Our first stop was to El Panecillo, a mountain overlooking most of Quito and home to a massive statue of the Virgin of Quito. From this point, Jenny showed me where to find the Centro Histórico and other important landmarks of the city at night. I took a few pictures with my camera phone, but unfortunately none of the city shots came out that great, nor did my silly attempt to capture the Virgin from the monument's base. Nonetheless, we stayed at the top for a good half-hour, then were chased out by the people trying to close the place for the night. After a super-hot beverage that tasted like a mixture of lemonade, orange juice and cinnamon (how I wish I could remember its name...), we hopped back into the car and descended towards the Centro.
Starting at the plaza of the Church of San Francisco, pictured above, we worked our way through the area, partly on foot, partly on wheels. I especially enjoyed walking through the streets, as they were nearly empty, except for a couple harmless bums and the police. Jenny and her mom both mentioned to me that the city was trying hard to keep the area safe, as they knew the area was popular for tourists, especially to see the lit-up structures at night. It was also great that, in spite of what I read from the weather forecast before arriving in Quito, that we didn't get any rain that night, much to the benefit of my phone's camera. I'd say I was pretty lucky to see all the churches and old government buildings illuminated.
The Carondelet Palace (pictured above, also below the snazzy hotel) is where the Ecuadorian President lives. Funny that we, at 11:00 at night, found ourselves there at the same time as a crazy bum who had a lot on his mind. The entire time that we walked through the plaza taking pictures, this crazy guy was yelling whatever he could think of at the Palace, thinking perhaps that the President could hear. I found it annoying; then after a while, amusing. I had to give him credit: even though I understood not a word of what he was saying, the entire rant was unscripted. Regardless, there was still a lot to see in the plaza, and I'll share one last picture of something in the same area, coming from the Quito Metropolitan Cathedral:
Yes, I took a lot of pictures of churches, but in the Centro Histórico, it just so happens that they were the brightest parts of the district. Also, they represented some of the oldest buildings: the church from the first picture, for instance, was completed in 1604 (three years, in fact, before the first Englishmen landed at Jamestown). Where the geek in me nerded out over the science that we learned about at the Mitad del Mundo, the history nut went crazy in the Centro Histórico. It was probably a good thing that we visited at night, otherwise I would have had to try to snag some kind of book at one of the nearby bookstores. Anyways, after a short drive up one of the hills, we ended up at one of Ecuador's most prized buildings, also a church: the Basilica del Voto Nacional:
Of all the individual experiences I had in Ecuador this past weekend, I think that this walk through Quito at night was the best. I never expected the opportunity, especially after all the petty crime that I had heard about that happens in any city in the country. The night was perfect... a little cloudy, a few stars, and about 50 degrees out. While all my compatriots back in Pittsburgh suffer through the early spring cold snap, I have to be thankful for having dodged the vast majority of it. Anyways, I'll be back tomorrow to wrap up the Ecuador series, and I hope you all have a great night!
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