Another day of exploring Quito.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Another day of exploring Quito.  We walked along Manos en La Ronda, a section filled with craft workshops.  We found a gentleman who restores pianos and organs.  He was in the process of restoring 1861 Baldwin piano.  He played one of his instruments for us, beautiful sound.   We also found a shop that made bee products like face cream and shampoo and another that designed jewelry.  There was a woodworker who specializes in tops, the kind you spin with your fingers, a photo restoration workshop and a chocolate shop called “Cacao, Luz de America.”   They combine Ecuadorian cacao with Swiss processing to make marvelous chocolates.

After that we went to the JW Marriott Hotel to see the roses.  Ecuadorian roses are exquisite.  They say it is because the sun is directly overhead and the air is so clear.  At the Marriott they have huge displays of 6-8 dozen roses all over.  We walked around the lobby gawking and sniffing.  Then we decided to have a snack and there was a display of miniature roses on the table. 

After that we went back to the airport to pick up the car.  We are going north to Otovolo http://wikitravel.org/en/Otavalo tomorrow.  It was a harrowing experience getting back to town in the rain, in rush hour traffic, with all the one-way streets and signs in Spanish but we made it.