Quito Fun

We woke up in our same hostel Loro Verde again today and headed out for a day of fun in Quito. The goal was to hit all the sites that we wanted to see before 5 pm which is when many of them close down to tourists. By the end of the day, I think that we were all "churched out" and were pretty much done with Old Town in Quito.

The first stop was the Basilica. This is certainly the most spectacular site in Quito. It is a huge church at one end of the Old Town and overlooks the city. The interior is quite glamorous for a cement building, and the fun part is climbing up to the very tip of the bell tower and heading outside with not even a railing in front of you. It's a very very long way to the top and seemingly longer to the bottom when looking down. Of course, I did this alone since I don't think Ravi could hack the climb, but it was well worth the experience and the view of the whole town.

Plaza Grande is the main plaza in the center of town. During the night time, the churches around the area look amazing, and during the day, the place is always packed with people. It was a great people watching opportunity and Ravi had a chance to take hundreds of shots of "people with character".

We also checked out the Virgin Mary Statue on a small hill called the Panecillo which was across Old Town from the Basilica. You have a great view of the city from the top, and are pretty much at eye level to the top of the Basilica.

We also checked out the Palace of the Governor. The line to get in it was ridiculous and the tour was not that great, but it was still quite a fun place to be.... right in the center of politics in Ecuador.