A Fun Day in Quito

After flying back from the Galapagos, we had a full day tour scheduled from Quito. Of course, the first thing we had to do was go to the Equator, just north of Quito.

There's a museum there, so first we learned how shrunken heads are made. Huh?

But soon we went out to see the Equator. There's a big sundial there. Half of the year they use this side, and the other half of the year they use the other side.

There we are, on the actual Equator.

It's only possible to balance an egg on the head of a nail on the Equator. It's hard -

But both the kids did it, and got certificates for their effort. But walking straight on the Ecuator with your eyes closed is extremely difficult. If you lean to one side, it's impossible.

After going to the actual Equator, we went to the monument that was built before they had GPS. It's not really on the Equator, but it's a beautiful monument.

I can even hold it in my hand!

Nearby we could buy a roasted Guinea Pig, very popular in Ecuador, but we passed...

Last time I was in Quito, about 5 years ago, we didn't get to go up to see the large statue of the Virgin Mary up on the hill.

So I really wanted to go up there this time, and we did!

Wow! It's beautifully done!

Up on the hill, you can get a good view of the busiest section of Quito. This city is huge - about 30 miles long in a valley!

We had lunch in a nice restaurant on one of the main plazas.

After lunch, we walked around the area. We saw the Church of San Francisco in San Francisco Plaza.

But then we went in the Church of la Compania de Jesus. WOW!

That's a lot of gold! No pictures are allowed inside the church, so I had to get these off the internet.

On our way back to our hotel, we went by Quito's largest church, the Basilica del Voto Nacional.