I don’t mean to be dismissive of Quito. I actually quite enjoyed the time we spent there. And it’s definitely got a lot of unique aspects. But, after having spent a bunch of time in Lima over the previous decade as well as visiting a number of other places around Latin America, we concluded that it felt kinda like “just another Latin American city.”
That said, the location of Quito is actually pretty amazing. Like Peru, Ecuador features quick transitions from the coast to the mountains to the jungle as you head from west to east. Quito is located in the highlands, nestled in a valley surrounded by volcanoes. Some are right there, with houses (and eventually farms) ranging up the mountainside. Some are farther away, with views of the monstrous Cotopaxi available on clear days.
Before I go on, I should pause to explain…
Jessica and I were actually in Quito three times this summer. We flew there in mid-June, spent a few days there on our own and then were joined by our friends John and Annie Rose for another day or two. [Side note: I often shorten their names to JBAR (that’s for John Baranski and Annie Rose Stathes) since I used to call John “JB” sometimes and he often calls Annie Rose “AR.”] After we traveled with JBAR for a week (see future post!) we swung back through Quito for an afternoon so they could catch a flight in the evening. Jessica and I then traveled elsewhere in Ecuador for another few weeks (more future posts!) before returning to Quito for another couple of days before heading down to Lima (which I already posted about). So, just realize that this is a mash up of three separate visits, sometimes with friends joining us and other times without.
Now, back to our regular scheduled babbling…
So, yeah, Quito is hilly.
As demonstrated by the hike up to Itchimbia, a park with a great view.
Sadly, we didn’t get to ride the “teleferico” up to the top of one of the surrounding hills for views and hiking. We planned to do it on our last swing through the city, but a few days earlier the power had gone out on the chair lift, stranding people for hours until rescue teams helped them rappel down to the hillside. So, no Quito mountain views for us.
The hillside neighborhoods in Quito were interesting. In some places they were obviously poorer, a common feature of Lima, Mexico City, and other places in Latin America. In these places, the farther you are from the city center and easy mobility, the fewer services are available and thus the poorer the people who are forced to live there. On the other hand, there were other hilltop neighborhoods in Quito with high end apartments and houses perched on the edge of cliffs. This was more reminiscent of San Francisco or Berkeley, where elevation provides a great view and thus is a status symbol. So, “just another Latin American city,” but with a bit of a twist.
Like most Latin American cities, there is a colonial era center of town with many lovely preserved buildings from past centuries. The centro historico in Quito is fairly extensive. In the heart of it is a lovely “plaza grande” which isn’t actually all that big, but is beautifully divided by plantings into a number of small sections where families and friends can gather without all being in one giant crowd. On one side is the Cathedral (gorgeous), on another the Presidential Palace (nice), next to that, the Archbishop’s Palace (now a mall), and on the fourth side, the City Hall (which is sadly a hideous late 20th-century creation).
The steps of the Cathedral served as a bit of a gathering space. We saw a political gathering there, several comedian/clown situations, and even an Andino Rock concert.
We took a tour of the Cathedral, built originally in the 16th century. The inside was pretty, though nothing terribly exciting. The most interesting part was the tomb of Mariscal Antonio Jose de Sucre, a hero of the Ecuadorian struggle for independence from Spain. There were tributes there from important Latin American leaders from the past century or so–the one that stood out most was from Hugo Chavez. Eventually, the tour climbed up to the rooftop for some great views. Getting there was a bit of an adventure though. The passageways up were narrow, had a bunch of tiny spiral staircases, and had random bits of rebar and such poking through the walls, so a bit of dodging and scrambling was involved.
Nearby, we also visited the Basilica del Voto Nacional. This was built in the 20th century and modeled after gothic cathedrals like Notre Dame. It was lovely inside and out. The light through the stained glass windows made the whole interior glow in a way I’ve never quite experienced. They let people climb both the central spire and the towers along the front of the church for some amazing views. You could walk right up to one of the ginormous rose windows for a spectacular selfie. The church also, oddly, features gargoyles in the shape of the various birds of Ecuador. (I mean, why not?)
In general, wandering the centro historico was quite pleasant. The streets varied between packed and lively in some areas and quiet and calm in others. The buildings varied in their modern usage, age, and state of repair, but were lovely nonetheless. I quite enjoyed central Quito.
Along Calle de La Ronda, a super-cute street lined with bars and restaurants, I noticed these two lovely but completely different doors opposite each other on the street. From there I considered taking pictures of all the fascinating and incongruous doors around Quito, but quickly got overwhelmed and abandoned the endeavor. So, enjoy these as stand-ins for a much larger never-realized project. (But, really, a worthwhile thing to pay attention to…there are so many photo-worthy doorways. Go wander the city and enjoy!)
For better or worse, we ended up staying in a hotel not particularly near the centro historico. But we discovered that there were rapid buses that ran on several routes north and south through the city. For 35 cents you could get around quickly and easily, even if it was a bit crowded…
Our hotel was further north, along the side of Parque Carolina, a huge park that encompassed nature paths, a botanical garden, lots of playing fields, exercise equipment, and more.
The area around the park was definitely among the wealthier parts of the city and the contrast between the architecture there and the centro historico was pretty stark. That said, I loved both. The gleaming glass towers and weird honey-comb structures definitely have a way of proclaiming that Quito isn’t just some little mountain town.
Of course, as with Larcomar in Lima, Jessica and I spent in an inordinate amount of time at the mall right by our hotel. We went there for grocery shopping, buying SIM cards for our phones, convenient ATMs, some awesome desserts, and more meals than I care to admit I ate in a mall. Like Larcomar, it was a lively place filled with folks enjoying themselves. But it was indoors, and otherwise just like a basic mall. It’s a little embarrassing how much we were there, but it was just so damn convenient!
Before we move off of discussing buildings…I need to mention that one of my favorite things about Latin America is that lack of standardized architecture. Of course there are tons of buildings that are clearly fashioned off the same basic mold, but it’s not nearly as cookie cutter as much of the US or Europe. Wandering around the city you’re unlikely to see two similar buildings on the same block or even in the same neighborhood. And there are plenty of just weird and wacky things going on as well…
Another way Quito fit the “just another Latin American city” pattern was also evident in the madhouse wiring at every corner and the many, many monuments to revolutionaries (and other less famous or important leaders).
But still, even though I compare it with Lima and other places, it’s also unique. While there’s definitely a strong indigenous presence in Lima, the level of indigeneity is amplified in Quito. In Lima, the indigenous communities–migrants from the mountains–tend to be poorer and pushed to the outskirts of the city. In Quito, the location in the mountains, surrounded by the traditional centers of indigenous culture, seems to keep it more connected to a flow of indigenous folks who are more closely integrated into the population and just the general flow of the city. There is clearly racial and class segregation (as in Lima), but the indigenous population seems to take up a wider swath of the social space than in Lima. (That said, I spent about a week total in Quito compared to a year or so in Lima, so maybe I’m way off in my observations.)
Another unique aspect of Ecuador that I first started to notice in Quito was the number of murals. There are a bunch in Lima, and lots in other places I’ve visited, but I think Ecuador is the most painted country I’ve ever visited. Some of the murals I saw were just beautiful, but lots of them carried intense political messages. More on murals in future posts, but here’s a few of my favorites from Quito…
Like most of Latin America, the traffic in Quito is intense, but on Sundays a few major roads are shut down to allow bikers to zip about the city. One day we saw a group biking in protest of mining practices in Ecuador…
Quito was also home to some of the best intersection buskers I’ve ever seen. I saw people with incredible ball control skills showing off their soccer moves, dancers, jugglers, and then this guy…
And, just a side note on walking around. I really enjoyed the fact that a bunch of the crosswalks were artistically enhanced. Now, if only the drivers would pay attention to those markings…
Of course, in our various wandering we managed to pop into a fair few museums. One was the Museo de la Ciudad which told the story of Quito’s history through a variety of exhibits. There were some cool historical artifacts: among them neolithic tools, ancient pottery, a giant colonial hymnal book, and a poster from a few years ago calling on people to remember a massacre of striking workers a century back.
There were numerous ridiculous dioramas depicting everything from the conquistadors to people’s struggles for equality. One huge one (not pictured) showed the very clear racial divisions of the colonial church with the whitest members sitting in the choir, mestizos in the audience, and the indigenous on the streets outside the church.
Another exhibit showed the various typical and festival costumes of indigenous groups in the region of Quito…and around the corner, some of the typical costumes of 20th century Quitenos.
I enjoyed this view of the area that is now Parque Carolina a century ago…
…and in several rooms, the entire floor was covered with fascinating wood engravings of historical maps.
One super-cool part of the museum included artifacts selected from the museum’s collection by “mini-curadores.” These kids selected artifacts that they thought showed significant parts of history and they had attached placards with their reasons for selecting them. These ranged from 19th century school materials to historical scientific instruments. A cool way to get kids involved in history!
The similarly wide-ranging Museo Nacional featured ancient artifacts from a range of indigenous cultures, some frightening colonial era religious art, a few pointed political cartoons, and a smattering of modern art. Probably the most unexpected part was a section celebrating the struggle for LGBTQ rights and acceptance in Ecuador.
But, I think my favorite was this one, “Retazo de Luz” by Oswaldo Viteri. To be clear, it’s not that part of the work is lit and the rest not, it’s a contrast between intense color and intentionally muted tones. Fascinating.
The Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Quito had some interesting bits and pieces (and some really interesting discussion of the relationship between museums and communities), but nothing overwhelming. One exhibit challenged artists to contribute both 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional pieces based on the theme of witchcraft. It was interesting to see how the same artists dealt with different mediums. Elsewhere, giant “portals” hung on the walls.
But the Casa Museo Guayasamin was the opposite: an intensely immersive experience. Oswaldo Guayasamin was the most famous Ecuadorian artist of the 20th century and his house has been turned into a museum celebrating his life and work. The walls are adorned with his huge art collection, from colonial religious art to gifts from friends such as Chagall and Picasso. Overall, the house was gorgeous. Attached to his home was the monumental “Capilla del Hombre,” a giant structure he had built to display a number of his works and share his message calling for social change.
The museum contained some of his oldest works, painted on the rough sacks made for transporting potatoes, such as this one celebrating workers
This one shows the condor (indigenous) overcoming the bull (Spanish).
And his love for the city of Quito was obvious in the dozens of versions of the city he painted over the years.
In another part of the museum, we watched a video that showed the painting technique he eventually adopted, using almost exclusively a giant palette knife rather than any sort of brush. This creates deep swaths of color and strong etched lines, like in this self portrait.
It was clear that Guayasamin cared about people, the indigenous and working class in particular, but mostly he seemed to focus on human misery, pain, suffering, and righteous anger at the state of the world. Not that those are wrong feelings to have or wrong to focus on, but several hours of wandering through his paintings was seriously intense.
That said, they were also beautiful. He managed to convey quite a range of emotion with his strong broad strokes, and (despite what I said above), some showed a real feeling for tenderness and love as well. Here’s a smattering of my favorites…
Oh, and this one was just cool. It’s made of 6 panels that can be taken out, turned, and reconfigured in any combination. Of course, it follows his usually grim themes and is titled “Mural los Mutilados.”
Overall, though, the Casa Museo Guayasamin was one of the best “single artist” museums I think I’ve visited. Intense and dark at times, but gorgeous art in a gorgeous setting. Highly recommended.
Alrighty, let’s wrap this thing up with a food rundown. Unfortunately, I’m too lazy to hunt down food photos from other parts of Ecuador, so I may have some stuff to add in another post that I’m not thinking of right now.
Anyhow…Food. Short version: Ecuador ain’t Peru. Long version: there was actually some pretty good stuff.
Where Peru has potatoes, Ecuador had potatoes, corn, yuca, and green plantains. There was just an enormous variety of mashed up starches fried into one form or another, usually surrounding a small ball of cheese. Empanadas, bolones, muchines, quimbolitos, tigrillo, patacones, humitas and more. Yummy in many forms, but also heavy, heavy, heavy!
Another interesting discovery was the prevalance of blackberries. Here they call them mora and they are a little denser and a little redder than the kind common in the US. But there was soooo much mora juice. Tons and tons. And it was delicious.
Bananas were the other ever present fruit. Just enormous amounts of bananas. More on that later in the trip, I think…
The other very common food I wasn’t expecting: shrimp. It turns out that along with petroleum, bananas, cacao, coffee, and roses, shrimp is one of the country’s top exports. And so, even though we were mostly in the mountains, well away from the coast, there was shrimp on the menu everywhere. (I ate a bunch of shrimp al ajillo–with garlic–and it was amazing every time.)
There were a number of different styles of ceviche available, some more like Peru, some less. But there was also a unique tomatoey fish soup called encebollado. It is traditionally served with lots of toppings on the side, including plantain chips and popcorn. Not my thing, but Jess enjoyed it quite a bit.
On our last night in Ecuador, we met up with our friend Monique who happened to be in Quito for a work-related conference. (She does great planet-saving work…go Mo!)
We went to URKO Cocina Local, a super-high-end restaurant with an elaborate tasting menu featuring new twists on traditional Ecuadorian specialties. Interestingly, they shut down every few months to revamp their menu for the next season, but…there aren’t really significant seasons in Ecuador. It’s so close to the equator (hence the name) that the temperature doesn’t shift much over the year. There are seasons of higher and lower rainfall, but not a huge variance in the availability of various products (thus its importance in the global flower economy).
Regardless of my quibbles, URKO was ridiculously amazing. They served us 11 courses (including 2 desserts!), with accommodations made for Jess not wanting beef and Mo being vegetarian. The first few items were one or two bites each, and we were worried we’d be starved by the end, but by the time we were done, we couldn’t have eaten any more. Each item was lovely, taking common ingredients, but mixing them into something new and unexpected. As just one example, this bite-sized appetizer uses corn, cheese, leeks, and tamarind, but looked like nothing I’ve ever seen.
At the end, we each rated the 11 courses according to our own systems. You can see some of Jessica’s notes pointing out things such as “cacao marshmallow!” and “savory panna cotta.” It was definitely a memorable foody night. At the end, they took a polaroid for us to include in the food journal they had provided. Goofy, but a fun bit of memorabilia.
On a less serious food note, we had some excellent pizza on our last night with John and Annie Rose. We popped our head into the tiny restaurant and asked if we could get a seat. We were told that all three of their tables were full but they guaranteed us space if we came back in an hour. When we did, they sat us down and we ordered. Halfway through our first pizza we decided we needed more. It was pretty amazing. The entire place was run by one guy. A Columbian, he learned to make pizza while visiting family in Sicily. With a tiny space and one little pizza oven, he made some quality grub.
Getting slightly less serious, I was surprised to see an entire restaurant dedicated to breakfast cereals. (Yes, they had other food, but can you see the interior decor?)
Finally, I need to report that eating and wandering with John and Annie Rose led to some new travel vocabulary. First of all, we were taught by the Pennyroyal burger chain that proclaiming food to be “fucking tasty” was perfectly appropriate. We never ate there or anything, but it’s worth noting that you should add that to your list of compliments when traveling in Latin America.
Second, we discovered the need for a new term, “snunch.” Snunch is when you skip lunch, but need snacks to make it to dinner. This was the result of the ridiculously huge breakfast buffet at our hotel. It took us until around 3pm to get hungry. But, by then lunch had definitely passed us by. So, we got snunch. We shared a couple of small sandwiches at this lovely cafe tucked into the former Archishop’s Palace (though this picture was taken at a later visit). From there we spent most of the rest of our week together planning to open a restaurant called Snunch that would only be open only from 2:30-4:00 and would serve appropriately snunchy food. Definitely a winning concept.
Two final notes on Quito: (1) there’s a chain of convenience stores called OkiDoki, and (2) there are lizard benches. That’s all. I just felt you needed to know these facts.
So, while in some ways Quito was just another Latin American city, it was also wonderful and special in its own ways. I love Lima, but I don’t really recommend it as a major tourist destination. I’m guessing given more time I’d feel the same way about Quito. I could see it being a fun place to get to know and explore more deeply, but I think our 5 or 6 days there were as much as (or more than?) we needed as tourists just passing through.
Next up: more from Ecuador!
The pace of this post was much easier to digest – a relaxing interesting tour.