CUENCA REVISITADO - Cuenca, Ecuador Dec 2017-Jan 2018

CUENCA REVISITADO

Cuenca, Ecuador Dec 2017-Jan 2018

The classic New Cathedral 

As part of our plan to revisit our favorite places, we returned to Cuenca exactly a year later after our Dec. 2016 stay. We loved the quaint colonial city and looked forward to catching up with our expat friends. 

Parking it

This time we stayed for six weeks in a spacious three-bedroom apartment in Barrio El Vergel. 

There were families always congregating at the nearby park, the staging ground for a multitude of parades. It also had exercise equipment that Eileen enjoyed using daily.

$7 for all of this

We were able to  pick up where we left off with some friends, reinforced relationships with our Transitional Concierge International (TCI) co-workers and made some great new connections. Cuenca really is an ideal gathering place for expats.

Besides discovering some excellent restaurants, we did our share of cooking thanks to Feria Libre, the largest mercado in the city and a short bus ride away. It is massive and though it has a reputation for street crime, we never had an issue. Everything was fresh, inexpensive, and an amazing value.

A colorful display

Eileen cooked delicious homemade tomato sauce a couple times. Mike went back for oranges (20 for a $1) so he could make fresh squeezed OJ. Fresh mangos and avocados became staples used extensively.

A highlight of our time was having our very special visitors, Briana and Simone. Between a hike in El Cajas, a day at a nearby spa covered with volcano mud, lots of good food, and a quick trip to Quito, we hit all the hot spots of Cuenca and its environs.

K

Burn, baby, burn

Out with the old--please!

We all enjoyed the annual Christmas Eve parade, El Pase del Nino, which we were able to view comfortably from the balcony of our property management company's offices. It was hard to judge who had the better costumes, the children or the family pets during this six-hour extravaganza.

New Years Eve was a relatively low-key evening last year so we were determined to be in the middle of the action this time which, as it turned out after a long detour, was the very neighborhood where we were staying.

Happy together

The tradition of saying goodbye to the old and in with the new by burning el ano viejo in effigy is wild to watch. Of course there were numerous political representations burned with gusto (and you-know-who was well represented).  Combined with random fireworks going off everywhere, provide the perfect mixture of delight and fright.  

Dessert as art

A fantastic 16-piece big-band was the perfect way to cap off the evening--that, and a bottle of wine split among the four of us.

Cuenca vistas

Once again, our friends Erica and Roberto made the trip from Guayaquil to spend a weekend with us. They were disappointed last year when we were unable to go to Tiesto's, considered the best restaurant in Cuenca; they have friends who have made it there for a day trip (3 hours each way). The head chef is a real character and we enjoyed an amazing meal. The night finished with music at the Jazz Society Cafe.  

Roberto and Erica visit 

We finally made it to Turi, with the hilltop cathedral and great views of the city. Roberto and Erica joined us for the trip. While they walked up to the top, we rode the very makeshift chairlift, with room for the driver, his dog and the two of us. 

At the top we encountered a rather odd "adventure" area with bungee jumping, a precarious swing, and a rickety tree house.

One of our friends recommended the higo (fig) ice cream at a restaurant nearby. While we didn't have time to wait around until it opened, we were determined to return the following day. It was totally worth the effort.