"Observaciones Quiteñas"

Back in Quito we've been trying to get into a routine, but also make the most out of our time here and explore as much as we can.


View from our flat

Here is the view from our flat. We're located just on the edges of La Mariscal, which is the busy, international part of town where most foreigners stay and where most nightclubs, hostels and bars are (!). I really wanted to stay in the Old Town, but it was not convenient for Stu's office commute. This brings me to a couple of observations made during our walks in this city:

1. Traffic in Quito is awful: don't attempt to travel on wheels during rush hour - you will be stuck in traffic for a while.... In fact, they have a system called "Pico y Placa" which tries to regulate traffic by limiting the number of cars allowed during rush hour according to the last number of their number plate...


Woman selling dog outfits and
"perro quiteño" next to her
modelling one

2. "Perro quiteño" (dogs from Quito) - there seems to be a large number of dogs that look like white fluffy poodles - most of them are dressed up and even wear shoes - no joke.

3. Sweets - Ecuadorians seems to have a sweet tooth and we have come across numerous cake / cream / sweet street sellers. As I am paranoid about my "new" tooth I try to stay away from it all...

4. Fried food - a large number of food seems to be fried: fried bananas, fried corn, "fritada" (one of the main dishes), etc...

Fritada

5. Friendliness - apart from the lady managing the flat we've rented, everyone here seems to have a very friendly, happy attitude towards foreigners.