Cuenca

Last weekend we had a nice little trip up north to visit the city of Cuenca. It is an exceptionally scenic city, at roughly 9000 feet, with impressive colonial architectu , many cobbled streets and an impressive number of museums. We were excited by the number of art museums--most of which had closed early because of the energy crisis unfortunately. However, there were a couple of impressive bookstores including an English bookstore ( a rare treat). The English bookstore owners, a couple from North Carolina, transplanted to Ecuador, and she took her time explaining about the latest boom of expats in Cuenca (250 to 2500 over the past 5 years).

In the central park is the massive Catedral Nueva, pretty sure its known to be the largest church in South America. We also indulged in some great, dark, rich coffee and an European style breakfast with buttery pastries. Turkey sandwiches were also a good find, the weekend after Thanksgiving. We always hunt for diverse food options when we travel. Cuenca is definitely on our list to revisit.

To our surprise and delight -- we spotted a Microbrewery only blocks from our hostel. After months of drinking only one kind of beer (pilsener, pilsener, and pilsener), we were really stoked and found it hard to wait all day for the place to open. Yikes! Smelly feet describes it best. Unfortunately, the beer was just awful. It seemed to be missing the key ingredient- HOPS! Something was tragically lost in translation, and we had to choke down a $3 draft of what they called an Irish Red. Note to all travelers: Do not waste your time at the microbrewery in Cuenca.That night it poured down rain which was a real blessing for this country given the energy crisis. We hunkered down in the cool temperatures and read our books in the hostel although our vision was to drink ourselves silly with some good micro-brews. Oh well!

The next day before leaving, we got to experience the excitement of a pro-soccer game here. We meandered around outside the stadium before a big game. Everyone was dressed in red and partying big time. It was quite a sight, but actually not much different than a pre-game party in the US. There were the usual venders selling game t-shirts, snacks and cold drinks and loud music playing in the stadium to excite the crowd. Definitely want to make it to a soccer game while here.

On our way home that afternoon, our bus was involved in a collision while driving on a super foggy stretch of road in the mountains. We were dodging and weaving for quite a while until a truck going the wrong way in our lane couldn't get over quick enough. It clipped the front of the bus, which knocked the bed of the truck clean off. We had to stop for about 40 min. while they sorted out the damages. It was surprising when three cowboys dressed in full attire -- large belt buckles, cowboy hats and boots climbed out of the truck. First styled out cowboys we have seen in Ecuador. Fortunately nobody was hurt. In the end, about six guys lifted the bed of the truck back onto the truck, and we continued on our way.