Fun Adventure: Quito from a different view!

 This was the super fun tour bus that we got to take on Thursday afternoon.  We sat up top and so we saw things from an unusually high perspective and therefore saw things we would never otherwise have seen.  We, Phil and I, also got to go on streets and in areas that in all our years here we never had seen.  It was the coolest thing.  I had wanted to do this since I had seen the bus last summer as I walked the Parque Carolina.  I never did get to go on a red double decker bus in London, and so this was the closest thing to it.  There was just some kind of kid lure to me of riding up high in a bright red bus.  Plus I had looked into the route and the tour, and it looked interesting and informative.  So, we finally did it on Thursday afternoon.  It was our last hurrah of our vacation time!  And it was wonderful.  I will let the pictures do the "talking" and I hope you will enjoy some of this very beautiful place that is Quito.  For those of you who once lived here, I trust it will be a happy walk down memory lane and a seeing of familiar sights.  For those of you who wished you could come, I hope it inspires you to start saving!  I will ride this bus again with you!  Any time.  My next desire is to take the night tour and see all the churches and museums lit up at night! 

 It was an overcast and rainy afternoon which was especially perfect as I got to be outside all afternoon without concern about getting burned!  There was a high top covering the bus some of the time when necessary.  This is our lovely Basillica--a gothic cathedral that took 100 years to build and it is still not finished.  The legend says that when it is finally done there will be some major catastrophe, and so that is why they continue to build slowly and not hurry to ever "finish".

 Our spectacular skies, varying shades of grays and whites in clouds and some blue way off! 

 There are some people who are doing such a lovely job of refurbishing and reclaiming the beautiful colonial sector of Quito.  It dates back to the 1500's!  How's that for history!

 I love it!   Amidst all the hustle and bustle, two pigeons on a small balcony, preening and enjoying the afternoon.  Reminded me of Mary Poppins and the song "feed the birds tupence a bag...."

 Again, the touches of the ordinary, daily life of a city dweller mixed in with all this history and beautiful architecture.  Note the geraniums on the balcony, the spray bottle of some kind of cleaner or maybe insecticide on the windowsill, the pretty lace curtains.  I wonder what the life of the person is like who has taken the time to cultivate beauty in a cramped space.

 Another building that has been repainted a lovely shade of green with white trim.  Notice the gorgeous wrought iron balcony railings.  These window/doors open wide to the inside and so it is like a little balcony only the inside opens to the outside.

 Again the touch of life in geraniums!

 Panecillo!  Laura Gowan this one and any other Panecillo picture is for you!!!! :)  Your favorite place in Quito, I know!

 Notice the crosses!  I couldn't really get a great angle, but you get the idea.  And another Mary Poppins pigeon scene!

 Love the tenacity of this gardener, whoever he/she is.  Just loved this!

 Que viva Quito!  La carita de Dios!

 Ok. there's no messing around with these flowers!  Someone has a green thumb.  This is just one of the several old old buildings that have been refurbished and are now amazing boutique hotels.  Pricey but drop dead gorgeous!

 Oh, there she is getting closer Laura!

Our bus driver was a genius and he navigated with ease these narrow streets that are sometimes climbing straight up!  At this particular spot we got in a bit of a cafuffle with a car parked illegally and a little kiss between our hubcab and their bumper, and a cop came and sorted it all out!  

Notice the stairs that are just beyond the white car.  They are the beginning of a long steep climb up to the Panecillo.  Fortunately we were in the bus!

 I couldn't find out what this beautiful church was called.  You see it looking to the east and south from the tip of the park up at the Panecillo.  I want to be able to find it up close some day.  Bucket list

 See what I mean about amazing architecture.  This is another mystery building off to the east not far from the church above.  I have no idea what it is, but I will find out!

 One of the streets we were on had a series of seven crosses in the course of its long rambling wonderful route.  They each have a history and a different date of installation.  Some were big, and some were very small and hard to see.  I wish I had been able to capture all seven, next time!

 Another of the lovely boutique hotels

And that concludes our wonderful, beautiful, double decker tour of Quito.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.