La Yunta

Our good friends Jaci and Micki invited us to join them on a group outing to La Yunta. A store and restaurant with a location in Cuenca and another larger location just south of Cuenca. The day began at the La Yunta location in town. We were greeted with a glass of champaign and hors d'oeuvres. We slapped on our name tags and introduced ourselves to the other group members and looked around at the unique furnishings. The first stop, on our way to the larger La Yunta location, was at Juana Vintimilla's gardens. 

Juana's plant nursery and gardens are amazing. Here are a few photos:

After looking around, in total awe, and purchasing a couple of plants, we loaded back into the bus and headed to La Yunta's Panamericana location.  Upon arrival, we were greeted with a glass of Canelazo. Oh, it was so good. 

While enjoying our Canelazo we toured the store. 

We then had lunch which included beef teriyaki, corn mash, avocado, potatoes, and rice. Our beverages were agua de Jamaica and more canelozo's ... followed by passion fruit cheesecake, coffee, and more Canelazo.  We were then given bars of Pacari chocolate, the best chocolate in the world, from Ecuador. 

Then, we took a look outside at the gardens and animals. 

It was a great day. As usual, we met a lot of nice people and enjoyed seeing another part of Ecuador.