Our first day in Quito after breakfast at our hotel (It is a great Hotel- Hotel Zen Suites) we went out exploring. Quito is at altitude 2815 meters or 9,200 feet so I got out of breath very easily. Every time we climbed a hill or stairs I huffed and puffed but we ended up walking probably 5 miles. The temperature was in the high 60s so it was a very pleasant day to walk.
Our first stop was the Quito Observatory. It was opened in 1864 and is the second oldest in South America. They have a wonderful museum of old scientific equipment.
We climbed the tower in the Church of Santo Domingo and got a great view. When we came down the guy who we paid to get in was at lunch and we couldn’t figure out how to open the door doer so we had to sit and wait in the garden until someone came along to tell us how together out! I love how the bell in the tower is hung with leather straps.
All the time we were in Spain and Portugal we never saw a yarn shop so when I saw this I thought of Barbara and had to go in!
For a late lunch we stopped at a restaurant on the historic street La Ronda. We ate on an open air second floor terrace. Duke had Cuy (Guinea pig) and I had potato soup! He said the Guinea pig tasted kind of like rabbit but there wasn’t much meat! My soup was great!
We ended our walking tour at the Plaza Grande and took a cab back to our hotel. Dinner was at Zao Asian Restaurant near our hotel. It was wonderful. We started with prawns then Duke had beef and tempura broccoli and I had a beef and vegetable bowl.
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