Cuenca, Ecuador - Day 1

Sunday, February 6

Today was our first full day in Cuenca, Ecuador. Cuenca is the third largest city in the country and known as the “Athens of Ecuador” because its charming streets give off a European vibe. About 600,000 people call the Cuenca area home, but overall the city is very safe — in fact, Cuenca is known as one of the safest cities in Latin America.

To get a lay of the land (and because we didn’t have any food to eat in our airbnb!), Andi and I decided to take Tory and Aden to breakfast our first morning in town. The owner of our Airbnb recommended a great breakfast spot called La Gata which serves classic Ecuadorian boloñes and tigrillos. We’ve been craving boloñes since our very first breakfast in Mindo three weeks ago. Andi was set on ordering boloñes again, but I opted to try the tigrillos for something different. Tory and Aden were ecstatic because the waffles at La Gata are served with fresh fruit and a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. “I only get ice cream for breakfast on my birthday!” Tory exclaimed. The service was very good at La Gata as well, and we really enjoyed our meal there.

After breakfast, we walked toward the center of town. For being a big city, Cuenca is very walkable and easy to get around. We admired the beautiful architecture of the buildings on our walk and the Tomebamba River that flows through the city. Cuenca’s buildings and cobblestone streets tell its story of history when through various periods of time, the Incas, French and Spanish ruled over the city.

One of the most notable buildings in the city centre is the New Cathedral which stands apart from the others because of its bright blue roof domes. It’s called the new cathedral because construction took over 100 years to finish — the building was completed in 1975. Mass was being held in the church when we briefly walked through there on Sunday morning.

Then, we watched from afar as church-goers poured out of the New Cathedral and stopped to buy espumilla, an Ecuadorian meringue cream dessert served in a cone, from vendors set up around the church’s exterior. For $.50, we decided we’d better try one, too. The light, creamy meringue was covered in freshly-shaved coconut and topped with a cherry. We were expecting the consistency to be like ice cream, but it didn’t taste anything like it. It was soft, fluffy and the perfect storm for Andi’s beard.

Across the street from the New Cathedral is an impressive flower market. Ecuador is the world’s third largest flowers producer and they sell them for such little money here. There were gorgeous bouquets of flowers at this open-air market being sold by women in traditional Andes clothing for just a few dollars.

Also across from the New Cathedral is the most central square in Cuenca called Parque Calderón. This is a beautiful plaza with park benches throughout —perfect for people-watching. Tory and Aden spotted a stuffed llama and horse that they wanted to take their picture with. As soon as we got out our phones, a photographer stepped right up to request money for the photo opp. Andi gave the woman $1.75 as requested and Tory and Aden happily took photos with the stuffed statues. “This may be the most ridiculous thing we’ve ever spent our money on,” Andi said under his breath.

As we sat on the park bench watching crowds of people pass through the square, I watched the ridiculousness of the stuffed llamas booth unfold even further. People were paying to have their pictures taken with a giant (live) Saint Bernard named Lucas who stood on a podium between them. There were also locals in the park reading the Sunday newspaper and many indigenous Ecuadorian women wearing traditional suede skirts and sweaters with an Ecuadorian panama hat. It was a great spot to sit and take it all in.

Next, the four of us walked a few blocks to the Mercado 10 de Agosto, one of the largest produce markets in Cuenca. Like other markets we’ve visited in Ecuador, there were rows and rows of vendors selling every type of produce you can imagine as well as various meats, juices and flowers. On the third floor of the market pavilion, we found fresh-prepared food including tamales, almeurzo lunch plates, and hornado (whole-roasted pig) being sold from various stalls.

After wandering through the market, we walked a few blocks further to the San Francisco plaza. This large, open area is surrounded by clothing vendors selling traditional alpaca sweaters and ponchos, as well as others shirts, pants and shoes. Andi and Aden went off to use the restroom while Tory and I sat and waited for them on the plaza stairs. A vendor selling bubble wands pegged us as tourists and started circling around Tory and I offering his basket of toys. “No gracias,” I told him several times. Of course when Andi and Aden returned, Tory asked Dad if she could buy some bubbles and he responded, “of course.” So, the kids ran around the plaza for a while blowing bubbles and chasing pigeons, then we took our photo next to the Cuenca sign like tourists do.

The clouds in these photos make the weather look worse that it is in Cuenca. On Sunday, temperatures were very comfortable in the mid-60’s.

Standing in the San Francisco plaza also provides a great view of the blue-domed towers of the New Cathedral.

Andi wanted to stop for an espresso at one of the many cafes located downtown, so we did that. In addition to a coffee, he also ordered a piece of tres leches cake which has been on his Ecuador bucket list of foods to try and a small piece of pan de yucca which is a ball of cassava stuffed with cheese. We’ve seen signs for both offered all around Ecuador so we wanted to try them, but I was still too stuffed from breakfast to partake. Andi and the kids never met a dessert they could turn down, so they were game to try them.

Last stop on our walking tour through Cuenca’s city centre was the supermarket to buy some food for our airbnb. We stocked up on the usual loaf of bread, yogurt, fruit, granola, eggs, milk and some snack foods. We’ve never eaten out as much as we have on this trip. Honestly, I’m enjoying the break from cooking & cleaning up all the time! Meals are so inexpensive here that it almost doesn’t make sense to buy groceries and cook at home.

We returned to our airbnb around 1:00pm and relaxed there for the next few hours. Then, we walked down the street a few blocks to a nearby playground. There are two playgrounds near our airbnb, actually, and the bigger of the two also has a glass tower with an elevator where people can ride to the top to see a view of the city. The four of us spent a couple hours at both spots letting the kids play.

It started to rain lightly around 5:00pm, so Andi, Tory, Aden and I hopped in a taxi and went to a Belgium brewery called Jodoco recommended by the owners of our airbnb. This proved to be an excellent spot to sit outside on the patio (it stopped raining by the time we arrived there) and listen to music while enjoying a bite to eat. Andi ordered a charcuterie platter for the four of us to share, in addition to a sausage and plate of French fries. Being surrounded by the colonial architecture and beauty of San Sebastian square really made it feel like we were in Europe. It was also the perfect place to let the kids run around and chase pigeons while Andi and I enjoyed our food & drinks.

We cabbed back to our airbnb around 6:00pm and rested at home the remainder of the night. Andi fell asleep early, so Tory and I cuddled up in bed to watch a few episodes of Dive Club on Netflix while Aden watched his own show on his iPhone.

We had a really fun day in Cuenca! I am loving the relaxed, friendly vibe of this city and its charming colonial infrastructure. Looking forward to spending the next few days here.