Two Who Trek has briefly mentioned the Flower Market in the heart of Cuenca before. But this place is so special, we decided to give more detail and photos of the flower market.
The traditional Flower Market is on Calle Sucre, across from the new Cathedral. The market is in a small open-air plaza in front of the Church of El Carmen, a colonial era church. This square is adorned with the façade of the church and the church is made of carved stone.
The Flower Market has become a symbol of Cuenca. If you watch a television program about Cuenca, most likely a shot of the Flower Market will be included. And no wonder – not only is it a great tourist attraction, but the flowers are very reasonably priced. You can find a great variety of flowers, plants and flower bouquets for every occasion.
Two Who Trek buys different flowers weekly. Sometimes, the purchase is all roses. Other times we get gladiolas. Currently the featured bouquet consists of tiger lilies, baby`s breath and pastel roses. The best part of all is that we can create a bouquet like this for around $6 to $8. Prices are low, because almost all the flowers are grown locally. Just outside of Cuenca are large rose-growing operations like this one:
A commercial rose growing operation. The gray area represents greenhouse structures without roofs. The white represents greenhouses with roofs.
Some of the Cuenca Flower Market activity looks like this:
Cuenca Flower Market
Cuenca Flower Market
Cuenca Flower Market
Cuenca Flower Market — The spillover onto the side street.
Cuenca Flower Market
Why do Two Who Trek always buy fresh flowers? It’s because Sherri can’t have them at home – her cat likes to eat them. So Joe made a goal to have fresh flowers in the apartment throughout the stay. So far we are succeeding in accomplishing our goal.
Here are some of the arrangements Sherri has created:
Flowers inside our apartment. Notice the view outside the windows.
A Flower Arrangement in our Apartment
Roses in our apartment, from the Cuenca Flower market.
A Flower Arrangement in our Apartment
Two Who Trek 