Walking in February 2015 --- Carnaval and Parades

February is a month of several birthdays.  We had fun celebrating with friends....walking, visiting, eating, FUN!

Valentine's Day vendors near the New Cathedral.  Booths lined up with stuffed toys, balloons, cards, gifts.

We also celebrated Valentine's  at a newly renovated restaurant in town.  Pictures of our dinner; sea bass and a pear/blue cheese salad.  Nice place, good food,  good music, fun evening.

February also means Carnaval! 

We didn't go out of town like almost everyone else.  As in previous years,  Cuenca was almost deserted.  More quiet than Sundays.  Our very first visit to Cuenca several years ago was during Carnaval and we wondered where all the people were!  Well, all the folks were on holiday, out of town, to the Coast and elsewhere.  This year, the same. Almost everything was closed down tight.  We did see some tourists...the tour buses were full...

Practically a ghost town, but perfect for walking! 

Very quiet streets.

Vendors selling foam to spray on folks (much better than wáter!)

 

 

Vendors selling wading pools so kids could splash and get each other wet.  The weekend was warm, so the kids probably loved it.

We came across a parade at the Square one day leading up the big weekend.  It was a hybrid, both for Christmas and Carnaval!

 

 

You can see in some pics that folks have flour on their faces.  It's an old Carnaval tradition (actually, older than Carnaval!)  The younger children were having a great time spraying their friends with foam.  We got hit, too!

Part 2 of February will be our next post.