We had time off the week before Carnival and I headed to Cuenca. It is in the Southern Andes about 50 minutes by airplane. It is full of 16th and 17th century architecture and red tiled roofs.
It is also known for the rivers that run through it.
let's pretend my finger isn't in this picture
I stayed in a lovely hotel in the old city center called Hotel Los Balcones. It was quaint with a clean room, good services and a nice daily breakfast on the terrace.
The food in Cuenca was really good. A Pedir de boca was a nice restaurant with asian inspired dishes. I had my first really spicy meal since I moved to Ecuador. I had a noodle dish it was pretty tasty. Next time I'd get rice noodles though.
spicy noodles
Sofy GLocal was a lovely restaurant inside the inner courtyard of an old building. The walls had art by local artists and lots of plants. The food was really good. I went back twice.
smoked trout, capers, and cream cheese open faced sandwhich
olive and anchovy tapenade on toast served on a hot stone
seabass encocado
By far my favorite meal was at El Mercado. It was a really upscale dining experience at really good prices.
grilled octopus
slow cooked pork shoulder on cauliflower puree
Los Tiestos was a family style restaurant that had dishes served in clay dishes (cazuelas). Dinner started with about 10 different tapenades and bread. It was a really lovely dinner.
I arrived on Sunday and after a short nap and lunch I went on a bus tour of the city. For only $8 it was a nice way to learn about the city and see how the city was laid out. According to the tour there are enough churches to go to a different one every Sunday in a year.
It was really warm and the sun was strong.
The next day I took a tour to Gualaceo and the jewelry town of Chordeleg. It was a small tour (just 3 of us). We stopped first at a Guitar makers shop outside of San Bartolome above the Valle de Santa Barbara. His guitars were beautiful. I wish I played.
He showed us how they make the inlay.
This cuatro is made out of an armadillo. Supposedly they find dead animals to make the instruments.
Then on to Chordeleg where at one time artisans made jewelry out of silver and gold mined in Ecuador. It is not just a plaza filled with jewelry stores. I enjoyed the window shopping and the church in the town square.
Then we headed to Gualaceo and enjoyed a meal of roasted pig. It was so good.
We decided to stop at Ecuagenera to see their orchids and learn about how they hybridize and propagate orchids.
A little over a year and a half ago I learned my friends were moving to Vietnam to teach at an international school. Not only were they taking leave of their teaching jobs in sunny California, they were bringing their 3 children with them. This was my 'kick in the pants' moment. My friends studied in England at the same time that I had studied in Spain. I had always wanted to live abroad again. I had toyed with applying for a Fulbright exchange. I had even thought about teaching at an international school. I was just never able to follow through and make it happen. My friends pointed me in the right direction and a year later, I had signed up with Search Associates and begun my search for jobs. It took me some time to put my application together, I had to write a statement, gather references, and pay their fee. Then began the waiting process. I started at the beginning of the recruitment cycle (August) and I didn't have a serious prospect until November. Each interview i
Finally we stopped at Ikat Gualaceo to visit artisans who dye and weave beautiful shawls by hand. The dyes are all natural.
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