Basic HTML Version
104
JUNE 2012
•
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
THREE PERFECT DAYS
||
QUITO
the speakers. It could pass for a European lo , but as you
se le into a table by the window and take in the view of
the Iglesia deGuápulo, past colonial houses arrayed along
narrow cobblestone streets, you realize you couldn’t be
anywhere but here.
DAY THREE
| You’re up early, and your new addiction to
fresh juice made from fruit you’ve never heard of lures
you to the capacious
Santa Clara Market
, an easy drive in
your rental car. Local shoppers arehere formeats, produce,
flowers and spices, but youmake a beeline for a juice stall
andorder a rejuvenating concoctioncontainingalfalfa, egg
and
naranjilla
juice. A er downing itwhere you stand, you
join diners huddled over steaming plates of chicken and
rice at one of the endless countertop eateries.
While Quito has seen an explosion of high-end brand-
name stores, along with curated shops like Tianguez and
Olga Fisch, the real deal is a 90-minute drive up the Pan-
American Highway, in a town called
Otavalo
. There, the
Otavaleños, an industrious ethnic group known around
theworld forAndeanhandicra s, have createdabrowser’s
paradise. At Poncho Plaza, you wind through a maze of
vendors hawking vibrant tapestries, hammock chairs,
armadillo-shell guitars and herbal remedies. You come to
a stall covered with tiny paintings on drumlike squares
of canvas, pick out the brightest one and break for lunch.
Just up the road is the 300-year-old
Hacienda Pinsaquí
,
once the site of a textilemanufacturer and nowa 30-suite
hotel and restaurant. You order potato soup and the
regional specialty
carne colorada
: meat (in this case,
CULTURAL FABRIC
This page, clockwise from top left, a Corpus Christi garment
at Casa del Alabado; José Luis Pichamba demonstrating one of his pan flutes; pork
confit taquitos at Zazu; opposite, the Basílica del Voto Nacional
THREE PERFECT DAYS
||
QUITO