The Bogota airport is really big and pretty nice.
The weather was overcast, but we really couldn't tell what the temperatures were like.
At 8:15 am we hopped on our third flight, from Bogota, Colombia to Quito, Ecuador. Steve and I both fell asleep before the plane even took off, and slept peacefully until we smelled the breakfast cart about 30 minutes into the trip. They served ham and cheese breakfast sandwiches and a beverage of our choice, which of course at this point was coffee. We have been awake for 26 hours with a few attempted cat naps, so coffee is a very welcome commodity. I really don't understand how people can sleep in airports and on planes. I close my eyes and rest, but am typically just not capable of sleeping. The distance to Quito is much shorter than to Asia, but our flights were very broken up, so it still took a lot of time, and any sleep we might have tried to get was interrupted each time we landed, making only a few cat naps possible.
We are once again doing a tour with Gate-1 because we love the organization of the company and the number of sights they provide with their trips. We landed in Quito at about 10:00 am and made our way through immigration which was very easy. As we made our way out of the immigration area our Gate-1 tour guide Giovanna was waiting for us.
She escorted us outside where a 15 person van was waiting to take us to our hotel. Giovanna is the woman in the green behind us.
There were a total of eight people that came in on our flight, the six of us and another couple from Indianapolis, IN, Lei and Derek. They had been on all of our flights since we boarded in Miami. It was about an hour drive from the airport to our hotel. We stayed at Hotel Quito, right in the heart of the city.
Lobby was beautiful with views of the valley below.
We got settled into our rooms before heading out on the town for the day.
Views of Quito. I love all the colors!
Giovanna helped us get checked in at our hotel and made sure we knew where to find restaurants, etc. then left us to explore on our own. She warned us that this is a busy time of year in Quito because of all the Christmas parties, and this being Friday night, it would be even busier. We told her we would like to try some authentic Ecuadorian food for dinner, so she helped us get a reservation at a little restaurant called Mama Clorinda, that we would be able to walk to. We all took quick showers and then headed out on foot to explore the town around our hotel. Hotel Quito is located in the modern part of the city, surrounded by shops, restaurants and a lively city vibe. The front of the hotel faces Quito, and the back of the hotel overlooks the beautiful valley below.
We headed out of the hotel and took a left, looking for somewhere to eat a quick, light lunch.
It didn’t take us long to find a little place called El Senor. There were no Americans in El Senor, but there were a lot of locals, so we decided to give it a try.
We walked in and the dining room was pretty full, so they took us upstairs where they had an even bigger dining room. A few of the tables upstairs were full, but there was plenty of room for the six of us.
The appetizers were a bowl of fried plantains and popcorn. Interesting, but fun and good.
We ordered off the menu by pointing at what looked good, and ordered three entrees, a fried fish plate, a fried shrimp plate and an Ecuadorian fried rice with boiled shrimp and fresh avocado.
We split the three plates so that we could try all of the food. It was all very good. The fresh avocado on the Spanish rice plate was huge, and the perfect ripeness. We all decided that this is definitely a place we would come back to. We had a bit of a language barrier, even with our girls knowing some Spanish (they are pretty rusty at this point), but the wait staff was very patient and did a great job making sure they understood what we wanted. Here's to the start of what should be a great vacation!
And look at these plates of yummy-ness!
But don't be fooled by the facade, their power lines rival those of Asia. How do they ever keep this all straight?
This is a restaurant with a beer bottle Christmas Tree. Very festive!
Time to reapply sun screen. The sun is very intense here!
As we were walking back to our hotel after our adventure, we tried to take it slow and easy because of the altitude. We really hope that no one experiences altitude sickness on this trip. We definitely notice that the air is thinner than we are used to and makes us move a little slower. The kids are used to higher altitude than we are, but their homes in Colorado are still only about 5,280 feet above sea level, so this is still a lot higher than even they are used to. We returned to the hotel and took a while to explore the beautiful grounds.
The back of the hotel faces the valley below, with beautiful grounds and great views.
It is so humid here that all of the trees have other plants growing on them. It is something that we just don't see at home. It is really beautiful and crazy!
There is a fence on the border of the hotel property to keep you from falling off the steep cliff, which gets in the way of the view, but non the less, it is a spectacular view.
If you get creative, you can get above the fence line for some better pictures.
The grounds are very green and lush and fun to explore.
After our walk, our oldest daughter and her husband weren’t feeling very well, so they went to lay down for a while and lack of sleep was catching up with the rest of us, so we went looking for coffee. The hotel directed us to a little place about two blocks to the right of the hotel called Lima Bistro, so we headed up there. The boys each got a cappuccino and our youngest daughter and I got a macchiato. Both were very good and the caffeine gave us the little kick we were all looking for. The place had really cute decor.
And good coffee too.
We returned to the hotel feeling a little bit more awake. The kids decided to take a hot tub and Steve and I enjoyed the sights and sounds of the lobby while we waited to leave for our 6:00 dinner reservation at Mama Clorinda.
We enjoyed exploring the city again as we made our way to the square where our restaurant was.
We reached our restaurant a little early, so we headed across the street to browse at the goods the vendors were selling in the square.
When we got back to the restaurant, they had a table waiting for us up stairs, and upstairs meant climbing a winding staircase made for Ecuadorian people, not tall Americans, so our daughter's boyfriend had to really duck as he made his way up. But he didn't mind.
When we got upstairs to our table, we had a fabulous view of the square.
And the sunset!
While we were waiting for our dinner, our youngest daughter's boyfriend showed us his purchase from the square.
And then dinner was served. Our waiter was great. He loved talking to us and trying to fill in the gaps where our Spanish failed us.
Empanadas are very poplar in Ecuador. They come filled with everything you can think of.
We called this magic sauce. We found out later it is called Aji sauce, but it makes everything taste better and is available in every restaurant.
Outside the window opposite the square, they were having a Christmas Symphony, so we enjoyed great Christmas music while we ate. We really enjoyed being in this part of town for dinner, and it was only about a 15 minute walk from our hotel.
As we made our way home after dinner, the fog slowly rolled into the city. By the time we got back to our hotel, the condos across the street were hidden by the clouds. It was a beautiful sight to see.
