We
arrived a day early (to guard against travel delays) and thus had a day
to explore San Francisco de Quito, the capital city of Ecuador.
Quito is in the Guayllabamba river basin on the eastern slopes of
Pichincha, an active volcano in the Andes. Quito's elevation is
9200 ft, making it the second-highest administrative capital city in
the world (after La Paz, Bolivia). We had been in Quito twice
previously, in 1998 and 2010, but never had a chance to explore...until
this year.
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Sign at the Plaza de la
Independencia
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Robert outside our hotel,
La Casa Sol
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View from the Mirador de Guápulo
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Francisco de Orellano
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La Basílica del Voto Nacional,
the largest neo-Gothic basilica in
the Americas. And one of the
newest, with the first stone placed
in 1892, and consecrated ih 1988.
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The gargoyles at La Basílica
are representations of native
animals, including Galápagos
tortoises.
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La Basílica façade
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...and interior.
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Side chapel at La Basílica
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Plaza de la Indepenencia, with the
Metropolitan Cathedral of Quito
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Plaza de la Independencia
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Robert with our day guide
Marcelo at the Plaza
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Government Palace on the Plaza
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Statue to fallen soldiers on the
Plaza
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Nice inclusion of an Andean
Condor on the war memorial
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Metropolitan Cathedral
of Quito
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The glory of Quito -the discovery
of the Amazon River
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Plaza de la Independencia
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Surprise! El Presidente
himself,
Rafael Correa. The people in
the square - including a lot of
schoolgirls - squealed equally for
him and a nearby soccer star
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Quito street
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Interior, El Sagrario
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Interior, El Sagrario
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Church of La Compañia de
Jesús |
Interior, Church of La
Compañia de Jesús
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Church of San Francisco
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...and plaza
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Plaza de San Francisco
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The Virgen del Quito statue,
made of over 7000 pieces
of aluminum, on El Panecillo
hill
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View from El Panecillo
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