Four Days in London - Part 1

Hi All (Look: We're back to English!)

After a week plus in the Auld Sod, we said farewell to Ireland.  Our 65 minute flight got us into Heathrow at about 1:30, where our pre-arranged driver met us. Traffic was not bad, but it still took about an hour to get to our hotel, The Montague on the Gardens. WOW!!!!! What a wonderful place! Located just across the street from the British Museum, it is the epitome of an intimately exclusive English hotel. Our room is small (about 1/3 the size of the one at Dromoland), but absolutely perfect. The rug looks like it is a needlepoint. The walls are covered in that same cushy-soft fabric that we had at the Alfonso XIII in Seville, Spain.  The bathroom is tiny but quite functional;  it even has a wooden box with a brass plate reading "Spare Toilet Roll"! How proper. Five minutes after we got into the room the phone rang; it was the front desk asking if everything was satisfactory and if we needed anything! When we said it was fine, she replied "Lovely". Yes, we're in England!

The ground floor has a sitting room / library, a formal dining room, a conservatory where you can take afternoon tea, and a bar / grill area for food and drink. There is also a covered patio overlooking the garden, which is where we went for some refreshment. As the weather is quite chilly, they had some welcome heat lamps on.

The girls opted for High Tea (with 3 tiers consisting of oh-so sandwiches (chicken salad, egg salad, smoked salmon, cucumber), scones (currant and plain), and pastries and petits-fours (carrot cake, brownie-cupcake, fruit tart, lavender cupcake, chocolate-filled-popcorn-studded meringues on a stick, eclair), served with traditional English breakfast tea....

...while Wayne went for a more traditional lunch - dainty chicken / cress / mayo sandwiches on white bread triangles, crisps, and a glass of Spitfire Ale.

A perfect start to our stay. When we got back to the room there was a hand-written welcome note from the General Manager and a box of "Bea's Homemade biscuits"! (You probably know that in England "biscuits" are "cookies".)

Then we headed out. Since it was about 4pm (but staying light until after 9), we decided the best thing to do was to take the double-decker bus city tour. We walked about two blocks, then through Russell Square (a small park) to the bus stop. After a short wait we hopped on The Big Bus and were somehow able to snag the first row of seats on the upper deck; an excellent vantage point! And, even better, the first few rows had a roof, so no wind or chill at all. For the next 90 minutes we had a fabulous overview of the city courtesy of our narrator Neera.  Like all good tour narrators, she totally knew her stuff, but she was entertainingly snarky (many corny jokes). She really made it a fun experience. We passed by all the famous buildings and were able to take some amazing pictures. Here's a sampling:
Tower Bridge...

Big Ben....

The London Eye....

Parliament....

Since it was so late (about 6pm), the bus tour ended at stop #1 (we had gotten on at #15). So we were nowhere near our hotel. But we felt good and refreshed and it wasn't too chilly so we decided to walk back. There are a number of good tourist maps (we have at least 5), and most major intersections have a "you are here" map of the area. We walked to and past Piccadilly Circus, then on to Leicester Square. All the time we patiently waited at each intersection until we saw the "little green man" ("Walk") signal; no "heads down" crossings here as in Viet Nam or Italy. From there we went up Charing Cross Road (famous for its old bookstores; we passed by many, as it was Sunday evening, all were closed), to Tottenham Court Road and saw one of the great street signs of all time:

Any volunteers?????????

About 10 minutes out from our hotel it began to rain, but we were well prepared. We got back slightly soggy, but safe.

Monday, like all other vacation days, began with a panoply of pastries: scones, croissants, etc., plus ham, bacon, sausage, black and white puddings, baked beans, eggs, juice, and tater tots!  (oddly called "hash browns" by the locals.)

Scrumptious! We needed fortification because we had a full day of walking and sightseeing planned--little did we know how much!

Our first stop was to join a walking tour to see the changing of the palace guard. To get to the meeting point, we took the Northern Line underground from Tottenham Court Rd to Charing Cross. (Here's a map of the London subway system, which is the oldest in the world.)

Just kidding!  This is one of many "Art on the Underground" posters that adorn the walls. You see, each year they have a contest for the cover of the Underground Map guide--all recent winners are displayed on the walls--along with advertisements for every possible musical now showing in the West End!  No gratuitous advertisements here. 

Once there we walked a few blocks, saw the iconic British phone booths, and took this picture.....

p

They really do have working phones inside, but who uses them nowadays? Well, who uses them for phoning.  After a half-step inside, it was quite apparent to Paulie and Wendy that they are being used for something else!  Yuk!

Across the street we met our friendly guide, Kevin. At the proper time (Kevin: "Trust me I've done this before"), he led the group on the walk toward St. James's Palace. This was where the Royals lived before Queen Victoria moved into Buckingham Palace in the 1830s. Kevin explained that the changing is really a multi-step process that begins about 7am, and it occurs at several places in the area. So one choice is to stand at Buckingham starting about 8am to wait until after 11 with thousands of other people, or be in Kevin's group and see much more!!!  Lucky us!!! At St. James's (which was the first brick palace in the world), we saw the outgoing group (old guards) of Welsh guards come out, accompanied by a military band. We watched for a few minutes as they assembled and then Kevin said "OK everyone! Follow me!!!" and he began briskly walking (or as he put it so English-ly: "the group should keep momentum"!) toward The Mall. This is a wide boulevard that leads to Buckingham Palace. We crossed the street and assembled again as the guards came marching around the corner.

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Then, on his signal, we (along with hundreds of others) raced along the verge to the next important point. At the next stop we saw another group (the new guard of soldiers and band - men and women) assembling. We watched them go down a short road toward the Palace.

Then, Kevin explained, when the new guard meets the soldiers going off duty, they stare at and inspect each other for 20 minutes! Next, they walk past each other and the new group takes over. Ta-da!  This ceremonial ritual has been going on continuously since the 17th century.   

That was the end of the walking tour. From there we walked up Victoria Embankment toward Westminster Abbey. Along the way (since it was after 12) we stopped at a lovely estabishment, Albert's, for lunch.  The 3 of us split two orders of fish-and-chips; one had regular peas and one had mashed peas. One order probably would have been enough!

This was washed down with London Pride beer and Aspall Draught Suffolk cider. So good!!!!!

Then, sated once more, we continued on to Westminster. This has to be the most magnificent edifice in the world! Huge vaulted ceilings, incredible stone carvings, brilliant stained glass windows, and of course, the tombs (and markers) of the rich, famous, immortals, and used-to-be-famous. Newton, Joule, Darwin, Halley, etc., represent the sciences; Handel, Britten, etc., music; Shakespeare, Austen, Coward, Browning, etc., literature, and many kings and queens, dukes, earls, and lords (and their wives and daughters), statesmen, and hundreds of men who fought valiantly and died bravely in service to King and Country. You might remember seeing it as the home of royal weddings, the latest being Kate and William. It takes at least an hour to see it all. The only big negative is that absolutely no photography is allowed! (Not even sans flash). So here are some internet pictures to give you an idea.

Then we walked past Parliament, through Parliament Square (with statues of Mandela, Lincoln, and Churchill, et. al.), and on to the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms. This underground complex was where much of the British war strategy for WWII was conceived and managed. It was in operation from 1939 - 1945. Many of the rooms have the original equipment; others have been faithfully recreated. The superb audio guide walks you through life underground during those harrowing days.

We spent at least 45 minutes in there, and could have spent longer, but the clock, and our legs, told us it was time to move on. So we walked up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square (with Admiral Nelson's Column), and hopped back onto the Northern Line, and back to our hotel to freshen up before dinner.

Ah, dinner!  London is known for its Indian cuisine, so we picked one of the finest, Moti Mahal. The menu promises a trip down "The Grand Trunk Road",  which we traveled on in Varanasi during our India trip.  Our table was situated right next to the glass wall behind which a chef continually made skewers of tandoori chicken and rounds of naan.


Wendy started off with an Inspiration aperitif--prosecco flavoured with lemongrass and pink grapefruit juice, garnished with a sugar-dusted grapefruit slice.  We also were served a lovely platter of perfectly sliced fresh vegetables to arrange our own starter salads.

We started off with Kumro Phool Bhaja (from Bengal): crisp fried courgette (zucchini) flowers stuffed with spiced whiting, flavoured with curry leaf and smoked onion seeds. (Rating: Divine! This rated right up there with our first-ever squash blossoms in Rome.) 

Then came Murghi Nazakat (from Punjab): a trio of chicken tikka, prepared with tantalising variations of mint and basil, poppy seed and Kashmiri chillies, and cracked pepper and dill. (Rating: 5 star!)

Next, 3 items: dal makhani (from Delhi): black lentils slow cooked overnight on charcoal; saffron baked rice; mappas (from Cochin): prawns simmered in a tangy coconut and curry leaf sauce. (More, more! Sooo Sooo delicious, why bother eating other ethnic foods when you can have this?)

Of course, all served with copious amounts of naan and Kingfisher beer.

Dessert was the Kulfi Selection (from Delhi): Chef's selection of mini Kulfis on the stick - Gulkand and Honey, Milk Chocolate and Raisins, Blackberry, Pistachio, Mango (Creamy ice cream - Delicious!)

Surprisingly, we ordered the perfect amount (first time ever, after much discussion!) and we left vowing to return for more.

Thus ends our first two days in London.
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Fun Fact:
When you fly from Dublin to London, there is no customs declaration and no passport check at the airport. And you land at the domestic terminal! So apparently the English think that Ireland is still part of the U.K.
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Ta ta for now,

love w&w..................

Four Days in London - Part 2

Hi All:

On Tuesday, we started out early (8:45) because we were taking the Underground to the Tower of London and wanted to get there before all those darn tourists showed up.

We once more walked through Russell Park (which had many people sitting and reading or drinking coffee), and got on the Piccadilly Line. No escalators in this very old station; either an elevator (by which a mass of people were standing) or 175 steps (about 14 floors!) down a winding staircase! We chose the staircase...not such a good idea! (pant pant) This time we went one stop north to Kings' Crossing where we changed to the Circle Line.  Six stops later we got off at

The Tower of London, parts of which date back to the Norman invasion in 1066, is really a fortress (actually, it was built on and around the Roman wall to Londonium of almost 800 years earlier). It consists of a number of buildings whose function has changed over the centuries. For example, this was the Royal Armory for many years, and also the National Mint (which has now been moved to Wales). The fort / compound was originally built right on the banks of the Thames; indeed, there was a portcullis that allowed entry via boats! Many of the buildings and parapets offer spectacular views of Tower Bridge, which is just off to the left.

 The White Tower

Waterloo Block (Home of the Crown Jewels)

 Queen's House

Most people know the Tower for two reasons: prisoners were tortured and killed there, and, the Crown Jewels are stored there. Both are true, although the scope of the former has been exaggerated.

The torture room has models of shackles, the head-chopping block and axe, and a rack (which Wendy likened to a Pilates Reformer). There are also stories of several unfortunates who spent time here.

The display of the Crown Jewels, and associated exhibits and videos / explanations, is really well done. After walking through a preliminary area with pictures and commentary, one enters (and later exits) the actual "storage" area through two massive bank-vault doors!  There are a number of "jewels" including those big crowns we see at coronations or in official royaldom portraits but also gem-encrusted rings, spurs, scepters, orbs, swords, and more. Some of these are permanently "display only", while others are actually used at various state ceremonies. One section was especially well managed: a case (about 20 ft long) filled with crowns. The people were funneled onto two moving walkways (one on each side), that forced you to view as you went past. No clogging up in this area!  Again, the downside: NO PHOTOS ALLOWED! :-(   But, here is a sampling courtesy of the web:

Gold, silver, diamonds, rubies....you get the idea.

And, to show they are state-of-the-art re tourist attractions, each main area has a themed gift shop! There is the "Crown Jewels" shop which features jewelry (duh!), The Raven Gift Shop and Cafe which features, um, souvenirs with a raven theme (although it is connected to a store which sells pink princess clothes and crowns), etc.  Wendy wanted one of the crowns but we didn't think it would fit into our carry on bags; so we took a pass.

Of course we saw the famous Beefeaters, the Tower's ceremonial guards...

 

...as well as the ravens....

The presence of the ravens is traditionally believed to protect the Crown and the Tower; the story goes that if the Tower of London ravens are lost or fly away, the Crown will fall and Britain with it. To minimize that from happening, their wings are clipped so they can't fly. And they make a very unusual clicking sound.

We walked through several other buildings / exhibit areas. By that time it was really getting crowded, including a number of groups of schoolchildren wearing their various school uniforms. All in all we spent almost 3 hours there. And the weather was perfect: mid-70s and sunny.

Our next stop was Harrods. We could have taken the Underground and gotten there in 15 minutes, but instead we hopped on the Big Bus (the Blue Line tour this time) to rest our weary legs for a while. With the traffic, it turned into a 90 minute nap time. But we finally reached this shopping Mecca. 

^{The building, like our own Marshall Field's...er.....Macy's, covers an entire city block, but this looks way more massive and imposing.  One of the main attractions here is the Food Hall, which is a series of rooms that feature all kinds of upscale raw and prepared foods. There is a patisserie, a cheese counter, meats and fish, a whole roomful of biscuits and candy, and on and on and on......}

^{They also prepare custom hampers (aka picnic baskets).  The Halls were packed! Obviously there were many tourists, but there also seemed to be a fair number of locals buying their dinner food. But even in this gastronomic heaven there is a dark cloud:}

 

This actually makes perfect sense as it a) keeps food and garbage away from the merchandise, and b) might discourage someone from eating in one of the dozen or so restaurants scattered among the 5 floors.  Which is what we decided to do. We had a late lunch (and, due to vacation-food-overload, it served as our dinner) at the East Dulwich Deli (5th floor). Absolutely wonderful pea and basil soup, a smoked tuna salad, and (for Wayne again) chicken breast on white with crisps and salad.

^{Afterwards we walked around several departments, picked up a few souvenirs, and (after 2 hours), got back on the Underground for our hotel. We were quite fatigued by the time we got there, so we stopped in the bar for some iced tea, ginger ale, and 3 scoops of sorbet.  After a little time for freshening up, we cabbed over to the St. Martin's Theatre to see Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap", the longest running play in history.}

It opened in November, 1952 and has been playing continuously ever since!

This was a quintessential English drawing room mystery. Eight people snowed in at an English B&B and one is a murderer and one (or more) might be murdered!!!! So whodunnit? let's just say one of us figured it out at the interval (translation: intermission). But the guilty party admonished everyone during the curtain calls not to spoil the secret for everyone else. So you'll just have to go there and find out for yourself.

Our final day of touring began with more Underground rides; by this time the veddy friendly woman at the ticket counter recognized Wayne! We took the Piccadilly Line back to Charing Cross. Our first stop was Hatchard's, a wonderful book shop that first opened in 1797, making it the oldest bookseller in the U.K. One could easily spend several hours on one of the 5 floors. Not surprisingly, there was one entire wall of "British History" books. We contributed to the London economy here.

Then we went next door to Fortnum and Mason (not to be outdone, they were founded in 1707!!). This very genteel store (the male sales associates wore morning coats and ties)  had two floors of foods, very much like at Harrod's.





Macarons



Gelees



In the Game department



But this store was way less crowded, much more upscale, and did not seem like a stop on the tourist must-see list. Another floor had crystal and china, and we found a fantastic vase by an English potter.

Back on the Underground, then we headed to our hotel for an early tea / lunch. There were different goodies on the tea tower, and it was just as wonderful as the previous time (was that only 3 days ago? My oh my.).

Then, across the street to the British Museum. Our must see item here was the Rosetta Stone.

This 2,100 year old stele contains the same text in three languages: Egyptian hieroglyphs, Demotic, and Greek. This allowed scholars to translate across the 3 languages, and was a critical factor in understanding and reading the hieroglyphs.

There were other fascinating exhibits of Greek and Roman and Egyptian artifacts (all looted over the centuries by the British).

The Standard of Ur, c. 2,500 B.C.

There are over 6 million objects in the entire collection (not all on display). And happily, there were NO restrictions on taking photos.

Then, another walk back to the Russell Square Underground station and a ride to Covent Garden. This was the warmest day of our trip, mid-70s, and there were tons of tourists out. We walked along the old cobbled streets and marvelled at the several-hundred year old buildings...ok, some of them had stores like Starbucks, Bath and Body Works, and (oh dear!) Eileen Fisher. But also many local stores, and of course many, many restaurants and pubs. After a while we headed over to Jamie's Italian, one of several restaurants owned by BBC (and The Food Network) cooking star Jamie Oliver. This was simple food but, wow, was it ever good!

We started out with the Vegetable Plank:

Sliced vegetables, chargrilled & marinated in herbs & olive oil; buffalo cheese with chilli & mint, pecorino & amazing chilli jam; aubergine caponata, curly green chillies, olives & caper berries; shaved carrot & beets with lemon & loads of mint.  It was to die for (along with an assortment of breads and excellent oil and balsamic for dipping).

Next, Wendy and Paulie shared vongole tagliolini...

...the best Italian carpet shell clams cooked with chilli, garlic, parsley, white wine & olive oil.

Wayne opted for the Land and Sea Risotto....

...with spicy Italian sausage, pancetta, mussels, clams, white wine, black olives, sweet baby tomatoes & field mushrooms. Sooooo good!

Our final dessert of the trip was the Epic Brownie...

(yes....we did start eating it before we remembered to take the pic)...a warm fudgy brownie with salted caramel ice cream & caramelised amaretti popcorn. Gone in a flash!

Finally....we walked a few blocks to the Cambridge Theatre to see Matilda, from the book by Roald Dahl. The cast is largely made up of children (think "Annie"), but there are a number of great adult roles too, including the show stealer Miss Trunchbull (played by a man!). The songs were loud and exuberent, the staging was incredible, and the acting non-pareil. If you like musicals, you must see this and be prepared to be blown away.

Thus ended our trip..

Unlike some recent trips, this one did not move us emotionally, nor did it take us to exotic lands. But, it was a fantastic experience nonetheless, and we were so fortunate to have Paulie with us as part of the adventure.

We hope to return to London, and other parts of England as there is so much more to see.

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So Cheerio until next time!

We hope you enjoyed our journey as much as we did. Please give us any comments (good or bad) that you have, either directly in the blog or via email. We love to hear from you too!

love,
w&w..........

Exploring Lands That Time Forgot

Hola everyone,

Welcome back to those of you who have traveled with us before! And welcome aboard to those of you who haven't. Our blog enables you to travel to wacky, wild, exotic and/or just plain fascinating parts of the world . Your job, if you choose to accept it, is to read along-- no shots, airline hassles, luggage fees, sea-sickness, Montezuma's revenge, or altitude sickness.  If you're not interested, you can "unsubscribe" in a flash.

And speaking of sea-sickness and altitude sickness, with a heavy dose of exotic flora and fauna and Ancient Incan history, this trip takes us to Ecuador (with a side trip to Quito) including The Galápagos Islands and then to Cusco, Peru and Machu Picchu--ending in Lima.  The blog will read noticeably differently this time as Wendy is your traveler; Wayne opted out of this trip. So, you'll get lots of attitude and photos and extensive food reports-- but the level of historic and nature-oriented detail won't be quite the same.

Here's the map. I arrive in Quito on Tuesday evening the 26th and return to the States on March 12th. In between, there will be periods of wireless blackout--so reports won't be as timely as with past trips.



With that, I bid you ¡Hasta luego until next week. I'm looking forward to traveling with you!

Talk to you soon,

wendy

QUITO--QUAINT, QUIXOTIC, AND QUIRKY

Hola!

My travel mates for this portion of the journey are the Quintessential Maureen and the
Quick-witted Monica.  They would suggest I am Queen Wendy. 

We  arrived in Quito, Ecuador Tuesday night at their spanking-new airport. Apparently, the old airport was one of the 10 most dangerous for landing in the world (the city is situated in a valley between two volcanoes). Whew! First close call of the trip.

Quito is the second-highest capital city after La Paz in the world; and was the original UNESCO World Heritage city. We are staying in the cobble-stoned Old Town at the Casa Gangotena-- a repurposed 1929s mansion that is exquisite and situated on Plaza San Francisco-- the pigeons remind me of St Mark's in Venice without the canals. The Plaza and the entire area are quaint-- brightly painted buildings, beautiful churches, just lovely. Indeed, I stepped out the front door to this view:

Our first day of touring (fortified by coca tea to counter any possible altitude issues) had two parts-- we visited the Old Town and went north 20 km to the equator. That's where Quito gets quirky--keep reading.

Starting with Old Quito, our guide told us that 75% of Quintenos are observant Catholics--I can't imagine their excitement if the next Pope is Latino.  Our first stop of note was the amazingly magnificent Church of the Compagnia de Jesus (construction began in 1605 and was completed 160 years later!).  The Jesuits, by the way, assumed so much power in Ecuador that, at some point, the Spaniards threw them out. The church was built in the baroque style with Moorish touches. Most remarkable, though, is that the altar, door, and many other areas are gold. It is presumably one of the most magnificent churches in the Americas. Astounding, though some (I'm not naming any names) might say it's "over the top."

A quick aside about Ecuador, the Spaniards, and ancient ruins. The Spanish destroyed and built over any ancient ruins they stumbled upon which is why ancient ruins are not in the tourism circuit here.

We moved on to check out the rest of the Old Town, including -- but not limited to --Independence Square. Our next stop was the Equator. But, apparently, there is a wrong equator and a right equator.  In 1736, the French explorer Charles-Marie de Condanine discovered what was thought to be the equator here in the Americas, and a beautiful monument and museum mark the spot. 

Lo and behold, 270 years later, along came GPS and the right equator was identified as celebrated by the whimsically interactive Intinan Solar Museum.  The museum not only provides a clear demarcation where wacky Americans can pose ...

...it also profiles the history of some of the local Andean indigenous peoples (many still around today and, if you thought Ann Padgett's captivating book ,The State of Wonder, is pure fiction, think again). The indigenous peoples' exhibits include an up close and personal display of the shrunken head process (don't ask), along with showcased Amazon creatures--one of which is particularly lethal to men who swim au naturel (this is a PG blog, so I won't say more). The other exhibits included an equatorial clock, demos of centrifugal force (including an egg balancing exercise) and some cute guinea pigs in an original residential structure. I think this spot is a "must not miss" for anyone going to Quito--campy, quirky , kitschy, educational and fun. As an aside, you may wonder... Why all the fuss about the equator here and not elsewhere? Well, apparently, there is a modicum of fuss elsewhere but the first extensive documentation (albeit for the wrong equator) happened here!

Lunch (ok foodie fans) was next. We had a traditional Ecuadorian meal-- they eat heavy at lunch--presumably light later, but that has not been our pattern so far. The food was fine -- nothing to rhapsodize over. Here was our menu: guanabana blackberry juice, crunchy snacks of grilled corn kernels, plantain chips, and beans with a spicy cream salsa, potato soup, frittata quitena-- fried pork on hominy with fried plantains and a salad (this is popular here but it was not popular with us). We finished up with patines en alimar-- tree tomatoes in syrup. The setting was truly lovely and the food was an adventure. Let's leave it at that.

Before we knew it, it was time for dinner. We ventured out to Zazu-- a hip place that came highly recommended.  Zazu was inconsistent, not amazing.  Language was a huge problem here – if you don't speak Spanish here and you're off the beaten path, you're sunk.  My Stone crab ceviche was fantastic as was Maureen's prawn bouillon soup and Monica's plantain crusted salmon – but the rest of the meal was not note-worthy.

Day two of touring took us two hours north of Quito to the marketplace in Otavalo  where the indigenous people sell all matter of crafts.  Along the way, we stopped first in Calderon, where they create masapa– bread dough-based figurines and ornaments (the same concept as the lacquered breadbaskets circa 1970). We continued to Imbabum province -- known for its scenery and indigenous peoples.  We stopped at a spectacular setting--Lago de San Paolo, surrounded by several active volcanoes.

Next stop, the market. Our guide had told us that the proper etiquette before snapping a photo of the Otavalo people (known by their dress and their long flowing black hair – regardless of gender) was to buy something. There were many such photo ops, so I am now the proud owner of several Octavalo tchotchkes and great people pictures-- grand total spent $10, reflecting extensive negotiating.  Yes, they use US money here; after their currency tanked, they underwent a dollarization. A word about the market itself-- it featured a wide range of silver jewelry, alpaca knit attire, blankets, tapestries, hats, paintings, and more. The culture was better than the cache. 

 

By this point, it was time for lunch. So, we headed to Le Mirage in Cotacatchi--one of Money Magazine's top destinations for American retirees. It's a small, secluded town where the weather is perfect, the costs are low, and you don't have to watch MSNBC all the time or worry about Cubs' results.  Actually, we ate at an award- winning small hotel where we had a lovely three-course lunch with some touches of Ecuadorian cuisine such as a delicate amuse-bouche quinoa roll served in a music box, plantain soup, and tropical fruit sorbet.

After a two and a half hour ride home and a little over an hour to gather our wits (and work on our appetites), it was time for another meal! We went to Theatro-- close by and absolutely wonderful--truly blog-worthy, our best meal so far. We're talking 5 courses here and that was not the tasting menu. We started with an amuse bouche of one bite each-- a cheese ball and a ball of fried risotto (sounds strange but it worked-- and doesn't everyone eat two amuses-boucher in one day-- ouch!). My next course was grilled Ecuadorian prawns lovingly nested in avocado foam with tomato garnish; Monica had the curried cream pumpkin soup with a crab cake. This course was followed by a palate cleanser of frozen strawberry Popsicle in celery juice. My main was roasted sea bass with fried peppers on a bed of crunchy quinoa. It was outstanding. Maureen had tenderloin with garlic potatoes and perfectly sauteed vegetables and Monica had chicken. Dessert, which I had to force on my dining partners, was baby Ecuadorian bananas in filo dough garnished with chocolate soup and three favors of sorbet -- vanilla, banana, and coconut. Did I mention this meal was great? It is now definite that I did not pack enough elastic waistband pants.

We leave Quito in the morning; here are some closing thoughts...

What was quaint:  The charming old city, the bustling market, the adorable children, the fact that sweets counteract altitude sickness along with the coca tea, the notion that sellers in the market can actually be nice and not aggressive, the guinea pigs (maybe I should call them qu-ute, not quaint)

What was quixotic:  The notion that the massive rebuilding underway to revitalize the city and the steep streets (most torn up) in the Old Town will actually be done anytime soon. The fact that the indigenous people actually build impressive looking homes yet live in quite modest abodes alongside them

What was quirky: Eight varieties of corn, 3000 of potatoes (in Bolivia ,Peru and Ecuador), 27 different nationalities in a country the size of Colorado. When you stand on the equator, you weigh 2.2 pounds less!  Two seasons – dry and rainy, yet four seasons in one day.  Guinea pigs are sacred for the indigenous people. They can sense people's energy levels – If the guinea pigs make cuy noises when you enter the room, that's a bad sign. Run for the Andes! Note: Cuy (pronounced coy) is how you spell guinea pig in Spanish and it is the actual squeaking sound they make.

Tomorrow we're off to Guayaquil-- then we'll be the galavanting Galapagos gals-- where we'll add Betsy, Irene, and Marita to the mix. Not sure about connectivity there so it will be a few days before you hear from me again.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this leg of the trip as much as we did.

Adios for now with hugs, wendy