I am intrigued by this door because of the mail slot, knowing that there is no home mail delivery in Quito. Makes me say "hmmmm".
If I had to list one thing (which wouldn't be much of a list) that you find everywhere in Quito, it would be fresh bread. Every block seems to have at least one bread store, and inside you can also buy juice, water, yogurt, pastries and other such staples of daily living. And so today, I give you the back door to the Moderna bread store, a place in which you will find fresh, warm, tasty bread every day. Bread stores are called "Panaderías" in Spanish. Perhaps we should start adding something like that to our daily posts - then we could all slowly learn another language. :)
I almost chose to not post this one because the political fliers stuck to the door bother me...however, not every photo can be just as we like it, right? I do like this particular gateway though - and so here it is. You can just see some graffiti on the left white wall around the corner. Depending on the area, there is a lot of this.
Sorry to already interrupt the doorways "series" but last night we went to Capuleto's, a lovely, outdoor (but covered) Italian restaurant. A gentle rain had just finished so it was a little cool, but charcoal fire pits were near each table for warmth. The photo here is of the fountain found in the center of all the tables, and the top of the fountain is draped with some sort of full purple flower. This is one of our favorite restaurants to go to when we're looking for a little atmosphere. It was a lovely evening spent with good friends. Few things compare. :)
Yesterday I was in a neighborhood that I frequent twice a week and so this time around I took a little walking tour while I had the time. I took many pictures of the different door/gateways as there were loads of styles that grabbed my attention. I will show a few of them here over the next few days. You can see that todays was taken on a very steep hill, which is pretty much the norm around here. I find myself still winded sometimes on a hill like this even though we have lived at this elevation for some time now. Whew! Makes me tired thinkin' of it!
This is nearly the same picture that I have with my profile, but I have cropped this one a bit less and now will provide some information about it. If you click to enlarge, you will see that the base part of the picture is actually the City of Quito - with flea sized buildings. ;) This is beautiful Cotopaxi mountain and we can see this from our dining room window everyday (if the sun is shining), but is a different range of mountain from what I have shown in the past. This shot was taken from the top of the Ruccu Pichincha mountain, to which we traveled 9,843 feet via a cable car called the Teleférico. Once at the top, the views are breathtaking.
I still remember the first time we drove by this piece of art - it struck me as so funny. :) It is one of my favorites here in Quito.
I got out of my car! I took a walk! I took pictures!
Pictured here today is one of my favorite plant shots (I love taking pictures of blooming plants but have tried not to post too many of them!). I believe this is the bloom of an Aloe Aborescens and it blooms right outside our front door as well as the back yard. It is a commonly seen plant here in Quito.
Well, this is no Hennepin Bridge (a nod to my brother in Minneapolis) but it captured my eye nonetheless. This is just a little footbridge on the way to the grocery store, and honestly I don't know if I have ever noticed it before today though I drive past it at least once a week. ;)
The City of Quito has many, many statues, made of both stone and iron and yesterday, I was finally able to capture one of them since I had both good proximity and a red light. :) I have tried to find information about these two cyclists or the artist but cannot seem to lay my hands on anything at this time. Suffice it to say, I will continue to drive (safely) with my camera poised and ready to snap statues!
Spiderman, Batman, The Incredible Hulk and Robin, the boy wonder!
This photo was taken in my kitchen as I couldn't resist the bright orangey reds of these delicious peppers soaking in my sink!
I have one more Old Man picture to show, even though it's the beginning of a new year! Thought I would show you how people used these at their places of business before burning/blowing them up. This guy welcomed us to the restaurant that we went to on New Years Eve day for lunch - the sign says "Enjoy the end of the year with us".
The power shut off at our house on the 31st (a common occurrence lately) and so I wasn't able to finish telling you about these guys. They are filled with a sort of sand dust stuff and all dressed in different clothes. Many of the faces are painted to be recognizable...perhaps George W., or Spiderman...but many, many different choices of whose likeness to torch. They are sold all over the city for anywhere from $4 or so, to upwards of $20 or perhaps more.
That's all of the Old Men!
