Tour of Quito

Today we took another expensive taxi ride into the city of Quito with three new acquaintances that we met at the hotel. Last time we were here we took a tour on the Hop-On Hop-Off tour bus and enjoyed it a lot. I wanted to take the tour again so we invited our three new friends to join us. This was their first visit to Quito. My main goal was to tour The Basilica again. Once inside you walk across the catwalk above the vaulted sanctuary. Then, you climb up three sets of stairs that are literally straight up, like being on a ladder. Two of the sets of stairs are hanging precariously on the outside of the Basilica. The climb is 375 feet straight up to one of the spires. Once there you have a breathtaking view of the city. We then climbed down the stairs, went into the Basilica, and climbed more stairs, this time spiral stairs, into the Belfry. There you can see the guts of the clock and bells inside the tower. Amazing stuff. We then boarded the bus and went to the top of a mountain where there is a huge statue of an angel that overlooks Quito. Here, we got caught in a hail storm with marble sized hail. Mike and I, along with Monica, used the facilities and quickly hopped back on the bus. Benjamin and Keisha were brave and walked to the Angel in the driving rain. Of course once we boarded the bus and made the trip back down the mountain the rain stopped.  We completed the tour and then went to the mall Quicentro. This mall is like Atlanta's Phipps Plaza. Very high end. Mike and I enjoyed Pizza Hut! Yes, Pizza Hut. This was just a snack!!  We then took another very expensive taxi ride back to the hotel where we had a delicious dinner of potato soup. It was soooo good. One thing is for sure, the meals here are awesome and are HOME COOKED!!!!

Tomorrow, we may take another tour of the equator!