The music of Ecuador is varied. Listen to classic rock, jazz and salsa coming from taxis with open windows and no riders. In this city of parades, marching band music abounds. The local symphony orchestra hosted a recent concert, free of charge, which was wonderful. (Two Who Trek think it is best described as South America’s version of the Boston Pops.) Continue reading
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Cuenca celebrates Christmas
UPDATE – 1-23-2013 — Two Who Trek attended a presentation yesterday and found there are many more Christmas-related celebrations. For example, Cuenca holds a Christmas parade that is over 8 hours long. Plus there is the Festival of the Wikis (no, not information sources. In this case it is a native word for tears) that starts three days before and ends three days after Christmas. Daily celebrations occur on the twelve days following Christmas.
Please consider this blog post as being just what Two Who Trek have seen during their stay. It is not meant to be a complete listing of all the Cuenca celebrations. If we provided that, WordPress might run out of server space! Now the original story:
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As Two Who Trek wander through the streets of Cuenca today, the city seems a little less festive. That’s because the Christmas lights and displays have been stored for another year. But when we first arrived, we marveled at all the decorations Cuenca had throughout the town. Continue reading
A Vacation within a Vacation
or Why has Two Who Trek been quiet so long?
The Spanish studies program in Cuenca offers a four day “spring break” halfway through the month-long stay. The program organizers encourage students to explore new possibilities during this period. About half the students in our group stayed in the Cuenca area; a few took advantage of day bus trips offered by the school to nearby towns. A couple went by van with some Cuencanos to Baños, a resort town to the north, reached by driving through the “Avenue of the Volcanos”
Our program organizers took a van load of students to a coastal resort community in northern Peru. One couple decided to venture to Macchu Piccu, the place where Two Who Trek made their first trip outside of North America in 2006.
Categories: blog, classes, Cuenca, ecuador, galapagos national park, lessons, photos, preparation, travel
Tags: cruise, cuenca, ecuador, galapagos, galapagos national park, pricing, ship, travel
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Almuerzo, anyone?
After a full morning of Spanish lesson classes, Two Who Trek either enjoy an almuerzo with friends or lunch on their own. Almuerzos are a restaurant’s lunch special of the day. They include fresh juice, soup, meat, potato, rice and dessert. Portions often look small when compared to typical US servings but are perfect to fill a hungry student! Continue reading
Spanish School Studies Start Simply
Two Who Trek Visit Markets as Part of the Lessons
For three mornings, Two Who Trek were in Spanish class at the Simon Bolivar Spanish School. No big deal, right? It was for Joe! Never having studied any language other than French in high school, the first day was a bit disconcerting. No worries. Angel is a good instructor and Joe advances at his own pace. Joe now knows about a hundred Spanish words and is enjoying the challenge.
Sherri’s instructor, Viviana, encourages her to remember previous college classes and build on those lessons. Even with prior Spanish classes, Sherri really finds it challenging to put thoughts into words in another language. Continue reading
Cajas National Park
To celebrate New Year’s Day (and because everything was closed in Cuenca for the holiday), Two Who Trek hopped on a bus with fellow travelers and headed for Cajas National Park, located about 30 km to the west of Cuenca. The road to the park was very good, primarily because the park is located on the main route between Cuenca and Guayakill. Continue reading
Categories: blog, Cuenca, dining, ecuador, food, mountain, photos, restaurants, travel
Tags: cajas, cajas national park, cuenca, ecuador, park, photos, restaurant, travel
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Cuenca Edible Art
UPDATE 1/8/2013 — At first Two Who Trek didn’t know what image was being created in the series of photographs below. However, our travel agent pointed out today that the pictures were upside down! The image being created is that of a chola cuencana, a local woman in the native dress.
Thanks, Maria, for the correction! We’ve updated the story below.
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Tonight Two Who Trek joined the rest of the AHI travel group for a fine meal at Tiesto’s Restaurant, currently ranked #2 of 111 restaurants in Cuenca on TripAdvisor.com. After a fine Ecuadorian style meal, the restaurant served desserts on platters hand-painted (yes, painted) by Chef Juan Carlos himself. OK, it’s not real paint he uses but food products — hence the name, edible art. Continue reading
Categories: Cuenca, dining, ecuador, food preparation, photos, restaurants, travel
Tags: cuenca, dessert, ecuador, edible art, fine dining, photos, restaurant, travel
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An awesome place to spend New Year’s Eve
Cuenca, Ecuador is a fantastic place to spend New Year’s Eve! No, wait – that’s not quite correct. Cuencanos celebrate “Años Viejos”, the Old Year. The festivities are more focused on saying farewell to the old year than in welcoming the new one. However, all the celebrations are much more elaborate than any in the United States.
Categories: blog, celebrations, Cuenca, ecuador, Journals, photos, travel
Tags: celebration, cuenca, customs, ecuador, festivals, monigote, new year's eve, photos, south america, travel
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The Markets in Gualaceo and Chordeleg
Check cuy off the gastronomic list! Cuy, pronounced like coo-ee, is an Andean delicacy that we missed trying in Peru on our 2006 trip. Cuy can be charcoal roasted (as we had) or baked. What is cuy? Most people know it as guinea pig. Forget that Sherri once had a pet guinea pig named Ginger. The Andean guinea pigs are born to become part of special celebrations, like holiday dinners. Cuy is delicious! Joe thinks it tastes like really sweet chicken and Sherri thinks it tastes a lot like dove. Continue reading
Cuenca at last!
Two Who Trek arrived in Cuenca after a forty minute flight from Quito, a trip that would have taken about 12 hours by bus. We were taken by bus to the Hotel Victoria, a small, lovely hotel that was a 17th century “hanging home” that overlooks the River Tomebamba, separating the historic center of Cuenca from the more modern area. The hotel is owned by Daniel and his mother and features many homey touches, such as afghans hand-woven by the mother. It was like staying in someone’s hacienda. Continue reading
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