"To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – Bill Bryson
Finally took a moment to sit down today to take everything in. The last 48hrs went by so fast. Night before last, I met up with Merika, Becca's friend and we went to a local bar and enjoyed a funky jazz band that I totally dug. It was good to experience here, what I normally enjoy at home.
Yesterday, I joined another hostel's historic walking tour and was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed walking through areas with the group that I wouldn't have had the courage to go on my own, but now having been there, see that it's fine. In particular, there's an old market that locals visit to buy produce, meat and flowers, and they also have a food court area. It was unbelievably authentic. I bought a blackberry and guanabana juice as we were passing through and then returned back after the tour to eat lunch. I ventured out of my comfort zone and ordered the fish stew with popcorn on top and was surprised that I liked the taste.
While on the tour, I met Sarah, who's a teacher from Colorado. We found out we had a lot of commonalities and ended up hanging out the rest of the day and then again all day today. It was nice to have someone to venture around with. I brought in knowledge of the things and areas I'd visited already and she contributed knowledge of the transit system as well as had 3G on her phone- nice combo for us.
To cap off the night, we went to a local brewery and then came back to the hostel where we joined a few of the guys and watched UFC on tv. It was an entertaining evening getting to know everyone and hear their experiences, while sharing food and drinks together.
Even after two late nights, Sarah and I got up early to make the most of her last day here. We went to the Basilica so she could enjoy the sane views I loved. We then spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out the best way to get to a highly recommended museum. We walked some, tried catching a bus, and finally ended up grabbing a taxi. The museum was on the famous Ecuadorian painter Guayasamim. He had a style similar to Picasso but much darker and full of pain. After touring the museum, we went next door to tour the home he lived in while he was alive. It was gorgeous and unlike the typical Ecuadorian home. It had terrific views of the city, which gave him inspiration. We were also able to view the Cotopaxi Volcano since the skies were so clear.
On the way back to town, we encountered so much street art that we both enjoyed photographing since Sarah also enjoys capturing street art photos.
At this moment, we are sitting down to enjoy a cup of coffee and a cute cafe inside the tourist district. This is my first cup since I've been here and it's much appreciated.
One last memorable point- yesterday, as we were heading to the artisanal market, we were passing through a park full of food and craft vendors. Just as we are passing a group, they all abruptly shut their umbrellas and immediately dumped everything on their carts and starting running away thwart the inside of the park. As the chaos ensued, we realized that the cops were coming and they were about to be ticketed for not having a license to sell. That 30 seconds of chaos was a but frightening and then when we realized what was going on, we laughed.
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