Beautiful Quito

We took the teleférico up to the top of the volcano to check out the view.



To the right of us was a large upright garbage can with a dog inside eating trash. Really sets the mood, I think.


Quito and the Galapagos were very high on my "We Must Go Here" list ever since I researched the city extensively for Sean's Olmsted application. We had to choose 10 places we'd like to live, literally anywhere (non-English speaking) in the world, and after endless hours on the internet and pouring through travel books, Quito was one of our top contenders, along with Buenos Aires and Santiago. We ultimately removed it before his final interview, but only because we decided to stick to potable tap water countries. I've been itching to see Ecuador since we arrived in South America.

Stepping off the plane in Quito, we felt the high altitude almost immediately. It's nearly double that of Denver, CO and even walking up several flights of steps caused us to catch our breath more than once. Luckily our kiddo is way more active than average--plenty of time to stop and smell the roses.

First impressions were that it is much less European and much more clean than expected. The city is so spread out, with houses and buildings spilling over mountains and valleys. The people are warm and friendly and the drivers there were exponentially better. Their Spanish took some getting used to, since we speak with a Porteño accent in Buenos Aires. It's kind of like having a Jersey accent in the US, minus the obnoxious fist pumping overly-tanned guido part. Argentines have different words for some Spanish items, which makes it a little confusing. Ex: Strawberry everywhere but Argentina is 'fresa', but Porteños say 'fruitilla' and pronounce it 'frou-tee-sha'.

We packed a lot into our time there, spending two days in the city and one on a day trip a few hours away. Teague's Spanish got a lot of attention and high pitched squeals, since Ecuadorians didn't expect a little blonde gringo to speak it. He enjoyed telling every single person that "we had to move from Arizona to Argentina because someone in Arizona moved into our house." We have explained that it's daddy's job, not our renters, that precipitated the move to Argentina, but for some reason he's stuck on that. Makes for a lot of lost in translation moments.


La Catedral de Quito


Old Town Square


"We live in Argentina because people in Arizona moved into our house..."


Our poor taxi driver got roped into taking this. Six photos later, he actually got all 3 of us and Mary in the shot.


Loved this church.


Clock tower.