Quito, Ecuador

Quito is a beautiful city, the centre of which is split into three main areas: the old town, new town and La Mariscal, which is an area linking the old and the new.  There are modern buildings such as you would expect of a capital city, but also old, historic buildings.  At this time of year, the days are hot and sunny, but the nights are still cool.

During our time there, we visited the National Museum of Quito, an impressive place which displayed many artefacts from Ecuadorian history, including from the small town of Validivia where I had volunteered at the aquarium.  There were different galleries within the museum, displaying ceramics and pottery, religious paintings and also a cartography gallery, showing old maps of how people believed South America really looked before there was modern technology to show otherwise.

Parque El Ejido

For a city, Quito is rather green, with several large parks.  We strolled around 2 of these, La Carolina and El Ejido.  There, people can relax in the sunshine or lounge in the shade under the large trees, take bike rides or play sports.  On a Sunday, many local people flock to La Carolina where they can partake in a salsa type exercise class - quite interesting to watch.

As with every other place we have visited, our sight seeing would not be complete without visiting a church or two.  The first was Catedral Primada de Quito, which these days is utilised more as a museum than as a place of worship.  It was majestic inside, with tall pillars, elaborate paintings and statues of religious figures.  The second was La Basilica, a building which was impressive and imposing through its gothic architecture.  It wasn't decorated extravagantly inside like many of the churches we have visited, but it was incredible nevertheless, with huge towers which we were able to ascend, Tom climbing right to the top (and wishing he had worn his brown trousers, it was so high).

View from the top, La Basilica

The area we stayed in was La Mariscal, popular with tourists and young wealthy Ecuadorians.  There are many bars and restaurants there, and it was in the main square that Tom and I ate some of the best tapas we have ever had - juicy king prawns, tender pork belly and marinated beef, all washed down with a couple of mojitos.


When our time in Quito came to an end, we travelled by bus to Tulcan, where we crossed the border into Colombia, marking the next stage of our journey in South America.