Cuenca Day 2

We ate breakfast at Windhorse Cafe again.  I really enjoyed their muesli, fruit, and yogurt!   Then we were ready to start walking again. We walked a few blocks to Park Calderon.  It's right in the middle of El Centro and is beautiful.  We wandered around, sat on a bench, and finally made our way into the tourist center.  Armed with a map we were ready for anything!  $10 got both of us on the double decker tour bus.  Here's what our ride looked like!

We think this is some type of courthose.

The Unfinished Church thru the trees of Park Calderon

 The yellow building is another church.

 The fountain in the middle of the park.  The also play low classical music there.

 These 8 trees are not indigenous.  They were a gift from a foreign government many years ago.

 An indigenous vendor in front of the unfinished church.

 Our double decker bus. $5/person

 Here ya go, Marla!  Indigenous baby wearing.

 Another picture of the unfinished church.  I think its beautiful.

 Gringos!

 There are 4 blue towers behind the church.  They can been seen pretty much anywhere in El Centro and many tourists use them to orient themselves.

 Jeff just can't get away from traffic!

 This Asian couple were very amusing.  Both had cameras and spent more time taking pics than enjoying the tour.

 Another beautiful church.  I think I read there are 52 churches in Cuenca.

 Ecuadorian Advertising?

 Obviously there is no electrical code here.  Wires are run everywhere.  There were a couple of times on the bus where we had to duck because of wires strung too low across the road!

 Condos and businesses in the newer part of Cuenca.

 Another indigenous woman.

 There were some beautiful homes with gorgeous gardens.

 Looks like a gas station in the states, doesn't it?

 500,000 people live in Cuenca and get to enjoy this view every day!

 The outside of this church was a little dingy but the inside was beautiful.

 Not real sure what these are but seem to be some type of offering.  Chicken feathers, bones, hair, etc.

 On the door entering the church.

The mall!!!

When we got back to Park Calderon it was time for lunch.  What do you have for lunch on your vacation?  Warm brownie with ice cream, of course!  Next up, the mercado!

They sell everything here! The veggies, fruits, pasta, dried beans I can handle but there was no way I could walk thru the meat market. The smell really bothered me. It didn't smell like spoiled meat. More like raw meat and a lot of it!

We wandered around El Centro for a while and finally went back to our room to rest.  Later we went out to eat but we have the same problem here that we do in Atlanta!  We can never decide where to go.  We finally wound up at Coffee Tree which is where we visited with the gentleman from Alabama yesterday. Back to our room for the evening.  Had a great day and am looking forward to tomorrow!