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New Town : Quito, Ecuador : Trip Report
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Getting to Quito

All flights to Ecuador from the USA go through Miami. If it's not the case it sure seems that way. After a three hour delay due to weather in Chicago (no surprise there) I finally got to Miami but 40 minutes after my flight to Quito had already departed. Fortunately there is a second flight to Quito and I was able to get a seat on that one. That got me into Quito quite late in the evening.

The Aeropuerto Mariscal Sucre in Quito was small (I only counted 8 gates) and surprisingly modern and efficient. Besides the delay at immigration due to a trainee working my line it was very quick and easy to leave. Due to it's small size it was easy to find a sign with my name on it for the pre-arranged ride to the hotel.

The ride to the hotel was a bit odd in that the streets were absolutely deserted! We saw only a handful of cars and even fewer pedestrians in the 10-15 minute drive to the hotel. I'm pretty sure most of the pedestrians I did see were actually prostitutes.

One thing I found interesting about Ecuador is that the official currency is the US Dollar. In addition, they mint their own coins that are identical in size, shape and value to their American counterparts. Pictures below. Another thing that's odd is that the American Liberty $1 coin is widely used in Ecuador! That's really odd because I've seen it used in the USA only a couple times since it was introduced. It's rare in the US since apparently Ecuador took all of the coins!

Hotel Café Cultura

Wanting a more quaint and casual experience I chose the Café Cultura which is a Hotel and Restaurant. It's a renovated mansion and it's uniqueness is in how artfully decorated it is. Each room is unique and comfortable if a little basic. There is no TV in the room, a bummer for a TV-aholic like myself.
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Cafe Cultura.
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The resident Peacock in the small garden.
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Room 19.
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The VERY tiny bathroom.
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A small sitting area on the 3rd floor.
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Outdoor garden sitting area.
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Ornately decorated main staircase.
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The library.
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The PC with high speed Internet in the library.
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Other Stuff Nearby

The New Town is everything but the protected historical center. Within a 20 minute walk of the Old Town you can get to the more modern part of town. Here you will find dozens of small hotels, B&Bs and Hostels. Also you find find other restaurants and internet cafes targeting to Gringos.

Avenue Amazonas is the main street through this part of New Town and is where you will find most of the western style shopping. It seems to have more than it's fair share of travel agencies, Internet cafes and drug stores.
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The arch that marks the beginning of Avenue de Amazonas.
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A wide square along the Avenue.
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Street performers.
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A common sight: Armed guard in front of a bank or money changing office.
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Public modern art in Parque La Alameda?
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Protesters gathering in the park. Peacefully for now.
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Another angle of the monument.
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Banco Central, across from where the protesters were gathering.
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Off in the distance you can see La Virgina.
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Another memorial of some sort.
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I found this small church and plaza to be very quaint.
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This was amusing, had to take a picture.
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Modern art outside Casa del Culture.
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Close-up of one piece.
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American fast food, the sign of a modern city or the apocalypse?
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Magic Bean Café came highly recommended but I found it just ok.
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Another cool church, this one near my hotel.
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Ecuadorian coins, identical in size, shape and value to their American counterparts.
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Melanie doing a little shopping at the indigenous market.
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How are you going to get all that home?
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Next Section: The real tourist sites are in the Old Town.
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