The Long Ecuadorian Adventure: Tuesday

For most of the year, Dana and I wake-up very early each morning - including most weekends. On this vacation, one of our goals was to sleep LATE. Today we were successful! No phone calls or text, no going to the barn, or no dog needing to go out. I can't remember the last time we slept past 9am. It was nice, but in a country on the equator, daylight is almost exactly 12-hours. So when you don't get outside until noon, the day is literately half over.

Last night we attended a concert by the all-male Glee Club from Walbash College in Indiana. They are on summer tour in Ecuador. The concert was held in an old cathedral, providing an excellent setting, both acoustically and aesthetically.

Club Glee from Walbash College

The Cathedral was a Beautiful Setting

Painting on the Cathedral Wall

Cathedral Ceiling

We really didn't have a plan today. So we decided this morning to walk to SuperMaxi, the big grocery store in Cuenca. We had read that they have the highest prices in Cuenca, but you can find just about anything you want, including some brand-name products from back home for those people who are craving Jif peanut butter or Kraft macaroni and cheese.

On the way to SuperMaxi is a nice park with a Planetarium. Here are some of the sites:

After walking down these steps to the river, we decided to take the bus back to the apartment

One of the four rivers flowing out of the mountains through Cuenca

One of the many nice parks in Cuenca

Park employee using a homemade broom to sweep

Statue honoring Ecuador's only Olympic Champion - a Race Walker

The Orange Ball is the Planetarium - didn't go in, a school class was visiting

Met the Enemy at first glance at SuperMaxi - Preprint Shrink

But there were some paperboard cartons on the shelf

And they were from my company - Graphic Packaging!

We caught a bus back to the neighborhood where our apartment is located. It is .25 a person to ride anywhere in town. It's just an adventure since there are no published bus schedules. I guess the locals just know the bus routes. All we have are some outdated routes off the internet. But Bus #16 still goes through El Centro and we made it back with no problems.

Since we got a late start today, we didn't eat lunch until 2:30pm. You can't walk two blocks without passing half a dozen places that offer almuerzos. Today, we chose one at random walking back to the apartment.