Something pretty for your day

We went to this lovely restaurant last weekend for the first time and will definitely go back. The name of the place is "San Telmo" and their menu was divine. This place is considered to be pricey but we had a scrumptious steak that was ~$14 - something that certainly would have cost more in other parts of the world. There was live music (really fabulous music!) and a good atmosphere, so yes, we shall return.

Another part of the ceremony. This is a high ranking military officer who saluted the flag and then gave a directive to the students about their oath to the flag.

As promised, the video from the Juramento a la Bandera. This is part of the "Himno Nacional del Ecudaor", or the National Hymn of Ecuador.

Happy 100th Quito!

I think todays photo is appropriate for the 100th post for Quito, Ecuador in that this photo depicts a very Ecuadorian ceremony that is occurring in schools both yesterday and early next week. The ceremony is called "Juramento a la Bandera" and it a very "pomp and circumstance" type of gathering where Ecuadorian students pledge an oath to their flag. Tomorrow instead of a photo I will include a video and will also post a few more pictures over the next couple of days. The Ecuadorian flag shown above is being kissed by a student as he makes his oath of loyalty. I guess it's sort of like the Pledge of Allegiance for the U.S., except on a much grander scale (as you can see above, there were even military present). The colors established in the Ecuadorian Flag have a very special meaning: the yellow signifies the wealth of the Country, the blue signifies the water of the rivers, seas and the sky that shelters us, and the red signifies the blood shed by the heroes. More tomorrow...
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Another crazy statue in Quito :) Tomorrow will be my 100th post already!

Mangos, anyone?

I see this woman every week on my way to the grocery store, and her prices and produce always vary. Acutally, I shouldn't say the price varies, just the quantity, depending what's in season. Everything purchased produce wise on the street is a dollar...90 limes, 20 oranges, a bag of those delicious little potatoes she has on the left, a pint of strawberries, you name it, it's a dollar! This works well as there's no time for bargaining when you're sitting in your car waiting for the light to turn green. The sun is VERY intense here, and so you often see women with some piece of clothing or a blanket folded up and balancing on their head.

This is just a fun, silly picture that made me laugh outloud last night when I saw it, even though I was the one that took it. Yesterday we spent some time with friends at a play place and they had this ball pit, which all the kids loved. This particular picture however makes me laugh because there are two little girls in this picture, but you have to look hard to see signs of the second one...my daughter. Do you see her? Don't be looking at those white socks...look elsewhere. You may want to click the picture to enlarge. :) If you need a clue in finding her, you can see what she looks like here.

One last photo before I move on to a different topic. This one is similar to the one I posted a couple days ago but a bit of a different angle. I'm sure I'll revisit this subject again in the future!

Here is a side shot of just one section of the Basilica. Are you beginning to get the understanding of what I said when I told you I could post photos of this place for a month? I promise that I'll change the subject soon. We're looking to make the drive to snow capped Cotopaxi soon, which will yield some gorgeous scenery, I'm sure.

This guy was part of the Basilica too, and found hiding in this quiet corner. :) These are huge beautiful moths, and though I don't know what they're called I can tell you that they are the size of a small hand or bigger and they feel like fine leather. If we leave our windows open at night (which are screenless - there's very few insects at this altitude) and the curtain as well, we will most certainly see one of these resting on one of our walls in the morning.

This was taken just outside of the balcony which overlooks the sanctuary.

Here is Simon, showing the enormity of the front entrance into the Basilica. :) There is so much suberb detail around this place...I could post photos for months - HA!

I hope you have enjoyed this window series. Today is the final day but I will post a couple more shots this week of other eye-catching views within and around the Basilica, just no more windows.

Happy Valentines Day, with love from Quito!

If any of you were on my site here during the nanosecond that I had this picture posted the other day, I apologize that you're seeing it again... However! The first time I uploaded it, it was upside from how it is today and I realized that if I flipped it, the border around this particular window made a heart - and so I yanked it off to save for today. Happy Valentines Day everyone. Spend time with someone you love. :)

My options for this photo varied but I chose the one with people (my parents and my little boy)in it as it shows the entire window and then some. This photo reflects the comment that my dad made yesterday regarding the care of these beautiful windows. We were at this same location a year earlier with my in laws and in their picture (which did not include the entire window) there is less glass broken out. How I hope some sort of repair will happen, but it just doesn't seem to be high on the priority list. Either way, this window is still magnificent in it's splendor, size and detail. :)

Remember back in November when I showed you the National Basilica from the outside? Well, we went to that part of town again this weekend and it prompted some more pictures, but this time I give you pictures of the inside. Over the next few days I will show you some of the detail and beauty that makes this place the amazing feast for the eyes and the soul that it is. As a point of interest, this is not a head on shot as I had to lean over a balcony to get it. The sanctuary was closed to the public, but we could go up to the balconly and peer over into the beauty of it all.

Where's the birdie?

Can anyone find the green hummingbird in this picture? You'll probably want to click to enlarge. :)

Anyone familiar with the Bottle Brush tree? They are very common in these parts and, of course, I think they are lovely. :) (though they do often remind me of the many bottles I have washed over the years - HA!)

Remember yesterday I mentioned the construction boom in Quito? Well, we are quite literally surrounded by it. Yesterdays photo was out our back window, this one is out our front and obviously much closer. This one I show you to say this. This building is being demolished to build something new and they are taking it down by hand - with a sledge hammer. This is again common here...we saw workers dismantle a seven story building by hand last fall and it was amazing how quickly they did it. I will keep you posted on the progress of this one and ought to have some great up close construction shots in a couple of months, if not sooner.

Whistle While You Work

Construction in Quito is BOOMING right now and their building style is so different from what we know. Everything, and I mean everything, is built with cinder blocks, which are hand carried one by one from truck to location. You should click to enlarge this photo to see some of the detail. So far this is a three story building, but judging by the rebar sticking out, it will be higher still. The supports used (below the floor that the workers are standing on) are not your typical 2x4's, but rather, something bambooish looking, which is very possible here. If they do build it up another floor I am going to try and capture a video of the many, many people that stand in a long line passing the cinder blocks from one person to the next...it's quite a system!

Just another of my favorite photography subject...nature/flowers. :)

Here is the building that is attached to yesterdays post (you can see the staircase to the right). My husband and I were out on a date and I made him pull over so I could get a shot of this building - it looked SOOO cool from where we were sitting. Imagine my dismay to find it a bit of a mishmash of electronics, instruments and hardware (note the lawnmower in the window?). I expected to find something lovely and elegant inside...ah well...

I think this building is lovely and even a bit out of place architecturally here, but here it is nonetheless. I believe it is part of a business, based on the building that it is attached to on the left (which I will show you tomorrow).

This isn't the greatest billboard picture, but I wanted you to know that they're Desperate here in Quito too. ;) (oh yeah, and GO BEARS!)

Thought I would post the photo collage that I had thought about posting on Theme Day a couple days ago...as the other item I struggle with here is that Spanish is not my first language and it's everywhere! But I do ok (isn't that a glowing review of my language acquisition?) and so chose the other picture instead. :)

If you watch and wait for Superman to stop by Quito, you might find him changing in this phone booth... ; )

Theme Day: What really annoys you in your city?

Today I am participating in my first theme day and for me it was easy to come up with something annoying. Quito is by FAR the worst laid out city I have ever driven in, and we are convinced that whoever designed the layout of the streets never actually had to drive on them to get anywhere. :) It is virtually impossible to make a quick right or quick left if you miss your turn and it would take a force greater than man to get from point A to point B without having to make some crazy loopty loo through the city blocks. If you make a U-turn at an intersection with the above sign (and they seem to be everywhere) you WILL be thrown in jail for 30 days if the police happens to be there. Outside of demolishing the layout and beginning again, I do not see a fix for this problem and so will grin and bear it!

Theme day occurs on the first day of every month, and there are more than 50 DP bloggers participating in todays "annoying" theme day. Take a quick tour around the world and check them out. Enjoy! 1.Porto (Portugal), 2. Stayton, OR (USA), 3. Albuquerque, NM (USA), 4. Tenerife (Spain), 5. Greenville, SC (USA), 6. Dubai (U.A.E.), 7. Evry (France), 8. Jakarta (Indonesia), 9. London (UK), 10. Sequim, WA (USA), 11. Buenos Aires, (Argentina), 12. Seattle, WA (USA), 13. Minneapolis, MN (USA), 14. Stavanger (Norway), 15. Joplin , MO (USA), 16. Nelson, (New Zealand), 17. Milano, (Italy), 18. Singapore by KeropokMan (Singapore), 19. La Antigua (Guatemala), 20. Nottingham (UK), 21. Singapore by Zannnie (Singapore), 22. Budapest (Hungary), 23. Not Strictly Seattle, WA (USA) 24. Bandung (Indonesia), 25. Vantaa (Finland), 26. Hyde (UK), 27. Madrid by Dsole (Spain), 28. Oulu (Finland), 29. Saarbrücken (Germany), 30. St. Paul [Carol] (USA), 31. Sydney by Sally (Australia), 32. Tokyo (Japan), 33. Kyoto (Japan), 34. Trujillo (Peru), 35. Shanghai (China), 36. Rotterdam (NL), 37. Chicago, IL (USA), 38. Nice, (France), 39. Naples, Florida (USA), 40. Hong Kong, 41. Santa Clara, CA (USA), 42. Quito, (Ecuador), 43. Cottage Grove, MN (USA), 44. Paris (France), 45. Manila (Philippines), 46. Brussels (Belgium), 47. Auckland (New Zealand), 48. Newcastle upon Tyne(England), 49. Houston, TX (USA), 50. Sydney by Nathalie (Australia), 51. Mumbai (India), 52. Anderson, SC (USA)