Translate

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Quiet Days and Sparkling Nights

It's Carnival Time in Cuenca.  Although there might be some celebrations and activities taking place in some parts of the city, we have not seen any.  In our neighborhood, which is located on the edge of El Centro, it has been extremely quiet.  We've seen very little traffic, and hardly anyone is spotted walking down the street.  We think most of the local people have left town for the coast or are spending time with their families for the holiday weekend.

On Sunday we walked to town in hopes of purchasing some pots for our plants, but almost everything was shut down.  The only thing we witnessed was a few young people spraying water or silly foam at each other.  This happens to be one of the traditions in Cuenca during Carnival.  People will attack you on the street, or spray you from a moving vehicle.  They seem to target the younger people, although anyone is fair game.  Luckily, we were spared from a soaking.  I wish I had a few pictures to share, but I was a little nervous to take any because I thought that might make me the next victim.  

Monday and Tuesday were equally as quiet, but I imagine on Wednesday things will be back to normal.  In the meantime Lance and I have spent time out in our garden.  Friday, our long awaited potting bench arrived.  It was custom made for us in Cuenca.





When it first arrived, it was so beautiful that Lance was afraid to use it.  He quickly got over it, and since then he has been happily potting plants.





The two orange plant containers below were made out of cement for Lance, then painted orange.




This picture is the front of the garden as you enter the gate.  It was planted by the developers of the property and is cared for by a gardener that comes once a month.


This photo was taken from our balcony looking down on the front garden.


These plants surround the bottom of the tree we have growing in our garden.  Most of the tree looks dead, but at the very top there are leaves sprouting which shows signs that it is coming back to life.  We believe it is an apple tree.




Above you can see the flowering tree that drapes over the wall of our property.  The blossoms have been on the tree since we moved in a month ago.  It often attracts hummingbirds.  



The flowers above are fun because they open up when the sun is out and close up at night time.  The flowers below are in pots and placed between the greens to add a splash of color.


At nighttime we light up the garden with our tree, lantern and assorted candles.  If it's mild outside we sit and play cards by the candlelight.  Or, we sit inside and look out our big, round window.  The outside looks like a sparkling fairyland.  


The picture below is taken from inside of our condo looking out into the garden.  Our window is big enough to show the entire tree.  (The window is round and stretches from the bottom floor all the way up to the top of the second floor.)  


Our tree has more than 600 Christmas lights strung on it.  We have electricity running throughout the garden which enables us to put lights on outside by simply flipping a switch inside the condo.


Here is a picture of our window taken from the outside looking in.  The window is located on the side of the building, which gives us privacy, but still allows us to enjoy the outdoors.  This photo shows the top and bottom floor of the condo.  


Here are two more night time pictures.



Above is a view of the domes of the new cathedral located in Parque Calderon.  This view can be seen from the balcony of the second floor of our condo.  We often sit on the balcony to enjoy the view of the domes and the surrounding mountains.  

In other news...a few weeks ago we attended an art gallery that displayed paintings of a local artist.  His work was beautiful (my pictures don't do them justice,) and the opening was well attended.  There was food, drinks, and music offered to all the people who came.     





On the way home from the art gallery we came across a group of people doing exercise to loud latin music in the plaza located near our condo.  We sat and watched for a while...before finishing our walk home.    


We still see an occasional protest taking place in Parque Calderon...I took this picture on the way home from Spanish Class.  If you look closely you will see that all the protestors have tape across their mouths.      


I hope you enjoy the pictures and that all my friends and family are surviving the cold winter months in Wisconsin.  Hopefully the worst is behind you.  Just think, spring is only a little more than a month away.        







      

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Settling In...and...Traveling to Devil's Nose

Hola!  It's been awhile since my last post.  Most of that time has been spent packing, moving, and unpacking.  We are finally settled in at our new, more permanent location.  Lance and I moved on January 17th during a heavy rainfall, which seemed appropriate because we had the same kind of weather when we arrived in Cuenca on October 12th.


We hired our facilitator, Victor, to help us with the move.  It took 4 trips back and forth to complete the job.  Below is a small sampling of the things we had to transport.  
  

   

Once we were unpacked and settled, Lance immediately jumped into working on the garden.  He had been waiting a long time, and was excited to finally be back with his hands in the dirt.



Above, are pictures of the front of our condo, and the side terrace.  These plants were already in place when we arrived.  The round window that you see stretches from the first floor all the way up to the second floor.  It does a great job of bringing the outdoors inside.


Currently, Lance is working on our outdoor picnic table, but soon a custom made potting bench will be delivered to our condo.  It will be used to store his tools, pot his plants, and serve as a buffet for outdoor dining.  It should be delivered in a few weeks.


The brick wall that you see above has many different ledges where additional pots and decorations can be placed.  We've had a lot of fun deciding what to display on them.   Currently we are working to make some minor changes on the inside.  When we are done, I will create a post showing you what the inside of our condo looks like.

Life in Cuenca has settled down too.  We still see the occasional parade celebrating Christmas...


a ceremony at Parque Calderon (this one was to honor the soldiers who fought against Peru)...




or, a laser light show on one of the government buildings in the parque...



but overall, things are quieter and life has become more routine.  Now, we do pretty much what any retired person does...shop for groceries, cook, work outside in the garden, read, meet with friends for lunch or dinner, and go to Spanish class...(well, at least I go to Spanish class.)  

This past weekend, we broke with the routine to go on the Devil's Nose train trip.  We went with our good friends, Ken and Roz.  It was a wonderful experience and I highly recommend it to anyone who might be considering it. 

Ken, Roz, Lance and I hired Victor to drive us to Alausi, where you catch the train for the trip up to Devil's Nose.  It is about a 3 hour drive through the Andes to get there, so we needed to leave early.  We purchased tickets ahead of time for the 11:00 train, and were told to arrive no later than 10:30 A.M.  The ride up was very scenic and we enjoyed seeing the views and visiting with each other.


From left to right is Victor, Ken and Lance...and below are the four amigos...


Roz, Ken, Lance, and myself.
  
Here are a few pictures of the town where you catch the train.



  The rest of the photos are shots of the train trip.  I hope you enjoy them.









Above is Devil's Nose.  The train stops below the mountain so you can stop and take some photos.  





Standing on the front of the engine to get your picture taken was a very popular thing to do for many of the riders.  Lance and I are always surprised at the things you can do in Ecuador that you would never get away with back in the states.  The tour guide was happy to take a photo of you posing there.



After departing, we took a short ride to a very small town in the mountains where there were ethnic dancers to entertain you, a small museum, and a dining room where you were provided a snack/lunch if you presented your train ticket.



The horse above was provided for anyone who didn't want to climb the long set of stairs to the top of the hill where the museum was located.  



We choose to walk.  Below are a few pictures of the inside of the museum and the guide who told about the exhibits.  Although his talk was in Spanish, the display boards were written in both English and Spanish. 




Here is another view of the stairs from the top of the hill where the museum was located.


We also had a chance to watch the ethnic dancers preform.  As always, they love to encourage audience participation.  It was a lot of fun! 











 We spent about an hour at this location.  Then, it was time to board the train and head back to town.






When we arrived...we took a few souvenir shots...





then headed back home to Cuenca.