Saturday, March 28, 2015

Walking in March, 2015

It's time to share more walking pictures.

First up, flowers blooming in Paute.













Enormous bottle brush trees in bloom.













 
 

While walking in Paute, we came across the students from a nearby high school,  The kids were getting ready for a parade to honor Don Bosco.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bosco











Back in Cuenca...

Walking along R Crespo, we found a new shop selling pretty Chinese pottery.  Prices and selection looked good.








 
Another new shop on Crespo.

More new-to-us fun street art.
















In Bloom, for our gardening friends.

















 
Run this weekend.













We're looking forward to Holy Week celebrations, beginning with Palm Sunday tomorrow.

Happy Easter!

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Sunday Walking -- San Sebastian to Gran Colombia


This portion of the Sunday walking adventure takes us from the top of the Otorongo Stairs toward San Sebastian Plaza. 








You can see this neighborhood is also old, with buildings in various stages of rehab, just like Av Loja (and most of Cuenca!)

 
 
 
 

Flowers blooming at the Plaza.

Past the Church, turning left and walking toward Av Gran Colombia.

 
 
 
 
  
Last time we walked this stretch of Gran Colombia, this Chinese restaurant was a grocery store.
 
 
 

The street construction for the Train is 23% done, according to the signs.


 
 
 




We passed the old 'Hood, where we stayed when we first arrived in Cuenca at the Cuadras apartment.  You can see the new buildings right in front of the old.




 
 
We made it to the round-about at Av Las Americas, with one of our favorite statues, Simon BolĂ­var. 
 
We continued across to Ordonez Lasso, heading west to meet our friends.
 

Monday, March 9, 2015

Sunday Walking -- Av Loja

Sunday is the perfect time to walk the streets of Cuenca.  Little or no traffic.  Quiet and peaceful.

This Sunday morning walk took us from Av Loja, beginning at the R Crespo intersection, all the way up to Otorongo Plaza on Av Doce de Abril.








Starting point.










Street scenes.  You can see both old and new buildings.  Most are in some stage of rehab.

Most businesses are closed on Sundays.

Empty streets, good sidewalks for walking.






 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ready to cross the river toward the Plaza.














 
 
A collection of booths at the Otorongo Plaza.  Vendors were selling crafts and food. 
A slow climb to the top of the Otorongo stairs. (We've written before about the wonderful mosaic art along the staircase.)











 
 
Nice street art at the top.
 
We continued to San Sebastian Plaza, then  onward west to have lunch with friends.
 We'll share more pics later.