Quito Revisited

March 27th

When we visited Old Town Quito with our Celebrity group, it was a sunny Saturday, and all the indigenous Ecuadorian women and men were out in full force selling adorable paintings and scarves at every place we stopped.  We have returned to the old town and find it just as charming.  Unfortunately, the street vendors are no longer here.  They added to the ambiance of the city I thought.   Perhaps it is a weekend event, or possibly, when the tour buses come to town so do the vendors.   We are staying for two nights in a very charming hotel with old world appeal.  La Casona de la Ronda, a beautifully restored mansion originating in the 1730’s, gets the award for the most interesting and comfortable hotel in South America.  This three story home, with a typical open central courtyard, originally having a fountain, that was removed or destroyed sometime over the past 300 years.  According to lore, the original owner was quite wealthy and didn’t work.  Perhaps it was family money that kept him solvent. He used the home as a place to welcome clergy who were traveling through town, or who were waiting for a church to hire them.  I was told that the city is in the process of restoring many of the historic buildings in this town.  The street, La Ronda, is famous for being the oldest street in the city and one of the few that has all the buildings fully restored. 

The new owners of La Casona de la Ronda worked 3-4 years to restore this place to its current beauty and charm.  I am writing this blog from the common area that is decorated like a living room with a small wood burning stove that warms the place nicely.  When I look up from my computer I have a view of the patio where there is a wall of plants that goes up at least thirty feet.  It is filled with healthy hydroponically grown plants.  They also get the award for best breakfast, with warm croissants, eggs made to order, delicious frothy blackberry juice, and hot tea.  Everything, as you can see by the pictures, is just charming.  There is even a fourth floor, accessed by a winding staircase, that has an enclosed patio that overlooks the city, and the angel on the hill looks down on the hotel, offering a sense of protection, probably from the next volcano eruption.  There are large boulders jutting out of a wall or two that add to the decorative interest.  It is surmised by the current owner that these large rocks must have ended up here after the last earthquake.  

Old Town Quito, in spite of warnings to the contrary, is quite safe and friendly.  With all the stories we were told or read, you would half expect pickpockets and knife wielding bad guys around every corner and lurking behind all the grand columns in the center of town.  When we traveled with the Celebrity group, none of us were allowed to wander far from the group.  There was even a guard posted to keep watch over us.  In the two days Michael and I have wandered these streets alone, all we have encountered are beautiful people going about their business.  There are loads of parents picking up darling, uniform- clad children from school, Indian women, with babies strapped on their backs, selling apples and fruit, and many local people just shopping and going about their daily activities.  I think it is a shame that people from North America are fed such propaganda about the various places we have visited.  So far, we have found all the cities to be safe and welcoming.  We didn’t like Venezuela because it is a country that is in disrepair.  It is difficult to find anything charming about the places we went during our travels in Venezuela.  However, all the people we met, from cab drivers to our new friends on Isla Margarita, were very nice and did what they could to make our stay a positive experience.   I know that there are pickpockets out there just waiting to score (what town doesn’t have them?), but none of them have tried to score on us.  Perhaps we have been lucky, or perhaps we have just been careful and tried to appear confident in our movement on the city streets.  We don’t dress flashy or wear anything anyone would want to steal.  I left all my jewels (the one or two I own) at home, and my camera is never hanging around my neck to tempt anyone.  Even so, this is a city of people who appear to be just going about their lives, shopping for dinner, having lunch, planning a birthday party and buying a festive cake. 

Today we visited a museum where they have pre-Colombian art and relics on display.  Much of it is dated 1200 bc.  The museum is a beautifully restored two story home that also has a center courtyard.  We spent about two hours viewing the approximately 500 pieces of pottery and art that they have displayed in various rooms of the home.  We were forced to prolong our visit because, just as we were getting ready to leave, the skies opened up and it poured!  There was even pea sized hail that covered the courtyard, which soon flooded with water from the downpour.  Apparently this is typical weather in Quito.  It is sunny and warm in the morning and cool and rainy in the afternoon.  We didn’t care, as this gave us an excuse to linger longer in the museum shop and chat with the young saleswoman who had a very good command of English.  Michael loved asking her questions about how to improve his Spanish, and in exchange he helped her with some English words.  Then, upon her suggestion, we went to a restaurant that serves typical Ecuadorian food.   There was only one set menu for lunch.  No written menu, food was just brought to our table.  The place had no more than eight tables and a large flat screened TV.   The food was great and what a bargain!  The first course was a thick, hearty bean and potato soup.  Next we got a plate of red beans and rice, served with a thin cut of steak that was tasty but a bit chewy and delicious sweet fried plantain.  They gave us a sweet tomato juice that is an orange color made from a tree tomato, which is considered a fruit here.   Then we were served a tiny pastry.  I asked for hot tea to take off the chill and dampness of the day.  Our total bill came to $5.50.  Yes, $5.50 for both meals!  Come to Quito, where there are no bad guys that we could find, eat hearty local food, and stay in a restored historic hotel.   You will enjoy walking the safe colonial streets and meeting people in a place that oozes charm.