Quito, Ecuador - October 1st

On our second day in Quito we toured Old Town, the historic section of Quito. We walked to the Palicio Presidencial to watch the Changing of the Guards which happens every Monday. It was very ceremonial with a large orchestra and march around Plaza Grande Square by the guards in full regalia. The president of Quito stood on the balcony and waved to the crowd. The large crowd was chanting something about the president, we were wishing we knew what they said! We explored Old Town a bit more before lunch and visited some beautiful churches with amazing gold and turquoise ceilings. Unfortunately no pictures allowed! Our lunch at Vista Hermosa was recommended to us by our lovely concierge Theresa. Courtney, Alice and Jenny (from the UK) and I were awed by the amazing view of the city from our rooftop table. Everywhere we go in Quito we get stared at quite a bit, but our waiter was a little excessive - he kept walking into tables and dropping things he was staring at us four so much! It was quite funny. After lunch we explored La Basilica. It is a huge, very old church just outside of Old Town. There were lots of ornate spires, stained glass windows and a large courtyard to take pictures of. We climbed "stairs" up to the clock tower and bell tower. Except the stairs were actually a wrought iron ladder that went straight up 40 feet. The view was well worth it! And what do you know - I ran into a girl from my Biology program at UVic at the very top of the bell tower. It's such a small world!! Around dinner we met up with our tour group. There are 11 girls and 1 boy! Lucky him ;) It looks to be a very fun group with only us from Canada, and people from Germany, Norway, the UK and Ireland. We went out to a local restaurant with our guide, Luis, then hit up the Irish bar in town. All in all, a very good day!
-Lisa