Quito and The middle of the world

Quito had a difficult start for us. :-$
We arrived at the southern terminal, and took two terribly crowded busses that would bring us to the home of friends of Isa's parents (Isa's parents had lived 2 years in Quito). a rather unpleasant trip when Isa noticed that somebody had stole her iPhone when we managed to get out of the bus. Therefore we won't be able to post Isa's fabulous pics ;-)

After spending hours blocking the sim-card changing passwords and cutting access rights, we actually had no nerve to explore the city further this day.
the next day, comforted with breakfast by Roxy, Ivan and their son Hadid we started exploring the old town of Quito. Despite the disastrous first impression, Quito indeed is an extraordinarily beautiful city, especially the old town, which is UNESCO world heritage, together with Roxy and Hadid, we discovered the beautiful colonial streets, plazas and churches.
Pamela, a friend and colleague from Ulf's time in the Andean region took the tourist guide night shift, and showed us the beautifully illuminated old town by night, and took us for drinks on the hill over the city with incredible view over the valley. the next day Pamela picked us up again and took us to the pride of Ecuador,the monument of the Equator which passes only 30 meters north of Quito. Although being touristy, we enjoyed it a lot, took the obligatory standing-in-two-hemispheres-photos, went to several museums and had delicious ice-cream (traditionally handmade, fruit juices turned into ice cream with the help of glacier ice from the volcanoes) . After that we enjoyed the afternoon with our host family and a delicious barbecue prepared by an Argentinian friend. after all, we enjoyed Quito. Despite the loss of the iPhone, Roxy, Ivan, Hadid and Pamela saved the day and made an excellent impression for their city.Read more