It’s fitting that the day before Easter would fall the letter ‘Q,’ as Q is one of the most difficult letters, and I can only think of one place I’ve been that starts with Q: Quito, Ecuador! It fits that it’s near Easter as I spent Easter in Quito several years ago.
My brother and I were traveling around Ecuador after I had completed my study abroad semester in Cuzco, Peru. We had spent Semana Santa (Holy Week in South America/Spain) cruising the coast of Ecuador, from Guayaquil on up, and expected to find a rollicking party in the capital, as we had been swept up in a crazy parade in Guayaquil and had been warned by the inhabitants of the coastal towns that everyone went to Quito for the actual day of Easter.
However, we arrived to a silent city, being told there that everyone went to the coast to celebrate. Even our hostel was fairly quiet (which was okay by me, the party animal).
As Ecuador was so small, Quito ended up being sort of a home base as we traveled around to the mountains, the jungle, and the coast, and I stayed there on-and-off after my brother went back home. There are two main sections for tourists to stay in: Old Town, and New Town. New Town feels like any city, full of hip bars and restaurants, and is the place to go if you want to party. We stayed in Old Town during Easter, close to all the big attractions, and I stayed in Old Town always after that, because it’s beautiful and still fun, while being uniquely Quito.
Easter was my favorite day in Quito. We arrived in the morning off an overnight bus, showered in blessed hot water, attempted to find a bullfight (only to be told is wasn’t the season for that yet, as we arrived at a deserted stadium), and ended up going to a church service, in Spanish, at a huge, ancient cathedral. The cathedral, the Church of the Society of Jesus or la Compañía, is one of the most beautiful and distinctive churches in Quito. After the church service, it started to rain–as in downpour–but we headed to our dinner destination anyway: San Francisco Square for some traditional goat stew. My brother is much faster than me, but I ran behind him in the rain, and enjoyed that stew immensely, especially along with my hot cocoa.
(I was without a camera in Quito, as I took too many pictures of monkeys and mine couldn’t handle it anymore, so these are all courtesy of my brother or a disposable camera…)
A sunny(ish) Quito upon our arrival.
^me being oblivious in San Francisco Square.
^fancy a ride in a horse-drawn carriage, anyone?
^the beautiful church
^rainy Quito on Easter
^my brother, much more photogenic than me! especially in the rain.
^Hot cocoa in Ecuador just tastes better!
This is letter Q for the A to Z Challenge!
