Tuesday 7.10.14 – Quito, not La Florida!

Well a day of unexpected things today. Awoke 4.00am as I heard the other 26 guys leaving for the airport. Had 6 hours sleep and that is VERY good at altitude. Fiddled with photos for blog.

After breaky Suzie, Larraine and I headed for La Florida to see some newly discovered tombs. Our driver collectected us in a dinky little van. I got the front seat, which is always interesting in the Quito traffic.

Sixty minutes later we were still looking for the tombs, our driver asked about 5-6 people and we went around in circles, before finally getting the news that the Parque wasn’t open on Tuesdays. It was ‘fun’ trying to sort this out, with his Spanish and our English and not much cross over at all. He then suggested Castilla del Hombre – Guaysamin’s Museo. So we headed there. It took probably another 20-30 minutes.

Oswaldo Guayasamin is Ecuador’s most famous artist. It was really interesting to have his dark, yet compassionate works explained. We were provided a video explaining that Guayasamin created a foundation to support his works and to preserve his vast collection of Pre-columbian and other artistic works for the public of Ecuador.

He funded/built the Chapel of Man – which houses a collection of his own works. He also opened his home (as he left it) to the public, along with his personal and vast art collection. An amazing man donating all of this to the City of Quito. He had painted many famous people and visited many countries around the world and painted. He had a few ‘phases’ in his career, most of them dark and depressing, he expressed concern for many people/countries that were poor and mistreated eg. The slaves in Ecuador, the Nicaraguans, Indians and many others. You can check him out and find much better descriptions at: http://www.guayasamin.org/ We decided, that while we didn’t like his work, you have to admire the compassion and commitment of the dark and troubled soul he must have been.

A billboard outside. His quotes
are worth reading.

Here is one of his Quito works.

The "Tree of Life" under which
Guayasamin and his best mate
are buried/scattered.

His home, as he left it to the City of Quito. (While
he was still alive)

Some street art up the road from our Hotel.

View of The Virgin, from near the
Hotel.

The coloured housing on a
steep hillside.

A drinking fountain, modelled
on Inca works.

Eventually we made it back to the hotel, much later than anticipated. Larraine flies out early tomorrow and has to leave hotel at 3.30am, so she had things to do.

Suzie and I headed out again and tried our luck at The Catedral…again…finally we found an entrance, paid our $2.00 entry fee and got to see the Last Supper containing Guinea Pig that we had read about…but we got a whole lot more. There was lots and lots of stuff from the history of the Catedral including: Robes of Bishops, Cardinals etc, portraits of them all, ornate stuff associated with the Catholic church. It was really great to see, given we have tried to find an entrance on at least 3 previous occasions. I was really taken with the wooden roof, so intricately done and of a red wood.

Then we continued with our plan of visiting the Casa de Maria Augusta Urrutia 1901 - 1987, which had been closed for fumigation and renovation when we last tried. She was a rich philanthropist who also created a foundation to help the poor and children of Quito. Her house was left as a museum – downstairs was pretty rough with kitchen and area for storage of beef carcasses, upstairs was very ornate and full of amazing bits and pieces. Maria was married for only 7 years before her husband died, no kids it seems. She dedicated herself to religion and assisting the poor. It seemed she lived an austere but high class life and was very staid from my view of things. But she did good for others, not sure she was a real fun person though.

An arch down the street from Hotel.

Street scene.

Here we are back at favourite cafe for Coffee. The
owners wife (I reckon) was on the computer Skyping
someone...it was lovely to watch her expressions.

Both of us at Coffee.

Then eventually we joined Larraine, Ros and Veronica who were having an early dinner, Larraine cos she is leaving so early and Ros and Veronica, as they fly out via USA tonight. It was lovely to spend a bit more time with these guys, as we really enjoyed their company.

Final farewell Pisco toast, with Suzie, Veronica and
Ros.