A Day “On” in Cuenca
This blog entry about the events of Thursday, November 13, 2003 was originally posted on November 14, 2003.
DAY 26: In modern life, the “norm” is to work most of the time, with a day or two off to “smell the roses.” Well, as I’ve been “smelling the Ecuadorean roses” all this time (as well as the bus fumes), I needed a day to just do some work. So I took a day “on” in Cuenca.
I gave up my hostel’s sixth floor view of the New Cathedral (picture above) and the Iglesia de San Francisco and left Chris, Anita and her friend (who had also arrived in Cuenca and stayed at the same hostel), and moved across the street to the hostel where Pepe was staying at. For just a dollar more, I got a private room, free breakfast and a terrace with a view of the San Francisco market. The room had a desk, which was perfect because I just stayed in and worked on some projects on my computer.
I did manage to take a couple of breaks to wander the streets. I walked through the San Francisco Market and the nearby flower market at the Plazoleta del Carmen. I wandered off the Lonely Planet map to a quiet residential neighborhood devoid of tourists. I saw a woman in a red dress rush down the cobblestone street and wondered why she could be in such a hurry in such a laid back city. Perhaps she forgot to add the fabric softener.
PEPE HAD GONE ON A DAY TRIP to the nearby Incan ruins of Ingapirca, but I caught up with him back at the hostel. He said the site was sort of a let down and felt ripped off plunking down a whole ten bucks on it. On the upside, he also said that he ran into Anna from the train ride and invited me to meet her for dinner.
“Alright, what do you feel like having: chicken…or chicken?” I joked. Actually, it wasn’t that much of a joke because one thing about Ecuador so far is, if you want to get by on cheap meals, you are going to eat a lot of chicken and rice. Sometimes your chicken and rice entree is preceded by chicken and rice soup. I haven’t had a milkshake here yet, but I’m sure they’ll manage to figure a way to put chicken in that too.
Anna knew of a place nearby that sold meats other than chicken and so we went there. I had a fish and shrimp ceviche while the others had pork and fish. It was a welcome change — finally, something that didn’t taste like chicken.
Afterwards, we went to Wunderbar, a bar that seemed out of place in Spanish colonial Cuenca. Anna said it could have been a bar in Berlin or something, with this Euro motif and paintings on the wall. Despite the Euro feel to the place, we were the only tourists there. We sat and chatted over Pilseners and Clubs — the two Ecuadorean beers — about travel and life in Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
We bid Anna farewell since we were all to go separate ways, but I made tentative plans to meet her in Berlin in the summer of 2004, if and when I make it over there.
Right now, that seems like twenty years away.
Next entry: Defending Guayaquil
Previous entry: For The Better of Humanity
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Comments for “A Day "On" in Cuenca”
can i get fries with that milkshake and chicken?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 11/14 at 08:22 PM
Erik, you’re traveling with a laptop, a point and click, and an SLR?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 11/14 at 09:21 PM
TD0T: yes, ibook, my tiny sony spy digital still, a small sony camcorder and an SLR for slide photos…
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 11/14 at 11:09 PM
UGH…finally at a cafe that i can hook up my camera, and i can’t install the drivers and it won’t auto mount…
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 11/14 at 11:42 PM
boo hoo… no pics! stupid computer…
I think the bus fumes got to your head.. I can’t believe you actually wanted to work!! I can acutally say I’m a disgruntled employee… good thing I don’t own a gun =P
p.s. what a cute baby.. I think she actually had more food on her face than the bib.. tee hee hee
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 11/14 at 11:54 PM
speaking of milkshakes.. have you heard the milkshake songs? are they up to date in music over there?? any fun ecuadorian tunes worth downloading?
the nyc episode of globe trekker was on earlier. have you seen it? ian skated at the central park roller disco!! the guy who took our pic was on it… along w/some others.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 11/15 at 12:36 AM
forgot again…
(i’m jealous)
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 11/15 at 12:47 AM
woah… that’s a lot of equipment!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 11/15 at 03:36 AM
LORRAINE: there ya go…picture of houses!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 11/15 at 11:10 PM
JENN: this whole blog IS work too…i think i spend more money on internet than i do on beer…but I do it for my fans…
(and me as well)Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 11/15 at 11:11 PM
yehey! pics!!!
ok the blog may be work.. but at least you get to interact with people and have the satisfaction of people enjoying it..
=)
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 11/16 at 12:33 AM
One whole day’s work in 26! Not too shaby Mr. GlobalTrip. You may be hearing from one of hubbie’s students, wondering about your education… be a travelling mentor, baby!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 11/16 at 03:01 PM
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This blog post is one of over 500 travel dispatches from the trip blog, "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World (Or Until Money Runs Out, Whichever Comes First)," originally hosted by BootsnAll.com. It chronicled a trip around the world from October 2003 to March 2005, which encompassed travel through thirty-seven countries in North America, South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. It was this blog that "started it all," where Erik evolved and honed his style of travel blogging — it starts to come into focus around the time he arrives in Africa.
Praised and recommended by USA Today, RickSteves.com, and readers of BootsnAll and Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree, The Global Trip blog was selected by the editors of PC Magazine for the "Top 100 Sites You Didn't Know You Couldn't Live Without" (in the travel category) in 2005.
Next entry:
Defending Guayaquil
Previous entry:
For The Better of Humanity
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Confused at some of the jargon that's developed with this blog and its readers over the years? Here's what they mean:
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1981ers: people born after 1981. Originally, this was to designate groups of young backpackers fresh out of school, many of which were loud, boorish and/or annoying. However, time has passed and 1981ers have matured and have been quite pleasant to travel with. The term still refers to young annoying backpackers, regardless of year — I guess you could call them "1991ers" in 2013 — young, entitled millennials on the road these days, essentially.
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