A Beautiful Surprise
None of us knew what to expect of Quito. Frankly, I’m not sure I knew it existed before we decided to travel to the Galapagos as part of our round the world journey. But it has been a beautiful surprise.
Flanked by volcanic peaks, blessed by near perfect weather and home to friendly and helpful people, Quito has proven to be an excellent starting point for our adventure.
We’ve been spending most of our time in Old Town, the historic center of Quito. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1978. In 2006 the city completed a massive multi-million dollar restoration program that has revitalized Centro, as the Quitenos refer to it.
Narrow streets, colonial architecture and lively plazas make it a great place to wander.
Here are some of the sights from our first days here.
A view of Quito from our hotel’s rooftop deck.
View from the Plaza Grande.
View from Plaza San Francisco.
Detailed stonework on the La Compania de Jesus.
Conor mets a street performer on the Plaza Grande.
You can see more pictures of Quito here.
5 comments
Hi guys!
Beautiful photos.. and the video.. I can sense the excitement of leaving!
One of my goals is knowing my own continent better (South America), but I have to admit that I had never really thought about going to Quito.. until now!
I love the first photo… and the last. =)
Hi James Family!
We are so excited for you all. The photos are wonderful! We will be checking in often. ENJOY!!!
Brad, Dawn and Hanna
Honey, we’re not in Wheaton anymore.
i wanna meet that street performer! he looks cool!
[…] seems like just yesterday we were wandering through Old Town Quito, wondering if we’d made some kind of crazy mistake by taking this […]