If you're picturing Quito
as a typical modern capital and cultural hub with glass
structures, government buildings, business
executives, and tourists using the area as a base for
countryside adventures, you're partly on track.
Quito has another flavor -- the visible presence of indegenas.
You'll encounter Quichua-speaking women shopping in their
traditional clothes with dozens of beads around their
necks and children carried on their mother's backs in
tightly wrapped blankets, as they are in remote rural
areas. In contrast, you'll find a so-called Gringo
area, where the tourists often hang out.
Many Quitenos reside in the the city's New Town, housing
most of the tourists and business people. Others live
in the colonial Old Town, with narrow streets, cobblestoned
inner courtyards, and many plazas where residents conduct
daily activities. In brief, you'll find an area that looks
the way it did when Ecuador was a Spanish colony, and
one with a huge cultural center depicting Ecuadorean art
from the 16th century to the present.
You'll find that the New Town shines in its own way with
gleaming buildings and massive museums such as The
Fundacion Guayasamin, a sprawling complex high on
a hill. The museum features the magnificent work of Oswaldo
Guayasamin, whose images capture the political oppression,
racism, poverty, and class division found in much of South
America. While at this huge museum, you
can relax in the spacious gardens and enjoy the gorgeous
patio views.
Trying to take in the city's dazzling array of churches,
monasteries, and convents will leave you dizzy, so single
out the highlights such as the Basilica del
Voto Nacional. It's perched on a small hill in Old
Town, but visible from many parts of the city and close
to New Town. A large, modern concrete structure, the Neo-Gothic
church built in 1892 sports pinnacles, spires, parapets,
buttresses, and arches. The gargoyles don't represent
mythical creatures but are carved with images of real
Ecuadorian fauna like monkeys and jaguars. A cafe offers
magnificent city views.
Quito's year-long spring-like climate, with little variation
(50-77 degrees farenheit) and glorious morning skies are
a big part of the city's magic. You won't want to bypass
it.
