We´re at the Coast!

Hola!

We rested for awhile in Quito hotel.....then had a delightful tour by taxi. We hired Raul to drive us around Old Town... and we parked and walked around the old Colonial district for a few hours. In the back streets and down alleys, we found some wonderful old shops ... a favorite of Rich´ s is a coffee broker for South American varieties. Nancy also spotted some yarn (acrylics, I think their version of Red Heart)...

We toured several beautiful churches... some up to 300 or more years old. Wonderful combination of moorish and traditional western architecture. We enjoyed the sights and sounds and smells of this area of Quito.... this area is diverse, high intensity, lots of life. And, lots of security. Raul got us into places, past the guards and military...the Presidential Palace, etc.

Rich and I got out of Quito ok yesterday. Got to the airport (several hours early, more on that
later, another lesson learned!), got on Aerogal flight to the coast..... met Bob and Rox in Manta... drove down the coast to their house.... wow, a whole lot of moving and shaking in the last 24 hours!

Could we tell you some stories!

Here´s the ´lesson learned´...... be sure you know about acceptable weights and size of bags, on your next flights! What is ok for, say, Continental, is NOT necessarily ok for, say, Aerogal Airlines. We were soooo over Aerogal´s weight and size limits! But it all worked out just fine...... but we sweated alot about that and repacked bags at the airport.... ack! We were over 150 lbs over weight limit... Penalty, if allowed at all, is 1 % of your ticket cost, per kg. (2.2 lbs.)

Righy now, Rich and I are learning all about internet cafes...actually, this one isn´t a cafe, it´s a bank of computers and fast connectivity... and phone booths. The gal helping us is soooo nice. We thought we had some pics here to share....but, no, we can´t find them on the camera chip. So, we know there are some on the laptop, so we´ll have to figure it out later.

Anyway....

Were doing great! You should see Bob and Rox´s place! Wowie, sooo beautiful! Our dinner last night at the Casa Blanca was a hoot! Food is delish there... and the whole town was ready to party! We sat at Bob´s favorite table and watched the fashion show pass us by...clearly the best seats in the house. Did you know that the Casa Blanca is also a hostel? Me, neither.

Today it is raining....a real tropical storm. This morning, we did ´Christmas., Birthdays, and every holiday all mixed in together. Lots of gifts and fun stuff.... we´ve got pictures...

Bob is running errands and he´s headed back to pick us up in a few..... so we´ll be trying to figure out the photo thing this afternoon, before the weding celebration tonight.....

Love to all,
Nancy (and Rich)