Cuenca, Ecuador by Mel

Buenos Dias,
We are in Cuenca in Ecuador. We came here from Ambato by bus.
As you can’t buy ticket online in south America, we arrived at the bus station, we thought early enough to catch a bus. Well, we were not early enough. We arrived around 8am. One bus was already gone, and the next one was at 1pm. We bought our tickets and waited and waited and waited a bit more! We read, played a made-up Pictionary game and read a bit more. The bus was late and left a bit before 2pm. The trip took 7 hours. It was long, but well, we managed.
Both kids were a bit sick in the bus but we are used to it now. A quick taxi from the bus station to our stay and we were in bed pretty soon after that.
Tuesday the 14th was our traditional finding a supermarket day and discover the surroundings. We did our shopping and found a market for fruit and vegetables. There were everywhere! We also found some food stall and the kids got some pork and apparently, it was delicious, one of the best according to Andrew. We walked around Cuenca for a bit.
A little bit of information about Cuenca. It is the third biggest city in Ecuador. It is believed to have be founded in 500AD by the Canari people, an indigenous population living in this area. Toward the end of the 15th century, the Inca took possession of the city and incorporate the Canari people and their knowledge in astronomy and agriculture.
The Inca built a grand city, called Pumapungo and was said to be second to Inca capital Cusco in current Peru. Unfortunately, the city was destroyed before the Spaniard arrived, it is believed it was done in purpose to not leave anything to them. In 1557, the Spanish started a settlement there and the population steadily grow since.
Nowadays, the city is flourishing and is a beautiful city to visit. The centre is a UNESCO heritage site with its multitude of churches, buildings and murals.
Now back to us: For dinner, we found a Japanese restaurant. We normally eat food from the country we are in, but the kids loooove sushi and have been bugging us for sushi for weeks now, so we caved in!
We walked in the street of Cuenca by night and we really enjoyed it. The buildings are a mix of Spanish influence and small Ecuadorian shops. The streets are pretty narrow (like one line streets). It has an atmosphere that I really enjoyed.
Wednesday we properly visit the place.
We started with the old cathedral which was built in 1557. Inside where massive bells, which unfortunately were never put up, as they were so heavy and no cathedral where big enough to have them! Across the old cathedral is the new one, build as the old one was not big enough for the growing population of Cuenca. The new one called, Catedral Metropolitana de la Inmaculada Concepción, was finished in 1975 and could accommodate 9,000 of Cuenca's 10,000 inhabitants at that time. The population is now much bigger. The cathedral’s towers were never finished as the architect who made the plan, did a mistake in its calculation and if the towers were built is it was planned, the foundations would not be able to carry the weight.
It is still a very impressive monument to visit. The 3 blue and white domes are a symbol of the city. You can go all the way up the towers and have a beautiful sight of the city. We had fun counting all the churches we could see and there are a lot!
After that we went to see a flower market. It used to be a big industry in Cuenca. Now that other cities are developing this industry, it is less so, but there are still a lot of flowers around. While we were walking, we found a small market, selling trinkets, so we bought Emma a necklace with a blue rock (I can not remember the name of it) and Andrew a small sword from One Piece (a manga Andrew loves!). We also saw an ad being filmed with a lot of women dressed in traditional very colourful clothes. It was nice to see.
The next visit was one of my favourites. We visited a toquilla hat shop/factory. You probably know those hats as Panama hat. They are not from Panama but from the area around Cuenca. The place we visited are making them all by hands. They are beautiful. In the museum you can see people making hats: weaving the toquilla straw, using machine to give them the form wanted, adding colours and decoration on it. The art of weaving the traditional Ecuadorian toquilla hat was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists in 2012. It was a really interesting museum. We really wanted to get some hats, but we knew they would get squished in our bags. So we did not buy any… very sad…
After a quick snack at the café from the hat museum, we walked along one of the rivers which flow through Cuenca, the Rio Tomebamba. It was peaceful and the kids loved it. We found a playground with swings, which the kids loved! I am amazed by all the murals in Cuenca. It feels like every wall has a big painting on it and they are beautiful. It makes the place so colourful. Add that to the openness of the place, with the low buildings and the mountains all around that you can see pretty much from everywhere, it is a fantastic place to spend time.
After that, we visited the money museum, to Andrew great pleasure! He loves money. It was a good museum, despite the fact that everything is written in Spanish (obviously), so we can’t understand everything. Kev has an app which you use your camera to hover over something written and it gives you a translation. It is not always efficient, but it helps! Andrew got some old Ecuadorian money as it is what he collects from each country. There was also a screen which took your picture and added it to a coin or a note (on the screen only: it would have been fun to be able to print it!). It was fun though.
After that full day, we walked back home enjoying the city, then a calm evening at ‘home’.
Thursday was cooking class day! We haven’t done one for a while, so it was time. It was taking place in a restaurant/coffee place. We were in the open kitchen in the area where other customer came to have food. I’m assuming they had another kitchen somewhere at the back, to cook for the customers. Our chef teacher was Kathy. We did 3 dishes: a starter, a main and a desert. We cut, mixed, cooked, fried, it was good. I am not a passionate cook, but I do like, when I am being told what to cut and where to put it and then eat a delicious meal. And the kids seem to like cooking class, so it is a bonus! The starter was “tamal de papa”, some mash potatoes mixed with butter, egg white and egg yok, cheese and other good stuff, rolled into a leaf and steamed. It was delicious!!! The main was “Camarones al ajillo con patacones y ensalada”: prawn in a delicious sauce with garlic, butter and parsley with plantain, green banana fried and salad. Again delicious! Even Andrew who is not a big fan of prawn enjoyed it. The desert was a traditional one called Nogada. It is like fudge we ate in Scotland: a lot of sugar and molasse (I think) cooked with butter for a long time. I loved it but I was the only one: too sweet apparently. It is strong, but I really liked it. We had fun and I love those experiences we do as family.
We got back home to rest a bit as we were planning on going out in the evening. Kev found a concert in a pub to raise money for a woman shelter. It is sad that it is needed, but it is, so we wanted to help.
Before going out, Kev and I had to do our taxes as we have been delaying it doing it but now it’s time! So that’s done! Off to the bar which was called Bistrot Yaku where a band made of expats were doing cover of famous songs. Cuenca is a city where a lot of expats come to live. It is a great city and I could see myself living there, so I get it! The evening was fun, even if we didn’t have a table so we sat at the bar: Andrew loved watching the barman doing a lot of cocktails. We listen to the music, had a few drinks and food. We even ended up dancing on a few songs. It was a great moment. We obviously donate some money to “Mujeres con Exito”, which translate as “successful women”. They are a shelter for women but also provided training for them to get a job and day care for their children while they are studying. I couldn’t find a link to donate to them online. But if you know a woman shelter near your place, maybe you can donate to them as it is unfortunately needed everywhere in the world.
Friday we went to visit another museum, which had different rooms with different themes: some was about modern artists creations: sculptures, paintings and installations. It is always interesting to see different influences and styles. We might not always understand it all, but it helps develop our creativity and the kids especially. There were also some artifacts found in the area where the palace created by the Inca was situated. It explained some of the history of the area. Again not speaking Spanish, we couldn’t understand it all, but we got some information. At the back of the museum are some Inca ruins (which we think are part of the palace) and a big park with Llamas, fish in ponds and birds. We had a nice walk there.
After a lovely lunch in a very pretty restaurant, we walked toward the modern art museum and it was closed for a few days to prepare for a big event coming!!! Great! We walk back to our place, did some blogging and rest.
Saturday we wanted to make sure that the bus experience from last time did not repeat. Waiting several in a bus station is not fun. So, we went to the bus station to check the time. We got told they were not sure buses will run Monday (the day we were supposed to leave) as there are protests blocking the road in the area we want to go. Great! What do we do? Are there buses tomorrow (Sunday)? Yes. Ok, so we will leave one day early. I make sure the place we book have availability for one more day for us: yes they do. Great, so we’ll be back tomorrow early, to get tickets as they don’t sell them in advance. We are sad to leave Cuenca one day early as we really like it here, but better go early than be stuck here for a while!
We went back home to pack. Then I found out about a free play/puppets things for kids, so we got there. It is set outside and has 2 actors, dressed clownish and a couple of puppets telling a story about rubbish bins (we understood a bit of it, but missed a lot). It was still fun and the kids cackled themselves a few times. We then had our last walk in Cuenca looking for live music, but we couldn’t find any that were not super late at night. We went back and went to bed early to be up early in the morning to get a bus.
We are going to Loja tomorrow, so we’ll see you there!
Mel.Read more