Arrival!

We have arrived, and it has been quite an eventful few days in Quito thus far.  We actually landed late Sunday night, and it was an interesting experience--since the entire city is surrounded by mountains, it's a pretty difficult airport to land in, but our pilot seemed aware of this and our landing was smooth enough.  As expected, it was a bit chilly, though nothing like the New England winters (or even springs) that we are used to!  Since it was late, we went to our hotel, which is absolutely GORGEOUS, and pretty much went straight to bed, even though we were excited to be in a new place.

The next morning we woke up and were really able to see the beauty of Quito--it is surrounded on all sides by beautiful green mountains, some of which reach 5000 meters (more than 14,000 feet)! The city itself is in a valley, but still rests at a solid 10,000 ft (3000meters, to be exact).  Everywhere you go, you can see mountains...it's absolutely breathtaking.

Yesterday we had the opportunity to ride the teleferiQo, which is a cable car that takes you up to a small area in the mountains, near the summit of some to the south of the city.  The views from pretty much anywhere around here were AMAZING, and extremely humbling.  Never in my life have I been at such high altitudes, and the city looked so small and peaceful from up so high.  (see pictures above) However, the effects of the altitude were even higher up here--we werea little bit out of breath after walking up a very small incline.  There was a little tourist area at the top that offered photos, a small cafe, and an oxygen bar, all of which we decided to try out.  It turns out that you can choose flavors to scent the oxygen you're breathing in, but I couldn't smell any of them, even though Ben and Karol had no problem.  It was an interesting experience, to say the least.  Then we had some crazy souvenir photos taken and enjoyed some coca tea (supposedly to help with altitude adjustment) and headed back down. 

Next, we had a traditional Ecaudorian lunch: Fritadas!  Basically this meal consists of fried pork, a type of corn called Mote, and an assortment of plantains and potatoes and a cheese empanada.  Ben and I thought it was absolutely delicious, though I thought it was a bit heavy and wasn't especially hungry for the rest of the day.  Then we headed for the Centro Historico (Historic Center) of Quito, which to me looked very similar to many parts of Spain--all of which makes sense, since the Spanish Conquistadores founded Quito in the 16th century.  It was incredibly beautiful, and there were quite a few churches as well, all ornamented luxuriously with intricate gold details.  We then got to visit a cathedral a little further away, but it was totally worth it.  As my father has already pointed out, it bears a strange resemblance to Notre Dame in Paris, and was beautiful, especially with the stained glass windows in the afternoon sun.

After that, we rested at the hotel for a bit and then headed to la Ronda, a street in the Centro Historico known for its charm and for small cafes and restaurants.  We tasted Canelazo, a traditional Ecuadorian drink (delicious, by the way--tastes similar to a thicker version of hot apple cider) and then went to a restaurant called La Ronda, which is actually in another part of town.  Ben had another traditional Ecuadorian beef meal called churrasco, and I had pollo al vino blanco (chicken with white wine sauce).  Both were very good, but I wasn't very hungry, as we'd already eaten a lot earlier in the day.

Today has been spent preparing our presentations for tomorrow, when we have the conference.  We plan on taking a break by going for a dip in the (heated) pool (temperatures are around 60-65--beautiful weather but not quite warm enough for swimming by normal standards).  Update to come soon!

-Brenna