Monday, February 7

Today, Andi and I hired an English-speaking tour guide to lead us on an official tour of the city of Cuenca. We wandered around the city centre for most of the day yesterday, but we thought it would be interesting to hear about the history of the buildings and perhaps even discover a few hidden gems throughout the city.

Our tour guide recommended a restaurant called Yakumama for breakfast, so we started our day there. Right away, this was an excellent local’s tip from our guide — there’s no way we would have seen this restaurant on our own. It was located in an interior courtyard within Yakumama Hostal. The menu looked very fresh and delicious & the waiter was more than accommodating in customizing our orders to fit our tastes. Tory saw bagels with cream cheese on the menu, but she was worried there would be other herbs and vegetables included which she didn’t want. The kitchen staff graciously separated all the pieces of Tory’s meal so that she could build her bagel at the table. This was the perfect option for Tory and she was so happy to eat one of her favorite foods!

Our breakfast meal was served with coffee, hot chocolate and choice of freshly-made juice of course, because Ecuadorians love their juice.

Paul, our tour guide, met us at Yakumama around 9:30am and we started our walking tour from there. He took us all through Cuenca’s city centre explaining the history of several of the buildings. It was nice following him because he ducked into some gorgeous alleyways and courtyards that I would have noticed myself.

This, for example, was the first street in Cuenca —

It doesn’t look like much, but it led into this gorgeous courtyard behind the New Cathedral Church.

In the nearby San Francisco square, Paul led us into an alpaca sweater shop which didn’t seem like much from the outside. Inside, he led us behind a half-wall which revealed a gorgeous showroom draped from floor to ceiling with alpaca fabrics in all colors. The building itself, he said, is over a hundred years old and you really could feel the history come alive in the space.

Andi and I were so tempted to buy alpaca sweaters here, but wondered “do we really need them?” Sometimes souvenirs like that are really amazing in the moment, but then you get home and wonder why did I buy this & where am I going to wear it?

We continued wandering through Cuenca’s city centre toward the “newer” part of town separated by the Tomebamba River. It was so interesting to see the varying Spanish and French architecture throughout our walk. He also pointed out this beautiful bridge called Broken Bridge that was partially destroyed in a flood.

For being a big city of 600,000 people, it’s really quite amazing how clean it is here. Paul said the city’s pristine condition is due to the “green ants” who work in the streets from 5:00am - 6:00pm everyday. We saw these people dressed in these green uniforms all over the city cleaning up trash and debris.

Paul brought us to a chocolate museum located in the newer part of town where we learned about cacao production. Nothing really compares to actually seeing a cacao farm in the Amazon, but it was still nice to taste some different chocolates made at the museum.

Next, we hopped into Paul’s car and drove into the Cuenca suburbs. He wanted to show us the contrast between suburbs & the city, and told us there’s another area of Cuenca nicknamed “Gringo Land” where over 10,000 American Expats (Americans who’ve made Ecuador their permanent residence) live. We didn’t drive through that area of town, but I thought it was interesting. I can see why so many Americans would move to Cuenca — the city is relatively large, very safe, incredibly beautiful, there’s a lot to do here, and the weather is a fairly steady temperature in the mid 60’s all year.

Paul also took us to one of the biggest mall in Cuenca called Mall de Rio. “What would a trip be without a visit to the mall?” Andi said.

The mall was, well, exactly what you’d expect it to be. There were more American stores here than we’ve seen in all of Ecuador (McDonald’s, KFC, Payless Shoes, Crocs and an Eddie Bauer store called Explorer to name a few), as well as several local food court options and clothing stores. The best thing about visiting the mall was that Paul helped Andi fix the SIM card for my cell phone. It is surprisingly difficult to activate a SIM card when you don’t speak the language and hasn’t worked right since we got it a month ago. Now, my cell phone finally works to call & text.

After the mall, Paul took us to Homero Ortega Panama Hat factory. Fun fact — panama hats are made in Ecuador, not Panama! They gained popularity when former President Theodore Roosevelt wore one while visiting the Panama Canal in 1906. Back then, Panama Canal workers wore them for shade in the hot sun. The hats were nicknamed “Panama hot” which eventually changed to “Panama hat” and the name stuck. Panama hats are produced here in Cuenca and in another Ecuadorian town called Montecristi.

Homero Ortega Panama Hat Museum is also a working factory. Hats are weaved with toquilla straw — the finer the strand of straw, the more time it takes to craft the hat by hand. Inside the building, we saw a handful of workers trimming straw around the brim of the hat.

The hats are ironed and shaped using various techniques with heat and water. In the past, all the work was done by hand and took several weeks to make one hat. Today, the hats are pressed using machinery which cuts production time down to minutes.

Hats are wet in large tubs & set out to dry —

Next, hats are pressed into shape using metal molds —

Finally, hats are customized with coloring, ribbons or other accessories chosen by the buyer.

Our final stop in the museum/factory was a showroom where we could try on various Panama hats available to purchase. We were surprised how inexpensive the hats are — ranging from $30 to $150, price depending on the fineness of the straw used.

Andi is a sucker for sun hats, and I really thought he was going to buy one. They were very nice quality. Tory and Aden wanted hats, of course, but in the end we said no. We’d have to carry them around Ecuador for the rest of our trip which would be a pain.

Still, it was very interesting to visit Homero Ortega & learn about the history and production of the hats.

Our last request before Paul said good-bye to us for the day was to stop by the bus station in Cuenca. I forgot my puffer vest at our airbnb in Baños last week, and the driver we hired to take us from Baños to Cuenca kindly offered to pick it up and put it on the bus line to Cuenca. We just needed to pick it up. Andi said he was glad to have Paul’s assistance in navigating the bus depot because there were many different bus lines and having his local expertise made it much easier.

We thanked Paul for a fun & informative morning together, then asked him to drop us off at a restaurant for lunch. Andi picked a local spot called Rancho Dorado. It was almost 2:00pm, and suddenly the four of us were really hungry. Fortunately, the restaurant served us popcorn as an appetizer right away which is very common in Ecuador. Similar to getting chips & salsa with a meal at a Mexican restaurant in the USA.

Tory wanted a cheeseburger, of course, and Andi and I decided to order two almuerzo lunch specials for he & I and share with Aden. Almuerzo meals include soup, chicken, rice, potato, salad and sometimes dessert which is more than enough food for three of us.

Soup is very popular in Ecuador, and we’ve noticed that it is often served with whole chicken parts in it. I actually like this because the soup is obviously homemade! Not processed, high-sodium soup in a bag like many restaurants serve in the USA. Bones in soup give it great flavor. Though sometimes, it is a little shocking to look down in your bowl and see parts of a chicken.

Today’s soup was served with mote which are boiled corn kernels.

After lunch, we walked back to our airbnb from the restaurant and relaxed there for a few hours.

Around 4:00pm, we met up an American family currently traveling through Ecuador. A few months ago, Andi was chatting with a woman named Erin on Facebook about attending a world school on the coast of Ecuador. Our family didn’t end up going there, but Andi happened to see a post of Erin’s on Facebook sharing photos of their family in Cuenca this week. From the pictures, Andi thought we might be staying in the same airbnb complex of apartments — what a small world would that be?! He messaged her and it turned out to be true. Totally by coincidence, both our families are in Cuenca and staying right next door from one another. So, we decided to meet up.

Erin and her husband, Mike, are traveling with their nine-year-old son Patrick. Perfect age to play with Tory and Aden — the kids immediately hit it off. The group of us walked a few blocks down to the playground & while the kids played, the adults swapped travel stories and got to know one another a little better. After a while, we hopped in a cab to go to dinner at the same Belgium brewery our family went to last night. The kids were able to run around outside in San Sebastian Square while the grown-ups sat nearby on the patio & talked and ate. It was a great night. Sometimes, the internet can be such an amazing tool of connectivity! It was really interesting to hear about their travel experiences while homeschooling their son.

Tomorrow is another day in Cuenca, but we don’t have much of a plan. We’ll see where our adventures take us.