Aug 15 - Sep 3, 2016: Ecuador

Aug 15, 2016.  Grand Hotel, Quito, Ecuador

• Flew from SFO to Houston at 6 AM yesterday morning - thank you Caren for driving me.  Five hour wait in Houston for flight to Quito, arriving around midnight.  $26 taxi (fixed price) from airport to Old City ("El Centro"), maybe 45 minutes.  My first choice of hotels (La Posada Colonial) was booked, but found a room in the top floor of the Grand Hotel around the corner: clean, great views, hot water, and only $8.  I'm going to like this country!

• Biggest screwup - I somehow lost one of my hearing aids between the time I put them in my pocket before boarding the plane in SFO, and trying to put them back on just before arriving in Quito.  Oh, well, phone seems to be working ok, and my battery supply should last longer.

• This morning (my first in South America!) I had coffee and empanada verde at the Cafeteria Modelo, then started The Lonely Planet's Walking Tour of Quito.  First stop was the Plaza Grande, to watch the changing of the guards at 11.  Music, soldiers in Napoleon-style outfits complete with sabers, mounted horsemen, the works.  Had my first experience trying out Spanish with the guy standing next to me - it went better than I had expected.  I think my Coffee Break Espanol lessons have helped: my Spanish is better, and more importantly, I have more courage to try it out.      

• Now following along the walking tour - lots of baroque churches which I wasn't supposed to photograph (so I only cheated a little bit).  Need to figure out how much longer I stay in Quito, and what things to see outside the city.

• Using iGo Bluetooth keyboard with iPhone - works great.  Glad I brought it.

• Cops on Segways!  And mostly female.

• Maps.me app is the best: works without WiFi and cell, and has all the roads, sites, hotels, etc.  Route finding too.  And can save locations as favorites.

• Pablo 0995637502 (helped me find a restaurant in Quito - maps.me was way off).

I walked around the Centro Historico my first evening in Quito: