quitos main attraction is the
old town (unesco world heritage listed, just like salzburg;-). it's jampacked with colonial buildings: church, church, plaza, another church... the center is plaza grande (or plaza de la independencia) which is surrounded by presidential palace, cathedral and archbishop's palace. my favourite is the marvelous monastery of san franciso (s. photo).
many churches are full of magnificent wood-carvings and other treasures which remind me very much of european ones - it isn't really surprising if one considers for how long the spaniards have been here on their mission.
worth mentioning is also la basilica. it's still unfinished, construction began in 1926 - seems like a "real" basilica even today needs at least a century to be finished;-) however, it's already an impressive sight.
the climb up the dome and as well the hiiiiiigh bell tower is an adventure itself. the ladders are narrow, steep and don't really look trust-worthy. the higher you get, the less safety railings are around. sometimes it really felt as if there were are strong wind you had no chance to prevent a fall... the magnificent city views were worth all the efforts and anxious feelings;-)
today we went to the center of the world (
mitad del mundo). a monument honours the equator and a line shows where it actually runs. we had some fun hopping back and forth from one hemisphere to the other - you can't do that every day;-) next door is the excellent
museo solar inti ñan. recently gps-technology has revealed, that the equator actually runs through the garden of the museum, some 200m away from the monument - somebody must have made a mistake here in the old days... we could witness some experiments which only work at this special place, like: in which direction turns the water down the drain in the northern hemisphere, the southern one and on the equator; is it really easier to balance an egg on a nail here; a sun-clock whose shadow falls six months on one side and six months on the other (on two days a year, for a minute or so, there is no shadow at all).
close to mitad del mundo lies volcano
pululahua. the volcano hasn't been active for a very long time, so today the massive crater is home to a village and vast areas of farmland. as we approached the rim, the clouds had already started to set in - if it weren't for the postcard-vendors we still wouldn't have an idea, how great it is supposed to look.
it's incredible how fast the clouds move around here. usually the day starts with beautiful blue sky. just after noon the first clouds appear and soon the sky is overcast the like that the sun has gone completely. as the rainy season has already started, it also tends to pour down for about an hour in the afternoon. so, if you want to enjoy the day, you better get up early!
posted by christoph 02:54
