so - I am sure we will be out of touch for the next 3 days. We had a wonderful buffet breakfast this morning - mango, papayas, pineapple yum! We also tried a passion fruit - alittle bit funky but we managed to eat that as well! I had cheese and sliced ham for breakfast while most of the rest had eggs and cereal. Then we left on our tour. I think the highlight was the home visit. The home belonged to the owners of a museum that we toured. The young daughter (age 25) spoke pretty good English and was a great hostess. Their home was very lovely - the house reminded me alot of Aunt Thelmas in many respects. They had one bedroom built on a slanting floor - kind of weird.... The food was delicious. We had a chicken soup and homemade bread. The bread was excellent ' very flaky. The main course was chicken with a mushroom gravy, a red cabbage salad, broccoli and carrots, and mashed potatoes. Then desert was vanilla ice cream (their ice cream comes in tubs that look like whipped cream) with a fruit sauce - I don´t remember the name of the fruit but it was similar to a star fruit. We have all already done some shopping. Our guide stopped on the road and picked up a native girl with her 3 yr old daughter. She had hand paintings on dried llama leather. Really neat - I bought some of those. Our last stop of the day was a little restaurant where most of the ladies had hot chocolate with brandy. I thought of Frieda and told everyone that she would have loved it! Tonight we go to a restaurant on a hillside and apparently will have a very nice view of the city. So far we haven´t seen any rain, but they say it does rain almost every day. Oh and one more thing before I sign off. Last night when we drove from the airport to the hotel - the city was having a celebration. December 6th is an important day in history - I believe something to do with the Spaniards, etc. Sorry - I´ve already heard alot of stories. Anyhow people were EVERYWHERE partying, dancing, singing, bands playing, sirens go off, etc. And our hotel is located on one of the main party streets. So.... First our bus could only get within about 2 blocks of the hotel ' so we walked through the crowds which was an experience. And then - of course since we were so close - the noise was VERY loud until about 5am in the morning. Needless to say - almost everyone in our group got very little sleep last night. Except one lady who is from Philadelphia who swears she didn´t hear a thing. Crazy! Tonight we vowed to take our sleeping pills and should sleep soundly. Now I know that Chris and Brent would have gone right out there and partied with them. But our guide actually recommended that we didn´t because of all the drinking going on and being tourists, etc, he said it would not be a good idea. Everyone heeded his advice. We do come back to this hotel after the Amazon ' so I should be able to check in when we get back from there.
This is from Julie...Marcia´s sister.
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