Ecuador: Quito Culture

Quito Culture

Michelle asks us to SPOT THE DIFFERENCE. She points up to the 8 white plaster cherubs adorning the length of the upper ledge of the simple pink painted building opposite the grotesquely ornate Jesuit church. We check out the chubby angels flying along the frieze until we reach number eight. He has a disproportionately large appendage between his legs aimed straight at the chapel door. The legend goes that the masons (builders) and the priests had a falling out and this 500 yearold plaster cast is an everlasting insult. We are walking down the Avenue of the Seven Crosses alongside Plaza Grande in Historic Quito with our lovely guide, Michelle. It's comforting to see that at 2800 metres altitude and with a 40 year age gap, she is also slightly out of breath. Old town Quito nestles in a cluster of hills so there are many steps and steep paths up and down all congregated around the Central Plaza. We are taken into the Bishops House which now houses coffee shops and handicraft ware. We see the Spanish influence in the Andelusian architecture where the central fountain is within an enclosed courtyard for both security and coolness. Our walking tour includes the fable of the missing stone in the San Francescon atrium, thus saving the soul of the stone mason. We hear about the story of the unfinished state of the 500 year old Basilica as completion will result in the End of the World! The imposing statue in comemoration of the winning power of the indigenous people's against the Spanish in 1809 stands tall in the middle of the Plaza. Each year on August 10 th parades and fiesta takes place in memory of the great battle. There are many artisan workshops still flourishing in old town Quito, one of which is the labour intensive 'plomer'. He bends and beats the tin metal into shapes for baking, cookie cutters, urns, churns and milk jugs by hand. We visit a shoe maker where I get my very old comfortable smooth Keen sandals re-soled in a non slip finish. One street of workshops sew made-to-order soccer shorts and shirts and another street craft beautiful wooden ornaments and masks. The brightly coloured headgear sports 12 bobbles in all the colours of the rainbow, plus more, representing the various gods of the indigenous people. The traditional female dress is a long dark skirt accompanied by a white blouse that is decorated with colourful floral embroidery. Finally a shawl is draped over the shoulder; right side for married and left for single. Michelle 's ancestry is mixed with an Ecuadorian father and Peruvian mother. She has exquisite aquiline features and very long straight black hair. Her college degree is in tourism and she speaks Spanish, English, French and Chinese. Three hours later we finish up with a traditional hot chocolate drink, spiced with fresh mango and blackberries. The fruit here is delicious and together with chocolate, coffee and roses, are a major Ecuadorian export . We say goodbye to Michelle and slip a 'voluntary donation' her way.

We've been in Quito for four very busy days, walking as much as possible to acclimatise ourselves and because our hotel room is so conveniently placed we let the motorbike have a rest. Brausch has new lenses fitted to his super light Titanium frames for a shockingly cheap 50$. We find an audiologist who sells him a pre-loved hearing aid for 20$ and we visit the dermatologist who treats a skin lesson for 60$.

All in all our short stopover has been satisfying medically and culturally.

By Thursday we are done with the chores and tours and ride out of Quito TWICE. It's a conglomeration of highways and bypasses and tunnels. We get it right the second time around and 10kms later before riding South on the big challenge to get to Ushaia for Christmas.