Quito City Tour
Morning at the Marriott
Breakfast was served in the Botanica restaurant downstairs at the JW Marriott. It was a buffet with a good selection of breakfast foods, cheeses, meats and fruits. Janie wished there had been a selection of breads and J. R. pointed her to the huge area directly in front of her with breads and pastries where he had obtained the pain au chocolat on his plate. After breakfast, we went to the room and browsed the small selection of English-language shows and found a few episodes of the Big Bang Theory to watch. The TV was so old it had no HDMI inputs, so the Roku we brought with us would not work.
Around 9:30, we met in the lobby and were assigned to group 6 of bus 1. This worked out really well for us as we met Sandy and Rusty, Caren and Jean, Matt and Tuesday and Jo-Ann and Jim, who we would hang out with for much of our trip.
Basilica del Voto Nacional
Our guide Pedro took us first to the Basilica del Voto Nacional (Basilica of the National Vow). This is the largest neo-Gothic church in South America, with construction authorized by Pope Leo XIII in 1887 and starting in 1892. The first services were conducted in 1924 but the church was not blessed until Pope John Paul II's visit in 1985. The most prominent features of the church are its two frontal 377-foot tall towers and the series of gargoyles that represent animals endemic to Ecuador, including iguanas, tortoises, armadillos and condors.
The church has never been completed. According to local legend, it the basilica is ever completed, the world will come to an end. We did not go inside this church, but instead learned of it from outside. After Pedro spoke, we were surrounded by local hawkers trying to sell their goods to us, surrounded by local policemen, which was a little disconcerting.
Plaza de la Independencia
We climbed back on the bus, stopping next at the Plaza de la Independencia, the central square of Quito, featuring the monument to the heroes of the 10 August 1809 declaration of Ecuadorian independence from Spain. Around the square are the Carondelet Palace, the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Archbishop's Palace, the Municipal Palace and the Plaza Grande Hotel.
The first story Pedro told us was the significance of the rooster in Ecuadorian culture and the weather vane in the courtyard. There was a famous businessman, Don Ramon Ayala y Sandoval, who would get drunk everything and swear at the rooster loudly, proclaiming that he, the man, was the greatest gallo (rooster) in the city. One night, locals who tired of Sandoval's drunkenness attacked him in the square, claiming to be the gallo of the courtyard, which put an end to the man's drunken ways.
Next, Pedro told us the story of Gabriel Garcia Moreno, the President of Ecuador, who was assassinated in front of the Municipal Palace in 1875. He had been warned of the assassination attempt but walked home across the courtyard with only a single bodyguard. He was attacked with a machete and then shot with his last words being "¡Dios no muere!" ("God does not die!").
Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus
Our ABC (another bloody church, as a tour guide we had in Amsterdam had called these tours) tour continued as we walked down to the Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus (Church of the Society of Jesus). Construction began on this church in 1605 by the Jesuits but it took 160 years to complete. It is considered one of the finest examples of Spanish Baroque architecture in South America. The large central nave is covered almost completely with gold leaf, gilded plaster, and wooden carvings, above which are two green and gold domes in the vaulted ceiling. Flanking the church on either side of the entrance at paintings depicting Hell and the Final Judgment.
The symmetry of the baroque style even led the artisans to paint a spiral staircase on one side of the entrance to match the real staircase on the other side.
The Jesuits were expelled from Ecuador in 1767 and much of the gold plate was sent to the court of Spain. When the Jesuits were allowed to return in 1850, they restored the church. The church's tower was twice damaged by earthquakes in 1854 and 1868 and was not restored after the second quake. An another earthquake in 1987 caused structural damage and during the restoration process, a fire broke out, damaging the altar and leading to soot damage to the gold leaf. This has been restored, save for one angel in the dome near the altar which was left soot stained as a reminder.
Plaza de San Francisco
Our next stop was the Plaza de San Francisco, part of the UNESCO World Heritage site in Quito. After admiring the plaza, we entered the Iglesia de San Francisco, the first church built in Quito, starting in 1535. It was built on top of an Incan temple and its wide stairs were designed to force visitors to watch their step, keeping their heads bowed in reverence. The church combines Spanish baroque and Moorish designs and uses angels in the shape of the sun, a feature designed to draw sun-worshipping indigenous people into the Catholic faith.
The main altar features a sculpture of the Baptism of Jesus and another known as Almighty Jesus. The third sculpture in the middle is of the Virgin of Quito, seen as a winged angel. A larger version of this sculpture appears on a hill overlooking the city. This sculpture is not without controversy as the Virgin looks out over the richer Quito city, leading many poor Catholics to see it as the Virgin turning her back on them.
The edifice remains an active monastery and Catholic Church and mass was being conducted as we viewed the altar from the balcony. The courtyards surrounding the monastery were very beautiful with colorful flowers, statues and fountains.
Santo Domingo
We boarded our bus for our next stop, which was another church, but this time, it was not to visit, but rather for lunch. At the Plaza de Santo Domingo, we entered another monastery where a buffet lunch of Ecuadorian delicacies were laid out before us. We were served shrimp ceviche with popcorn and plantain chips, potato soup with cheese and avocado, sea bass, lamb stew, chicken and rice and a variety of desserts. We got to know our traveling companions as we feasted on our delicious meal.
At the Equator
The afternoon was spent on a bus ride to the Intinan Solar Museum at the equator. The true location of the equator in Quito is controversial. In 1736, a French expedition marked a spot believed to the location of the Equator line and the government of Quito built a large monument on the site known as La Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World). Officially, the government still considers this to be the official monument. However, GPS recordings have placed the true equator line to be north of this monument, which is where Intinan is located. However, even this may not be accurate as the rocky terrain makes an accurate reading impossible.
We started with a brief explanation of chocolate making, chocolate being a major export of Ecuador, before heading to take our photos on the Equator. We have now stood on both the Prime Meridian and the Equator, just not at the same time. Our guide showed us an example of the Coriolis effect where water spins in the opposite direction on either side of the equator. It was a neat parlor trick but the effect does not impact small quantities of water like this and the effect was based on the direction she poured the water. She also had Janie stand an egg on the edge of a nail, which was probably also a trick. We visited a diorama of Amazonian river life as well as discussed indigenous peoples lives in this area before heading back on the bus to our hotel.
La Gloria Restaurant
After some time to get refreshed, we were back on the bus to La Gloria restaurant for a wonderful dinner. Janie started with the mozzarella burrata and J. R. had the Ecuadorian ceviche, which is more of a soup than a standard ceviche. We both had the slow-braised veal shank for our meal and it was very good, as was the dessert sampler we were all served. Janie sampled a white Ecuadorian wine which she enjoyed.
We boarded the bus back to the hotel after dinner. J. R. bought a couple of sodas at the bar and then went upstairs to finish packing our luggage. We had to bring everything downstairs at 10pm so it could be taken to the airport for inspection by the Galapagos Agricultural Authority.
