Living in Ecuador Blog

By Gary Phillips

Okay, friends, It’s time for a little heart-to-heart talk.  But first, a little about my background. . .

Back in 1973, I earned a degree in journalism from a small Minnesota college.  One of the required courses was called, “First Amendment Law—Freedom of the Press.”

It was taught by a practicing criminal attorney and was known as the toughest course on campus. Each year, (yup, taught only once a year) the professor would give only two A’s to the 40 or so students attending.

Well, folks, I got one of those A’s.

I loved the course and sucked up the information.  You see, at that stage in my life, I had the mistaken idea that journalism could save the world. I was right in that it had the potential to save the world, but potentiality is a long way from reality.

The one thing I did learn is that our founding fathers felt so strongly about the importance of free press that they said in very clear terms:  “Congress shall make no laws….abridging the freedom of the press.” How much clearer can you get than that?

So you can imagine how greatly incensed and shocked I was when I recently read articles about the U.S. Coast Guard issuing a “regulation” that prevented reporters covering the Gulf oil spill from coming within 65 feet of any booming operations, boom, or oil spill response operations under penalty of law, and a $40,000 fine.

Well, I guess the founding fathers forgot to specify “the congress and the coast guard” when they wrote the first amendment.

So what does this mean?  It means that one of the most basic freedoms of U.S. citizens as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution is toast. Toast–as in history, kaput, finito.

Now, if the coast guard can make a regulation that prevents reporters from reporting on the biggest environmental screw-up in the history of the world, then what else do you think they, or the pentagon, or homeland security, or the national guard, or the irs, or any other of the alphabet soup agencies can do to you?

I’ll answer that in case you’re stumped…..Exactly anything they want to do.

And what do they want?  They want to be paid by the highest bidder—the mega corporations.  And these mega corporations, most of whom are subsidized by your tax dollars–the oil industry, auto industry, health care industry, food industry, aerospace industry, arms industry, only to name a few–can now, according to a recent supreme court decision, take your tax dollars and invest them in political contributions to any cause or politician, just as can any individual. How can we compete with that?

If that makes you feel a bit uncomfortable, it should.   In fact, it better make you feel very uncomfortable.  Because in my estimation, as the old saying goes, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

If you haven’t figured out that our country is being run by a corporatocracy that makes Mussolini look like a piker, then you’re not paying attention. Here’s a link that may help you wake up and smell the roses (or smell the corruption):

But the outpouring of shockingly illogical news continues.  A week ago I read that one of the most dangerous drugs ever unleashed against an unknowing public (aspartame), which, by the way, is currently in more than 4,000 food products, was hammered into approval by lobbyists for the food industry.

Here’s a quote about this killer.  You might want to put down your diet Coke while you read this:  “The FDA has approved the product for mass consumption, in spite of overwhelming evidence that aspartame can have neurotoxic, metabolic, allergenic, fetal and carcinogenic effects. When we question how such a substance has not been banned, one simply needs to look at the billions of dollars generated by the sale of aspartame each year.”   Click here to read the full article.

The same FDA that approved this killer drug had this to say about a law suit filed to prevent it from regulating the interstate sale of raw milk: “Plaintiffs’ assertion of a ‘fundamental right to their own bodily and physical health, which includes what foods they do and do not choose to consume for themselves and their families’ is similarly unavailing because plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to obtain any food they wish.”

What??? Have I fallen down Alice’s rabbit hole?  Am I in the Twilight Zone?  Believe me, I am not making this up.  Check it out for yourselves, please.

I grew up on a Minnesota farm drinking raw milk. It was normal, natural, and needless to say, I never suffered from any illnesses related to tainted milk, even when the cow’s teats were not super-cleaned before milking.

This is our country, the good ol’ U.S. of A.  Does “land of the free, home of the brave” ring a bell?  Do you think that freedom of speech, freedom of press and freedom of religion as ensconced in the first amendment to the U.S. constitution means that unelected Washington bureaucrats can tell us what we can eat and what we can’t?  I don’t think so.

While you’re up there in the states, scouring the grocery shelves for raw milk to no avail, there’s a woman who drives by my door here in Cotacachi, Ecuador, every day in a 1968 land rover selling milk that she and her husband milked from their cows that very morning.  Price:  $.50 per quart.  And nobody in the government says squat to her.

You can read Linda’s article in this newsletter about a wonderful organic raw milk dairy and cheese factory that uses “unpasteurized” (is it still legal even to use that word!) milk to make heavenly cheeses.  It’s only about five miles from Cotacachi.

Now I can return to the habits of my childhood and gulp down all the delicious, healthy, raw milk I want.  And I do.  Nobody tries to arrest me, either.

Folks, I hate to sound like a fear monger, but I think there’s a tsunami coming to the U.S.  The foxes are running the hen house and if anybody thinks that much changed after the last election, then just check out what’s (still) happening in Afghanistan.

Check out how the health care industry will profit from the health care bill.

Check out what the financial regulation bill is going to do for regulating derivatives.

Do a bit of Goggling and see how many thousands of people died this past year from FDA-approved drugs.

And if you think the FDA has a monopoly giving corporations what they want,  take a look at other regulatory agencies, like the Mineral Management Service, which was in charge of insuring the safety of the oil rig that blew up. How about the Securities and Exchange Commission that regulates the Wall Street mavens who were responsible for creating the “banks too big to fail,” and the subsequent multi-trillion dollar bail out?  Friends, the list is endless.

Since this is a column that is ultimately about Ecuador, I want to report a phenomenon that is occurring here in Cotacachi.  I can’t tell you how many times in the past two months someone has walked into our Eagle and Condor Internacional Real Estate office and announced, “I’m going to build a new residential development.  Will you sell it for me?”

There are only about 8,000 residents in Cotacachi, but at this writing, I have counted at least 350 – 400 units that are either under construction or in the planning stages–condos, single family homes, townhouses, mini-fincas (farms), and at last report, a 70-unit assisted living facility. I’m scratching my head, wondering where in the world the people are going to come from to populate all these homes.

And as soon as my mind goes there, that catchy little phrase from the movie, “Field of Dreams,” pops into my head—“Build it and They Will Come.”

In the mid- to late-1930’s, those who had eyes to see and ears to hear and the financial resources to do so, left Nazi Germany in droves until Hitler closed the escape hatches.  Most of them fled to the U.S. and survived. Is a similar thing happening today in the U.S., in reverse?

Truly, I don’t know.  My God, I hope I’m wrong! But one thing I do know is that you better keep your eyes and ears open and your passport current. 

However, just in case I’m not wrong, perhaps you might forward this column to any of your friends and family members whom you think could use a little wake-up call.

And that’s this week’s “View from the Roof.”

If you want to just “consider the possibility” that Ecuador may offer an escape hatch for you and your family, you may want to join us on our next Living in Ecuador Course and Real Estate tour set for Sept. 16 – 18th. Click here to learn about it.

15 Comments »
Filed under: About Ecuador, View from the Roof

Healthy Living in Cotacachi, Ecuador:  A Dairy with Raw Organic Milk and Cheese

After living in Cotacachi for some time, we had begun to think the story of an organic dairy that makes and sells raw organic cheese was nothing but a rumor.  For two years Gary and I kept hearing about this great little dairy with fabulous organic cheese not too far from Cotacachi, but none of the taxi drivers we asked knew where it was.  A few people in town had heard of it, but didn’t know how to find it.

When I got a strong hankering for some really good aged cheese, we did some deeper asking around.  Finally we found a van driver who knew the way to the dairy.

He took us out into the country, down the road that was once the primary route to Colombia from Quito.  As the altitude decreased, the climate grew warmer and close to the town of Atuntaqui, after a few turns, we entered rusted double doors and drove down a path lined with huge palms.

There was no sign or name on the door. And no cows to be seen from the entry.  We never would have found it alone.

I immediately felt as if I had stepped into a fairy tale. The road led down through rows of majestic palms to a picturesque white building.

All around us stretched storybook green pastures with wooden fences, corrals, happy cows grazing and serenely chewing their cuds. 

It was a scene right out of my childhood.  I half-expected to see my grandfather, dressed in overalls and a plaid shirt, coming toward me with a bucket.

Patricia Hidrobo, the dairy owner, showed us around.  The dairy is a dream come true for her and her husband.

52 brown Jersey cows munched in fields of oats and green grass, queens of a green domain that covers 25 hectares, or about 60+ acres.

Newborn calves watched doe-eyed from their meadow cribs of thick green grass, as happy as any babies I’ve ever seen.

The dairy cows are treated like royalty.  Each one is named and her name recorded on a board that hangs on the wall of the main building.

Each cow produces 15-16 liters of milk each day.  If well cared for, a Jersey cow will produce for up to 13 years.  Jerseys are said to produce the best milk.  The best Jersey cows come from the U.S. and Canada.

On the property is the remains of an old hacienda. There are many old haciendas in the area, built by Simon Bolivar to house his men. This hacienda is only about 100 years old and is in disrepair.

This huge avocado tree near the hacienda is only 20 years old.

Behind the hacienda, the owners have stored tall stacks of chanool, a fine hardwood that is becoming difficult to find.  When the time is right, they will sell this stash of wood to finance restoration of the hacienda.  Evidently, the chanool, like their cheeses, is better when aged.

Patricia and her husband bought the finca, or farm, about ten years ago, just the hacienda and land.

They have since built other buildings on the property.  After finding their expert cheese maker while on vacation in the mountains near Zurich, Switzerland, they persuaded him to make the trip to Ecuador to assist them in perfecting their cheese recipes and processing.

He has been coming to Ecuador for years, usually in the summer, testing their cheese quality and helping them develop new recipes. He certifies their cheeses as being made in the Swiss tradition.

Their cheese is Alpine cheese made from his recipes.  There are seven cheeses, including Montana, only made in the summer when the cows are in the mountains eating grass.  It is an organic, all natural cheese.

The dairy makes two kinds of cheese each day, from both raw and pasteurized milk—hard as well as soft cheeses.  The hard cheeses are always made from raw milk for best quality and flavor.

U.S. Commerce allows them to sell raw milk cheese in the U.S. but they cannot sell raw milk. Their milk is marked sanitary.

The cheese is sold mostly in Ecuador. Patricia would like to develop more markets in the United States and Canada for her cheeses.

A white-tiled room houses the spotlessly clean steel and copper cheese-making equipment. The Swiss machinery was brought to Ecuador by boat, then put in place in the dairy.

After the cheeses are made, the 3-kilo wheels  of cheese are stored in wall racks in an underground vault with stone walls. Every eight days the cheese wheels must be cleaned.

Some are scrubbed in wine during the aging process, which changes the flavor.

During the aging process, the wheels lose a few grams, depending upon how long they are aged.  The vault’s temperature is held steady at 12 degrees C. with 85% humidity.  Cheeses ready to sell or ship are kept in a steel cooler.

“Ah, that ammonia smell—a great smell for great cheese,” proclaimed Vashti, a visitor to Cotacachi and to the dairy.  She writes a food and wine column for a California publication.

Back above ground, we were all treated to generous samples of the dairy’s cheeses—Mutschli, a semi-hard cheese made from raw milk, Dorado, one of 3 kinds of gruyeres they make and Fresco de Montana, six days’ old and made from pasteurized milk.

Yanayacu is another gruyere, only seven months old and sweet.  Dorado de Montana is an 8-month-old cheese, which is aged up to 2 ½ years.

Ten years ago Patricia decided to make cheese and bought the farm.  On vacation in Europe she learned of new cheese products.  She found people happily enjoying all kinds of cheeses with wines, which at the time was a gustatory combination not indulged in much in Ecuador.

She has four people to milk the cows for her—2 couples who work alternate days–plus one administrator, a gardener and one helper.

Four cows are milked at a time.  Eight cows enter the milking area at one time, but four eat while the other four are milked.  The milking takes one minute per cow, or one hour for the whole herd and milking is done twice a day.

Gary and I have not drunk milk for years, but quickly joined other gringos from Cotacachi in purchasing milk weekly from the dairy.  For a while, one couple went each Thursday to pick up the raw milk and bring it back to Cotacachi for all of us.

Prices are currently $.50 a liter or $2.50 per gallon. The milk has several inches of thick cream on the top.  We can make butter from the cream, shaking it for an hour in a lidded jar.

Want to have a wine and cheese party? Patricia’s brother makes organic white wine at his organic winery on the road to Intag.

Click here to read more about raw milk.

5 Comments »
Filed under: About Ecuador, Cotacachi, Cotacachi Indigenous, Ecuador Culture, Ecuador Health Care, Ecuador Lifestyle, Ecuadorian food, Living in Ecuador, Places in Ecuador, Uncategorized

Natural Healing in Ecuador: An Egg a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

Eggs seem to figure greatly in Blanca’s natural medicine cabinet and we’ve been giving her plenty of opportunity to practice her healing arts lately. She brought me great relief with aloe vera kept in place with an eggshell lining bandage when I injured my knee on an escalator.  Next, she gave Gary an egg cure when he got food poisoning, bolulism, salmonella or something awful  in a local restaurant.

After four days of nausea, no appetite, constant bouts of diarrhea and low energy, when he simply couldn’t eat or even rouse himself from bed he felt so depleted, Gary took a stool sample to a local clinic for diagnosis.  The nurse could find nothing wrong—no parasites, no infection, no flu bugs. She asked if he had eaten in a restaurant the night before his problems began and he had.

“Ate any mayo or catsup in the restaurant?” she asked, and he said, “Yes.” She related that restaurant owners often make their own condiments and leave them unrefrigerated all day, so that is the most likely source of his discomfort.  Her advice was to take no medicine at all, just to wait a few more days and he would get over it.  Quite the opposite advice of Western medicine.

But Blanca had other ideas, proclaiming that Gary had ‘mal de calle.’  She told him to throw away the electrolytes he had bought.  Off she went for a while, returning to our kitchen where she brewed him a hot, dark green drink and a pitcher of brownish liquid—all made from Ecuador herbs, flowers and grasses she’d gone out and gathered fresh.

Next she boiled up some lemon-scented herbs in a pot and brought the concoction to his bedside.  The moment she walked into the room, the air was filled with the most heavenly scent.

She asked Gary to inhale the infusion.  The smell was so heady and enticing that I began to breathe in deeply, too. In fact, I wanted to drink it, it was so yummy-smelling!  After a few minutes having him inhale with his head over the pot, she left it by his bed and asked him to lie down.

The aroma was absolutely heavenly, the best incense or infusion imaginable, like being in a celestial herb garden on a summer day. The mixture smelled very  pungent and lemony, but like cedron or citronella.  I saw long green eucalyptus leaves and borage in the pot, but there were probably other Ecuador herbs and plants as well.

Blanca passed an egg over Gary’s prone body, rubbing it vigorously over his torso and limbs.  She shook it near his ear to show that at first it was liquid and runny, like a regular egg.  When she finished her treatment after only 3 or 4 minutes, the egg was solid, no sound at all.

She had him spit on the egg 3 times, covered him with a blanket, and left our apartment quickly, taking the egg with her.  She had previously instructed him not to say, “thank you,” to her.

Blanca’s mother was a well-known Ecuador healer. Clients came from Quito, Ibarra, all over, to consult with her.  Blanca says that her 6-year-old daughter Lady and son Felix have both been taught to do this cure.

She assured Gary he would be much better in the morning.  It took longer than that, but in about 24 hours his energy and appetite returned and he felt much improved.

I’m going to find out what Blanca cooked up and have it sitting around the apartment all the time, just because it smells so great.  Better than any incense.  I feel much higher energy myself just from breathing in the scent of these wonderful Ecuador herbs.

No Comments »
Filed under: Cotacachi, Cotacachi Indigenous, Ecuador Culture, Ecuador Health Care, Ecuador Lifestyle, Ecuadorian food, Living in Ecuador

Ecuador Intag Coffee: Wake Up and Smell the Coffee
I’ve always understood the phrase, “Wake up and smell the coffee,” to mean, “Get real, come to your senses, see what’s really going on.”  Well, after moving to Ecuador I got a chance to do just that, and coincidentally, the very thing I am coming to my senses about is. . . coffee.

Living in the  southern part of the U. S. for much of my early life, I drank copious amounts of sweet iced tea because that was what we did in Louisiana and Texas, where temps routinely hover in the ‘90’s and 100’s for months at a time.  It’s the traditional and delicious way to hydrate and keep cool. I drank ice tea with white sugar and lemon for breakfast, lunch, dinner and in between–whenever I was thirsty and often in place of plain water.

Then, decades ago, I started reading about the negative health effects of caffeine and gave up my sugary ice tea cold-turkey.  The symptoms of jitteriness and headaches that followed seemed to confirm that the caffeine in tea was not good for me.

I played it safe and healthy for years, drinking mostly water, herbal, organic or fruit teas or fresh juices.  I rarely drank alcohol, colas or artificial drinks.

While living and working in Los Angeles I was introduced to iced lattes by a friend.  On work breaks we would dash down Santa Monica Boulevard to grab a cold one and I began to notice a craving for them.  I would get a not-so-subtle feeling in both my stomach and my tongue, a double whammy of hunger and desire and the answer would float before my eyes—a cold cuppa coffee, icy, extra sweet, extra strong, topped with a thick layer of whipped cream.

After leaving L. A., it was fairly easy for me to sublimate this new-found addiction for frappachinos—geographic cures do work sometimes.  With no Starbucks around, my Pavlovian coffee cravings weren’t triggered. . . until I found Starbucks coffee ice cream in supermarkets.  So I substituted ice cream for coffee.

Bag of Intag coffee beans.

But living in Ecuador, the coffee craving has returned, especially after my first cup of Intag coffee. I politely said yes at the home of an Ecuadorian neighbor when she offered us a cup of coffee and insisted it was the best coffee there is.

After our first sip, Gary and I agreed with her!  Wow!  Although we are not really coffee drinkers, there was no denying the superiority of this brew: incredible aroma, delicious flavor with no bitter or acidic aftertaste.  Just pure gustatory and olfactory delight!

But what about my health, I wondered?  If I continue to drink this delicious stuff, will I become a nervous wreck, develop jitters, cancer, high blood pressure?

At least the reports about coffee these days are not all negative.  Many hail the health benefits of coffee.  But others don’t.  Which ones were correct?

I am happy to report that a NYTimes article had some reassuring news for me regarding the health aspects of java juice.  Read “Sorting Out Coffee’s Contradictions,” by Jane E. Brody.

The following is a quick recap of her article.  It is mostly based on information compiled by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, from a number of different scientific investigations.  Coffee drinkers of the world—rejoice!

Coffee Curses–Myths, Not Truth

Coffee Curse # 1 – Coffee is a diuretic.

New Findings – Only after drinking over 575 milligrams of caffeine is caffeine diuretic.  A Starbucks grande has 330 milligrams of caffeine.  Consuming less than 575 milligrams of coffee is the same as drinking water and is hydrating for the body.

Coffee Curse #2 – Coffee is a stimulant and increases the risk of heart attack or death.

New Findings – Cardiologists at UCSF found little evidence that coffee or caffeine in normal amounts increase these risks, as did a review of 10 studies of over 400,000 people.

What seems closer to the truth is that “nothing in excess” is the best advice for me. After studying the effects of drinking 1-3 cups of coffee daily on thousands of women, the Iowa Women’s Health Study concluded that the risk of heart disease was reduced by 24%, but the risk rose as more coffee was consumed.

Coffee Curse #3– Caffeine causes higher blood pressure.

New Findings – Yes, caffeine can precipitate a temporary, very small rise in blood pressure, but in a study of 155,000 nurses, women who drank coffee with or without caffeine for 10 years were no more likely to develop hypertension than non-coffee drinkers. A Johns Hopkins study of over 1,000 men for 33 years found that drinking coffee had very little effect in the development of hypertension.

Coffee Curse #4 — Drinking coffee leads to greater risk of pancreatic cancer.

New Findings – 66 studies found that drinking coffee has practically no effect on the risk of developing pancreatic cancer or kidney cancer. Another study of 59,000 Swedish women revealed that caffeine intake doesn’t cause breast cancer.

Coffee Curse #5 – Caffeine consumption leads to bone loss.

New Findings – Studies show a small reduction in the body’s ability to absorb calcium and no impact on calcium excretion.

Health Benefits of Coffee Consumption

Can you believe it?  After all these years, now the experts are saying that coffee drinking enhances the following—

1.    Elevated mood and feelings of happiness
2.    Increased mental and physical ability, better memory
3.    More energy
4.    Increased sociability
5.    Improved alertness
6.    Better reaction time

Interestingly enough, 13 studies indicate that caffeinated coffee actually lowers the risk of Parkinson’s disease by 30% and drinking either caffeinated or decaf coffee will lower the risk of Type 2 diabetes by 28%. It’s full of antioxidants.

For more details, read Brody’s full article here

All these studies practically make me think that coffee may be a health food since so many positive side effects have been discovered.

Gary and I have taken to drinking 12-oz. frozen moccachinos or frappachinos from a coffee shop in Ibarra. The Mocha Frozen is my favorite.  Delicious and less than $2 each.

While coffee will never replace my fresh morning juice, I am dropping my guilt about drinking coffee, that dark brown ambrosia that I formerly thought was so bad for my health.

Viva café!

No Comments »
Filed under: Cotacachi, Ecuadorian food, Living in Ecuador

A Spring Walk Around Old Town Quito

May in Old Town Quito can be absolutely enchanting.  Sometimes the sky is a brilliant blue, dotted with puffy white clouds that seem so close you could reach out and touch them.  Gary and I had a great few days in Old Town this May, walking the cobbled lanes and enjoying street performers.  We’d initially come to Quito with friends to attend the ballet.

When I heard that the Russian Royal Ballet was coming to Quito I had to get tickets for two reasons:  Gary loves ballet and his daughters are both dancers, plus our Russian friend Liliya felt certain we would love it, especially since the dancers were performing in the gracious old Teatro Bolivar in the heart of Quito.

The theater is about 70 years old.  It has been sitting unused and forlorn for years after a fire damaged the interior.  While the balcony is still unusable, the main theater has been renovated.

Liliya offered to get us tickets and I gratefully accepted, since getting tickets for some performances in Quito can be like walking a maze with no end in sight.  She had to make 3 trips to the theater—first to buy the tickets, then to take her receipt back to pick up the tickets, only to be told she couldn’t pick them up, and finally to accompany us to the theater the night of the ballet to pick up our tickets since they had been bought with her cedula and no one else could receive them.

Luckily, she and her husband Leo live in an apartment only a few blocks away and she is an unusually patient person, accepting the unfathomable Ecuador customs with far more resolve and equanimity than I can ever muster.

We invited two friends from Cotacachi to go with us—Deborah and Leslie, part-time Cotacachi inhabitants.  They spend about six months in Cotacachi and the rest of their time in India, with visits to the U.S.  They bravely agreed to tackle a bus ride with us.  There were rumors circulating about an upcoming strike by the indigenous over water rights, but the roads were open and free of bonfires!

Our first stop was not in Old Town, but rather in the “New Town” area.   We found a great Italian restaurant right down the street.

Capuleto is on Eloy Alfaro.  The cross street is Los Shyris and it is close to Parque Carolina.  We enjoyed one of the best meals I have had in Quito and in one of the most pleasant settings. Our leisurely lunch in the open courtyard was accompanied by the splash of water in the fountain, the murmur of families dining together and the heady aroma of a very good red wine.  Service, ambience, food and wine were all excellent.  The tiramisu is some of the best I’ve had.

We stayed at a hostal many gringos like when in Quito.  La Mancha is ideally situated for easy walking all over Old Town. The rooms are very inexpensive and it’s never been full because there are so many rooms.

The hostal is locked day and night so you have to ring for the porter to let you in, which lends a feeling of extra security.  The rooms are spare but clean and there are 70 channels for all-night channel surfing.

Photo by Jean Marc

No trip to Old Town Quito is complete without a meander up the steep cobbled streets of La Ronda, two blocks of beautifully restored colonial buildings that now house shops, restaurants, bars and museums.   La Ronda was once just a path down to the river and later a hangout for the city’s bohemian population, becoming one of Quito’s most dangerous areas in the 20th century.

The ballet was a treat—well-executed, charming and professional.  We especially loved the dancer in red and black who exhibited a great deal of personality and flair.

The dancers performed two acts from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, including Danza Española.

Sunday was our walk-about day.  We had breakfast in a restaurant right across from Teatro Bolivar on Calle Espejo.  They obviously weren’t used to serving breakfast, because the waiter didn’t understand about putting the veggies inside the omelet and couldn’t get straight who ordered what.  After 3 tries he got it right.

But the views from the restaurant balcony are spectacular.  The friendly restaurant owner talked about the area and pointed out churches.

Right next door is a beautiful but neglected building that looks like a church.  Its domed roof is still commanding, but windows are broken and it is in sad shape.  We were told that many such buildings are to be found all over Old Town.

The restaurant owner told us that apartments in similar old buildings can be rented for under $100 per month and have wonderful old architectural features.  This entire building is now empty except for shop rentals on the first floor.

These two pictures are shot from Calle de Espejo  down Del Comercio Bajo in one direction and down Calle Guayaquil the other direction toward the Panecillo, the huge winged Virgin statue that dominates a hill near the now-defunct bus terminal.  You can see the Virgin in the distance.

This picture is a side view of the entrance to La Compania, purported to be the most beautiful church in all of South America.  The ornate columns outside are nothing compared to the treasures inside the church.

Rich Jesuits lavished the church with 7 tons of gold, glorifying God in the highest.  It is certainly one of the wealthiest churches around.  The fine interiors are known as the Sistine Chapel of Quito, an ornate masterpiece.  Other architectural gems line the street.

A short distance from the Cathedral we were entertained by a bunch of Ecuadorian “redskins” in North American costume.  We stopped to listen for quite a while to their haunting flutes and drums.

Behind them but probably unnoticed by the gyrating Indians was a door with a fierce lion clenching a bar in its teeth.  I’ll bet one of the master wood carvers in San Antonio de Ibarra could make a door just like this one.

If you’d like to tour Old Town Quito, give our friend Liliya a call.  She and Leo will give you a lively and informative insiders’ look at the area. You’ll discover things about Old Town that few gringos know about.  Contact them at—
Legends of Old Quito with Liliya and Leo
Cell: 08 703 8310
Email: lbassist2003@yahoo.com

1 Comment »
Filed under: About Ecuador, Ecuador Culture, Ecuador Hotels, Ecuador Travel Information, Ecuadorian food, Places in Ecuador, Quito, Quito Culture, Quito walking tours, Uncategorized