Today we explored Quito – the second highest capital city in the world (only La Paz has a higher elevation). Jay successfully ordered a coffee and breakfast this morning entirely in Spanish and we spent the early morning exploring the streets near our hotel. Monday is traditionally a slow day here but on our walk we did see a shoutout to home (see the business sign below).

We hired a driver, Danilo, to efficiently take us to all of the sites we wanted to see. Our first stop was Teleférico, an aerial lift taking us to around 13,000 feet above sea level into the Andean Mountains for a view of the city, which was mostly covered in fog as is typical here, and a short walk in the highlands. Our walk was complete with llamas and horses, so Stephanie was thrilled.

Next we headed to a town just north of Quito to the monument called the Middle of the World, deemed by many to be the ‘official’ middle of the world at 0° 0′ 0” N 0° 0′ 0” E, where you can stand on both sides of the Equator (North/South) and a Prime Meridian (East/West). The Equator running through Ecuador is an established scientific fact whereas the location of the Prime Meridian is up for debate. The standard location for the Prime Meridian is a line running through Greenwich England. We don’t know about you but we believe that this very cool monument should be the official center 😊. Also, fun fact: the native people here pegged the ‘middle of the world’ by planting a pole on top of a nearby hill. The Spanish didn’t believe them and made their own designation and, of course, when later measured by official GPS technology, the native people were correct.

We drove back to downtown Quito to see another view of the city from the Panecillo and then explored the historic downtown by foot, including seeing the Presidential Palace. We were pleasantly surprised by how little tourism there is, even in the city center – we only heard one other couple speak English.

For dinner tonight we went to Miskay for another traditional meal. We had a wonderful cab driver who helped us practice our Spanish which made for a very enjoyable ride. At dinner we were treated to another amazing meal featuring local cuisine. Tonight we enjoyed a couple soups, three kinds of ceviche, grilled chicken in a mushroom sauce and a seafood rice dish. With the alcohol prohibition behind us we were able to enjoy our beverages in normal wine glasses and pints. This restaurant displayed many small, locally made, dolls hanging from the posts (these can best be described as Christmas ornaments), one of which, in the colors of the Ecuadorian flag, will now adorn our Christmas Trees for years to come. A wonderful end to an action packed day in and around Quito!

Our day tomorrow starts before the sun (we will be waking up at 4:00 am local time) as we head back to sea level to start our adventure in the Galapagos.