Nancy and Chuck - Retirement in Ecuador

Sharing Cuenca with Mary

2012-01-29T14:59:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Mary had a great time meeting bloggers from the SOZ blogroll and blog readers at the California Kitchen this past Friday.

Here are a few pictures:

We have had a lot of fun showing Mary Cuenca.

The double deck bus tour was a must do.

Here is Mary interacting with the floating man.

And another street entertainer.

And of course, a horse picture in Parque Calderon is a must.

Mary with Cuenca behind her. We took this from Turi.

Last night we went to the Secret Garden for dinner. Here we are socializing before eating.

Today we met up with Nancy and Rich for our Sunday walk. I was hoping that Mary would be able to see a parade while she was here. We lucked out and saw one neighborhood parade and another in the making.

Mary will be here next week and leave for California this Saturday. I know everyone is anxious for her to be finished with her vacation and back to her posting on her blog. I know we have missed it.

Thanks to all the Cuenca expats who have helped to make Mary's visit so special.

Love,

Nancy

Beautiful Days in Cuenca

2012-01-24T15:03:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

We are enjoying showing Mary around Cuenca. Today we were able to share our short term rental condo with her. We bought a painting when we were in Loja weekend before last and had it framed. Today we went over for the hanging.

Here is Chuck, Karen, and Mary on the terrace. Couldn't ask for a prettier day.

Randy came over and hung the picture. Take a look!

We took Mary to see Mall del Rio. Randy told us about a new vendor in the food court. California Burrito. We gave it a try and yum!!!! Hope they stay around.

I took this picture while we were at the mall. It is a sign that has the price for a taxi from Mall del Rio to wherever. As you can see prices range from $1.50 to $18.00. The main reason I want to share this with you is to let you know that taxi prices are increasing. The cost from Mall del Rio to where we live is $3.00.

I just want to point out the actual prices so that you will not think you are being "Gringo Gouged."

Arguing over prices is so tacky. Just find another driver or vendor. I bet in most cases the second person will prove to you that this is the actual price, not one doubled just because you are a gringo. Please don't have a "gringo gouge" mentality and display an "us vs. they" attitude.

Love,
Nancy

Wonderful Coast Trip

2012-01-23T14:40:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Chuck, Mary and I are now in Cuenca. We had a wonderful time on the coast because of some terrific people.

We spent Friday in Salinas and enjoyed the beach there. Mary went to D'Hugo's for the lobster, but unfortunate for her, the lobster was out of season. She settled for langostino in garlic sauce instead. It looked delicious. I don't think she was too disappointed.

On Saturday we checked out of our hotel and headed up the beach to Montanita. We met Leigh and Todd for breakfast.

They spent the day with us being tour guides. They showed us up and down the coast. We had a great time meeting other ex-pats who are now living on the coast.

Thanks you two we all had a great time.

In the afternoon, we headed to see Bob and Rox. They had graciously invited us earlier in the week to stay with them at their house. Chuck and I slept in their newest suite.....I should say sweet because that is what it is.....really sweet. They thought of everything. Great view of the ocean from the nice private deck and all the aminities inside. Good job B&R!

We went down to the ocean and got just a little wet.

We had drinks and watched the sun set. Yes, Bob was correct in his post. Four out of five of us saw the green flash as the sun set. The person posting to this blog at this moment missed it!

Rox made a wonderful dinner which we throughly enjoyed.

We had a real nice time with these two lovely people.

On Sunday, after coffee and rolls with Bob and Rox, we headed to Cuenca. It was overcast the whole way and it was foggy the whole way over the Cajas.

I think it was sometime during this drive that Mary said, "I think I will fly back to Guayaquil to go home."

Love,
Nancy (and Chuck and Mary)

PS: Mary will be at California Kitchen this Friday (Jan. 27) for lunch and all afternoon. approx. 1-5pm. She really wants to meet the bloggers and also wants to meet people who read her posts.

She's Here!!!

2012-01-20T07:55:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Mary arrived yesterday right on schedule. She was happy to be in Ecuador!!

We are now in Salinas enjoying the beach.

Steve, this picture is for you!

Love,

Nancy and Chuck

Weekend in Loja

2012-01-16T19:42:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

We have just returned from a fun trip to Loja with Rich and Nancy and Howard and Barbara. Chuck and I were going to go to Loja last week, but when we learned that these guys were going over the weekend we changed our plans so we could all go together.

We drove down on Friday. We spent Saturday together in Loja and on Sunday our friends went to Vilcabamba while Chuck and I headed to Zamora.

Here are some pictures of Loja we took on Saturday.

Nancy looking at ceramics at the showroom. This is a must stop place on every trip we make to Loja.

We visited the arboretum. Here is everyone enjoying the beautiful walk.

This is the church in the main plaza.

And the San Sebastian church at Plaza de Independencia.

Check out Rich's and Nancy's blog for more pictures.

Chuck has been wanting to go to Zamora for some time. So since we have already been to Vilcabamba several times, we decided to go to Zamora on Sunday. Zamora is east of Loja, about an hour and a half drive. We did not know what to expect except we knew it was much lower and getting into the jungle.

The drive to Zamora was spectacular.

We went through a national forest with beautiful waterfalls.

We stopped outside of Zamora to take this picture. They have a huge clock built into the side of the mountain. The surprising thing is that it works and even chimes on the hour.

This is an interesting statue we discovered. We don't know the significance, but it is very interesting. She is holding up a rolled document in one hand and has a broken chain dangling from her other hand.

We enjoyed walking through the bustling Sunday market.

Chuck found a plant that he has not seen in Cuenca so, of course, he had to have it. Hope it survives in the Cuenca temperatures.

We found a really neat, outdoor restaurant to have lunch.

They had a Coca Cola bottle opener on the side of the counter. It had a box to hold the bottle caps. It has been ages since I have seen one of these. Man, if I could put that thing up on eBay I bet it would bring a buck or two. The funny thing is that they only served Pepsi.

We had fish for lunch. It was fantastic. What looks like french fries are actually fried plantains. We were not in potato country anymore.

It started to rain so we headed back to Loja.

We stopped just outside of Loja to take a picture of the wonderful view.

We got back to Loja in time to meet everyone for dinner and share adventure stories.

Today we headed back to Cuenca, stopping in Saraguro on the way to do a little shopping.

Here are some cute pictures of Nancy and Barbara trying on a traditional style hat.

I'm not sure who was having more fun, Barbara or the sales lady.

We had a terrific weekend. Thankful for such wonderful friends.

Chuck and I are excited about our upcoming trip to meet Mary, of South of Zero fame, at the airport in Guayaquil. We leave early Thursday morning so we are sure to be at the airport when she comes in at noon.

Love,
Nancy

Guess Who's Coming to Ecuador???

2012-01-06T20:35:00.001-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

We have been sitting on the most wonderful news for weeks. There is a very special person coming to Ecuador about mid January. If you read Ecuador blogs you already know her. Mary Beckman of South of Zero is coming to Ecuador.

Chuck and I are very excited and want to get the word out.

We are driving to Guayaquil to meet her at the airport on January 19th. From there we will go to Salinas and hope to visit with Nancy and Joe Levin and after a day or two we will drive up to visit Leigh in Olon, and then to visit Bob and Rox in Manglaralto, near Montanita.

We will arrive in Cuenca about the 23rd or 24th of January. Mary will be in Cuenca about 12 days.

Mary will be staying with us during her visit here in Cuenca. She wants to meet as many of you as possible. If you have a blog that she promotes I am sure you will want to meet her too and let her know how much you appreciate all she has done for us.

We are going to have a get together of all the bloggers who live here in Cuenca. The time and place has not been set. If you have a blog and would like to be included please send me your email. Our email is watsontravelblog@gmail.com. This way I will have your email to let you know the details once we have them finalized.

Here is a picture of Chuck, Mary, me and Steve when we visited them in California.

Mary, we will see you in a couple of weeks. Pack a light jacket for Cuenca and some shorts and bathing suit for the beach!

Love,
Nancy and Chuck

Gearing Up for New Year's Eve

2011-12-31T13:17:00.001-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

We have had a wonderful 2011 and are now getting ready to send it on it's way!

Our whole holiday season has been so much fun. Christmas day Chuck and I had friends over for a brunch that lasted the whole day.

Just a few days ago, Myrna and David (who are renting our condo this week) invited Chuck, Bruce, Charlie and I over to the condo for her delicious home made pizza.

She made some great drinks and here we are enjoying the terrace and the sunset. Her pizza was terrific!

Yesterday and today we have been getting ready to usher in 2012.

Here is Chuck buying some fireworks....OMG!

We now have an "effigy" in our living room. I've named him LeRoy!

He is quite a guy! Here is a close up. Notice that he is wearing a "Panama" hat.

Last night I forgot he was in there. I went through the living room about dusk and almost died of fright when I saw him out of the corner of my eyes.

Tonight, LeRoy (representing 2011) will be burned up. We'll miss you LeRoy!

We are looking forward to 2012!

Love,
Nancy & Chuck

Reflections

2011-12-28T13:16:00.000-06:00

I was going to do a post about looking back at this past year. But in looking back at this past year I found myself looking back at our entire married life. Chuck and I have led a charmed life. Well, charmed for us, others might find it too unpredictable.

Since we first knew each other, until even now, we do about half our adventures on impulse. One of us says “wouldn’t it be fun to…..” the other of us says “why not?,” and our course is set.

We have traveled the world many times. Probably half of those trips were taken on a whim.

I can remember a trip to Hong Kong we took over the July 4^th holidays, several years back, because we discovered an extremely low air fare on Cathy Pacific. It was a wonderful trip, booked 5 days before our flight, with no time for pre planning.

Chuck is by far the most adventurous soul I know. He has a wonderful enthusiasm for life. I have learned over the years to be careful about what I say I would like to have or to do. Chuck makes things happen.

Actually our discovery of Ecuador was on one of those whims. Our whole adventure has been pretty much on a whim.

We have our travel schedule for 2012 filled through the first half of next year. Before we left for Spain back in October, none of these plans were even thought of. Come to think of it, our trip we just took to Spain was on a whim. Chuck found an incredibly cheap cruise from Spain to Panama and booked it. Since we had to fly to Spain to board the ship, he built a month long vacation in Spain and Morocco before we started the cruise.

We are starting to see ourselves change…getting older. Somehow this is creating an urgency in us to travel more while we can. We have a few places on our bucket list that we have not yet experienced. Whether experiencing them all is possible we do not know. But having the goals out there is good for us because there is always something more to strive for.

The only word I can use to describe how I feel at looking back at our life is gratitude.

So, for you my wish is that your reflections are filled with gratitude and that your tomorrows are filled with adventure.

Have a wonderful new year and a wonderful life.

Love,

Nancy

Paseo de Ninos

2011-12-24T20:27:00.002-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Our favorite day in Cuenca is Christmas Eve. This is the day when children parade through town.

We share these pictures with you and send you our love. Hope your Christmas day is filled with joy!

Feliz Navidad!

Nancy and Chuck

From Our House to Yours...

2011-12-23T09:32:00.000-06:00

Can't Hardly Wait!!

2011-12-19T20:58:00.001-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

This sweet angel is just a hint of what is in store for us on Christmas Eve, here in Cuenca. Lourdes, our housekeeper, told me that this little one is dressed as "Mama Negra." She is representing citizens of Ecuador who live in Esmeraldas.

We, Chuck, Rich, Nancy and I, got a hint of things to come when we were on our walk last Sunday. Of all the days to live in Cuenca our favorite is Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve is the day when children from all over parade through Cuenca. They are celebrating the "The Traveling Nino"

The origins of this religious festival is in the early 1960’s when a statue of the Christ Child was taken to Rome to be blessed by the Pope. When the statue returned, someone in the watching crowd called out, “Ya llegó el Viajero!" ("Now comes the traveling boy") and the statue became known as the Niño Viajero.

This little girl was a spectator, but it is obvious that her popcicle is getting a lot more attention than the parade.

By the way, Chuck got all the slats painted and reassembled the outdoor chairs.

They are looking real nice on the terrace of our rental condo.

Needless to say, he is very glad this job is complete.

We are now gearing up for the holidays ahead.

Love,
Nancy

LANDLORD = WORK

2011-12-08T15:19:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

When Chuck and I bought the new penthouse condo last year and decided to furnish it and rent it out, we were so naive. This was our first adventure in the landlord business. What could be difficult? You meet your renters (this is the best part, getting to know newcomers!) and get them settled. What we did not anticipate is the constant upkeep necessary to maintain the condo in tip top condition.

Our philosophy then, as it is now, is perfection. Perfection to the point that our renters feel comfortable and totally enjoy their stay in Cuenca. With the help of Karen and Randy Kimbler, our condo managers when we are away, we strive to provide the best quality possible for our renters.

To keep the condo in top condition requires constant maintenance. This is what we want....everything in top condition for each and every renter!

This past week Chuck took the chairs from the rental terrace apart. They are cast iron chairs with wood slats. The finish on the wood slats was peeling. Chuck sanded the slats and painted each one before reassembling the tables and chairs. We are hoping they are sealed well enough to weather the sun and rain for a good long time.

Our rental rates will be increased for bookings made next year. We could have just increased the rates, changed the website to reflect the new rent and that would be it. However, we felt we should at least give our renters and future renters a chance to rent at the 2011 rate next year if possible. So, if you have rented our condo and plan to return next year, or if you are planning a trip to Cuenca next year and want to rent the condo please book and pay by December 31, 2011. If you will do this we will honor the the 2011 rates for you.

I hope this isn't too confusing. If it is, shoot us an email and we will explain in more detail. The bottom line is that we did not want to raise the rate on our friends (and friends to be) without giving you a dog's chance.

By the way, to rent the condo go to this website: www.cuencapenthouse.com

Although our intent is to provide a quality short term (vacation) rental, we would be open to a little longer period provided all the condo requirements are met. So, if you are moving to Cuenca and need a top of the line furnished apartment to rent while you get your paperwork done, find the right place to live and receive your container of belongings, we are open to renting the condo out for as much as 3 to 6 months. Please contact us if this is something you would like and we will be glad to work with you.

Love,
Nancy and Chuck

The Cruise

2011-11-19T07:49:00.003-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

On October 30th, Clarke, Brenda, Audrey, Jim, Chuck and myself boarded our Royal Carribean cruise ship. Our two week cruise took us from Palma Mallorca, Spain to Colon, Panama. Most of our days were at sea, but we did stop in the Canary Islands, St Marteen, Antigua and Barbados on the way to Colon.

Below is a picture of our cruise ship the Grandeur of the Sea.

One of the swimming pools aboard.

Looking down into the main lobby.

Chuck saying goodbye to Palma Mallorca, Spain as we head out to sea.

We had many beautiful sunsets as we crossed the Atlantic Ocean.

Here is a picture as we approached the city of Tenerife in the Canary Islands. A big disappointment was to learn that there are no canaries in the Canary Islands. I guess it would be the same disappointment if we had stopped in the Virgin Islands.

With so many days at sea, we enjoyed a lot of time on the balcony of our room.

Here we are in the card room playing dominoes.

All gussied up for one of the formal nights.

At every stop we had to share the port with other ships. The most were in the small island of St. Marteen.

We saw beautiful beaches,

and lovely scenery at each port.

After docking in Colon, Panama we rented a van and drove to Panama City.

Chuck and I spent a couple of days in Panama City before returning to Cuenca. The city reminds you of Singapore or Hong Kong with all the high rises.

We went shopping and, of course, to see the canal locks.

We arrived in Cuenca on Wednesday night....dead tired. We have spent the last couple of days resting up and readjusting to the altitude.

It was a great six weeks adventure and now we are happy to be back home!

Love,
Nancy & Chuck

Mallorca, Spain - Taking the slow way home!

2011-10-30T02:37:00.000-06:00

We are traveling with our friends, Clarke and Brenda. To read their version of this trip click here.

We are meeting up with Audrey and Jim in Palma de Malorca before we embark the cruise ship. You can read about their adventures in Spain by clicking here.

Dear Family and Friends,

We arrived in Mallorca, Spain on Friday. Not long after we got checked into our hotel, Audrey and Jim arrived. Finally, all six of us are gathered in the same place!

Yesterday was my birthday and five out of six of us enjoyed the beautiful city. The one left behind was still suffering some of the Moroccan revenge. That happened to be me! In order to see pictures of this city you will need to click on links at the top of this blog.

By late afternoon, I was doing much better. The troops gathered and decided that we should go out to dinner. We went to a great restaurant and had paella. A very nice birthday celebration for this old biddy!!

Later today we will board the cruise ship. We depart tonight and arrive in Panama on November 13th.

I will post about our cruise adventures after we get back home to Cuenca.

Love,
Nancy

Important - When we board the cruse ship today we will be without internet. This means we will not be posting to the blog. Actually, there is internet on the ship, but it is slow and the cost is astronomical, so we will only check our email once every day or so.
In case of emergency we could be contacted through the cruise line. We are on Royal Caribbean and the name of the boat is Grandeur Of The Seas.

Marrakesh, Morocco

2011-10-26T10:57:00.000-06:00

Sunrise light on the main mosque.

Getting ready for another day.

Acrobats entertaining for money (sound familiar?)

A high end hotel in the modern part of Marrakesh.

We found Clyde the camel.

Antiques....

Colorful spices.

If you click on this 20 second video, turn up your volume. The purpose is to give you a little flavor of the main plaza. The tin horn sounds are the snake charmers playing for the cobras. The drums, if you can hear them, remind me of the scene in King Kong when the natives are offering a sacrifice to Kong. (Faye Ray)

Except for Clarke, we have all had varying degrees of Moroccan revenge the last couple of days. We will be glad to get back to the land of drinkable tap water.

Tomorrow we fly back to Madrid. Time to start thinking about cruising.

Love,
Nancy

Fez, Morocco

2011-10-22T15:59:00.001-06:00

We are traveling with our friends, Clarke and Brenda. To read their version of this trip click here.

We are meeting up with Audrey and Jim in Palma de Malorca before we embark the cruise ship. You can read about their adventures in Spain by clicking here.

Dear Family and Friends,

Here it is Saturday and we are in the city of Fez. We arrived yesterday by train from Tangiers.

Today the four of us toured the Medina which is the ancient walled city of Fez. The locals refer to the city outside the walls as the "new city." Like in Tangiers, people still live inside the walls and like in historic Cuenca, the real estate values inside the Medina are sky rocketing.

This is one of many gates that lead into the Medina. This gate is known as the blue green gate because it has blue tile on one side and green tile on the other.

For anyone in Cuenca that has their propane gas delivered by truck, take a look at how it is delivered here.

The markets inside are interesting. Here is a picture of prunes, raisins, figs and other dried fruit.

Here are some interesting fish.

We were able to look down on the vats of dye that are used to color the leather after tanning it.

The finished products are so colorful. They use natural dyes to color all kinds of leather, goat, sheep, cow, and camel skins.

Have a look at some of the other items sold in stalls.

These pots remind me of some of the pre-Colombian pottery displayed in museums in Cuenca.

This is a plaza of metal workers.

Other scenes from our tour....

And a good one to finish up with is a sweet picture of Brenda petting a donkey.

On Monday we take a train to Marrakesh.

More later.

Love,
Nancy

Snake Adventure in Tangiers - Part 2 of 2

2011-10-20T12:12:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

While we were in the Kasbah, we met a nice old man. He had a surprise for us in his bag.

Yep, you got it. The surprise was a snake. A cobra to be exact.

He put it down on the ground. The first thing it did was head away from the man toward Chuck. I knew Chuck would get in trouble one day wearing that bright red Cuenca football shirt.

The orange arrow in the picture is pointed at the snake's head. Chuck is just to the right of the snake. The man quickly got the snake oriented towards himself and away from Chuck.

He then started talking to the cobra.

Things were going fine until he decided to bring out another one.

He said for us to not worry, this snake is not a Cobra. Ha! Like that made it good.

He wanted one of us to hold it. I quickly announced that I was the photographer and I didn't have enough hands to hold the snake. Chuck finally agreed to touch it so the man would be happy.

Then the old man went back and picked up the cobra. Nope, no way!! No touching that one....not even brave Chuck. The old man just laughed and put took the snake away.

In the end, all was well. What a fun guy. I thought it was all fun after the snakes were put away.

Love,
Nancy

Tangiers, Morocco - Part 1 of 2

2011-10-20T11:47:00.000-06:00

We are traveling with our friends, Clarke and Brenda. To read their version of this trip click here.

Dear Family and Friends,

We arrived in Morocco yesterday and our eyes have been popping ever since. Since trying to do everything as a foursome is difficult, we do our own sightseeing and Clarke and Brenda do theirs. We meet up later and share our adventures.

We are meeting up with Clarke and Brenda tonight at 6:00pm and we are so anxious to hear their adventure tales.

Once again, I have too many pictures to share. I am doing two consecutive postings about Tangiers.

First, I will share market pictures. Today, Thursday, is the big market day.

I've never seen so many different types of olives before.

Some bread for sale.

A big bag of sea snails. They sure looked yummy!

Did you know that tangerines get their name from Tangiers? Well, they do!

Our Cuenca friends will appreciate this. These women with the funny hats are from the campo (countryside). They dress in their traditional dress which includes these hats.

We had dinner out last night...these are typical starters.

Anchovies, these were not too salty. I think they may have been fresh. They were delicious. This picture is for you Rich.

Bread with a light dusting of cornmeal on the crust.

and a delicious assortment of olives.

We even had entertainment.

While I am on food, this is a typical tea served here in Tangiers. It is a hot green tea, very sweet with a massive amount of mint. It is very good.

The Kasbah

The Kasbah is the old town center. It is where the Sultan lived. It is a strongly fortified with tall walls and now it is the home of many rich foreigners.

Chuck and I met this wonderful man on the street. He spoke good English. He was very nice and offered to tour us through the Kasbah. This is Maalem Domnati. His telephone number here in Tangiers is 00 212 06 66 90 29 80. Although he is a musician, he said he would be happy to be a tour guide for our friends. So if you come to Tangiers, give him a call.

Here is Chuck coming through one of the four gates that open into the Kasbah.

This is one of many places that the residence come to get water. Many still do not have water plumbed to their houses.

The Kasbah is surrounded by high walls. It is probably the number one tourist site in Tangiers. Many Hollywood movies have been filmed here.

Many of the streets are so narrow that cars cannot get through. So when work is being done, material has to be delivered on carts, pushed with manpower or pulled by a donkey. These guys are moving bags of cement in the picture below.

The Kasbah is a small self contained city. Here is a bakery we were lucky enough to get to visit. Many people who live in the Kasbah make their own bread at home but bring it to a bakery, such as this, to have it baked.

This is a typical tourist shopping store.

This is the 9th of April plaza.

And here my friends is a STOP sign in Arabic. Glad we are not driving here.

Tangiers, is an Arabic city with a lot of European influence. Tomorrow we will go deeper into Morocco by train. Our next destination is Fez.

In my next post I will share about our snake adventure.

In the words of my friend, "Life is Good."

Love,
Nancy

Gibraltar Apes .... Part 3 of 3

2011-10-18T14:21:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

I took so many pictures of the apes on the Rock of Gibraltar that I made a post just for them.

Cute little buggers....

Tomorrow we turn in the rental car and take a ferry to Morocco.

Exciting times!!

Love,
Nancy

Gibraltar Part 2 of 3

2011-10-18T14:12:00.000-06:00

We are traveling with our friends, Clarke and Brenda. To read their version of this trip click here.

Dear Family and Friends,

We left Coin this morning and headed for Gibraltar. About an hour out of Coin we stopped at a view point over looking this beautiful town. These "white hillside towns" are common in southern Spain.

We arrived Gibraltar about noon.

The town of Gibraltar is only on the land between the rock and the Mediterranean...which is not that much. The town is pretty much tourist city. They have duty free shopping so it is a very popular place to by tobacco products, alcohol, perfume, jewelry and electronics. There is a long shopping street that is loaded with all types of stores and tons of shoppers.

Of course going to the top of the Rock of Gibraltar is the most important thing to do there.

Looking at the Mediterranean from the top.

Looking down on the airport. Notice the strip that goes right across the runway. That is a road. There is a crossing arm that comes down when a plane is taking off or landing...much like a railroad crossing.

This is the Atlantic ocean from the top of the rock.

There are small apes that live on the rock. I will share pictures in the next blog post.

Love,
Nancy

Nerja and Coin, Spain - Our visit with Larry and Liza ...Part 1 of 3

2011-10-18T13:30:00.001-06:00

We are traveling with our friends, Clarke and Brenda. To read their version of this trip click here.

Dear Family and Friends,

We got out of Granada without scratching the rental car!

Our next destination was Coin. This is where our friends, the Wheelers, are living. They used to live in Cuenca, Ecuador but moved to Spain about a year ago.

Before arriving in Coin, we stopped at the coastal city of Nerja.

Nerja is a very popular place for northern Europeans to go during the winter to warm up and get sunshine.

The short term rental apartments look out over the Mediterranean.

Chuck and Clarke doing a little hat shopping. Chuck is looking at a panama hat made in Ecuador. The quality is course and should cost about $6 - $7 in Cuenca. This hat cost 25 euros.

After grabbing a bite of lunch we headed to Coin.

We got in touch with Larry and Liza right after we checked into our hotel.

They walked us around the town.

They showed us some of their recent art. It is incredible.

We stopped at a couple of different places for celebratory drinks before winding up back at our hotel for dinner.

Beautiful Liza

Like so many of our friends, we have missed Larry and Liza. We passed on all the "well wishes" from their friends. They really miss all their friends in Cuenca. We had a great visit.

Larry and Liza told us that they may be moving to Granada in a month or so.

Their art website is a must see...click here.

Next stop....Gibraltar.

Love,
Nancy

Adventure at every turn!!

2011-10-16T11:46:00.000-06:00

We are traveling with our friends, Clarke and Brenda. To read their version of this trip click here.

Dear Family and Friends,

Driving a car and reading maps in a foreign country can be stressful. Today it was off the chart.

It all started innocently enough. We decided to go see the Gypsy museum and to visit the mosque. Chuck said that instead of taking a bus we could go in the car and park close by.

We all got in the car and headed out. Every route that we could detect on the map turned out to be either under construction, one way streets, or taxi and bus streets only.

This is when we should have brought the car back to the hotel and taken a bus or taxi. The (unnamed) driver of the car thought we could still drive there if we went way around and into the neighborhood from the backside.

The (unnamed) navigator successfully navigated us to where we thought we should be. It was then that things turned dark. The cobblestone streets became very, very narrow. I'm not sure if they were streets or walking paths with cars parked along the side.

My memory is fuzzy from this point on due to the panic attack I was experiencing. We kept driving the car on streets that got more narrow and had sharp turns. We kept going because there was no way to turn around. Finally we came to a place so narrow that there was no way the car could fit.

It was at this point that the navigator and his assistant had to get out of the vehicle and help the driver back down the narrow twisted road. All of this was being done moving downhill. It took 30 to 45 minutes to back the distance we had traveled forward in about 3 minutes. It took this long because we didn't dare scratch the paint on the rented car.

Before long, we had the towns people also in on the rescue project. They all cheered when the white knuckled driver was able to successfully back down and get turned around.

When the navigator and his assistant got back into the car, he said he was done with the navigator business. He just wanted to go back to the hotel and take a bus. His assistant hardily agreed.

Since the driver and I knew we needed to decompress and would not be taking the tour after all, we dropped them off so that they could get a taxi or bus. The driver and I came back to the hotel. After we got our heart rates back to normal we took a Sunday walk.

Love,
Nancy

Granada, Spain

2011-10-15T13:21:00.001-06:00

We are traveling with our friends, Clarke and Brenda. To read their version of this trip click here.

Dear Family and Friends,

Today was a high energy day. It started this morning when Chuck dropped Clarke off at the Alhambra at 6:30am to stand in line and wait for the ticket booth to open at 8:00am. Thank you Clarke for braving the cold wind and purchasing 4 tickets.

The four of us returned to Alhambra about 1:30pm to get in line to start our 2:00pm tour. Short of opening hours at Disney World this is the most tourists I have ever witnessed waiting in line.

They limit the number of tourists that can enter the site each day. They have morning and afternoon tours. This has to be the most toured site in all of Spain.

The Alhambra is a palace and fortress complex located on a hill overlooking the city of Granada. The gardens are extensive. Thanks to Clarke, we were able to see not only the gardens but the palace also.

Like the other palaces we have visited, the Alhambra was built and first occupied by the Moors.

To be truthful, I am just too tired to talk about each picture. My feet are so sore and I am about to fall asleep. I am sure Clarke and Brenda will have a lot of wonderful pictures too. Just enjoy!!

Love,
Nancy

Loja, Spain...the other Loja

2011-10-14T13:22:00.000-06:00

We are traveling with our friends, Clarke and Brenda. To read their version of this trip click here.

Dear Family and Friends,

When planning our trip to Spain, it was our intent to take a day trip from Madrid and visit Cuenca, Spain. We call it "the other Cuenca." Since our time in Madrid was limited to two days, we decided to for-go that plan.

A couple of posts back I eluded to a secret about us having to change our routing to Spain. The secret is that since we were diverted to Seattle instead of flying from Guayaquil to Madrid on October 2, and since we could not get a refund on our ticket, we just changed the date of the ticket and we will be returning to Madrid on March 1, 2012. A few months from now we will be able to do all the things we were going to do this trip and more.

Today we drove from Seville to Granada. We detoured from the freeway to drive through Loja, Spain. We were so glad we did because we found out something we did not know about the "other Loja."

Loja, Spain had 15 seconds of fame in the 1933 Marx Brothers movie, DUCK SOUP. Loja, Spain was used for the town of Transylvania.

As we were driving into town we noticed a nice view point. We parked and went over to take a look. When we got there, we found that we were standing in the exact place that the scene was shot to depict Transylvania in the movie "Duck Soup."

This is a frame from the film that was on the monument.

This is how the scene looks today.

Here is more information about Lojas role in the making of Duck Soup if you are interested http://www.locationsspain.com/node/5

We drove into town. Here is a picture I made of the tower that is in the background above.

Now we are in Granada and will be touring here tomorrow.

Love,
Nancy

Seville, Spain

2011-10-13T15:31:00.002-06:00

We are traveling with our friends, Clarke and Brenda. To read their version of this trip click here.

Dear Family and Friends,

This morning we started out by having breakfast together in the tourist plaza. After breakfast Clarke and Brenda went back to the hotel to retrieve a camera. Chuck and I went to Real Alcazar (Royal Mansion) and we visited the Cathedral.

Real Alcazar

The Alcazar is huge. It was originally a Moorish fort. The upper levels of the Alcázar are still used by the royal family as the official Seville residence.

This palace was the birthplace of Maria Antonietta of Spain.

Chuck and I rented the English audio tour and enjoyed a couple of hours of roaming the palace.

Here are some pictures...

This is the entrance for tourists.

Outer garden.

This is the Courtyard of the Maidens

The architecture is splendid. The tile work was awesome.

Baths of Lady María de Padilla

From inside the palace you could see the beautiful garden out back.

We roamed around outside and enjoyed the shade and the beauty.

As we left the Real Alcazar we had a grand view of the cathedral which we visited next.

Cathedral of St.Mary

Similar to the cathedral in Cordoba, the Spaniards built this cathedral over a mosque. The difference is that in Cordoba, much of the mosque still exists. In Seville, the mosque was completely destroyed and the cathedral was built over it. The only things that remains from the original mosque is the orange tree garden where the Arabs washed up before worship and the minaret which the Spaniards converted into a bell tower.

This is where we waited in line to get inside. There are thousands of tourist daily.

It is the largest Gothic cathedral and the third largest church in the world.

I was most interested in the tomb of Christopher Columbus. He is supported on the shoulders of four kings.

Chuck climbed the bell tower and took some fabulous pictures looking down on the street below. Wonderful roof tops.

Tonight we went to dinner with Clarke and Brenda. We went to a neighborhood just on the other side of the river that was recommended in Rick Steve's guide book.

Tomorrow we are off to Granada!

Love,
Nancy

Carmona, Spain

2011-10-12T23:50:00.001-06:00

As you know, we are traveling through southern Spain with our friends. Click here to read Clarke's post.

Dear Family and Friends,

Yesterday we took a leisurely drive from Cordoba to Seville. We stopped about 40 kilometers before arriving Seville to tour a fortress in Carmona.

It was amazing how well the fortress, walls and all, was preserved. Here are a few pictures....

The west gate:

We climbed the wall of the fortress and could see outside and inside the fortress. This is the church San Pedro that is located just outside the walls.

A 180 degree turn and we could see inside the fortress. The town inside is still inhabited. How cool to live inside the walls.

Here are Clarke and Brenda celebrating life on top of the fortress wall. I am sure Clarke was thinking to himself, "Life is Good."

This is a close up picture of what we saw in the distance. Chuck says that he thinks that it has a circle of mirrors below that reflect the sunlight to a boiler above.....producing electricity. It really makes the sky around it an eerie sight.

We arrived in Seville in the early afternoon. Chuck and I rested during the heat of the day and headed out last night for dinner and sight seeing. We strolled around tourist central and had tapas and wine sitting just outside the cathedral.

This morning we are meeting up with Clarke and Brenda at 8:30am and we will try to beat the heat and maybe the crowds in touring the Seville sights.

Love,
Nancy

Cordoba, Spain

2011-10-11T10:12:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

The four of us spent a good part of yesterday driving from Madrid to Cordoba. It was a very interesting drive. We drove through La Mancha (Don Quixote country) and saw some of the famous wind mills.

It is a good thing that we are doing this trip in October. We arrived in Cordoba about 4pm, the hottest part of the day. It was very hot. I cannot imagine doing this trip in mid summer. Thank goodness for good air conditioning in our hotel.

The first thing I did after arriving was to take a nap while Chuck did some exploration of the city. We met up with Clarke and Brennie at 7:30pm to go to a flaminco dinner/dance show.

The following are some photos of our walk to dinner.

The first is an archeological dig site of a Roman Temple from about the time of Christ.

This picture shows how narrow some of the streets are...actually since there were no cars the streets did not have to be flat.

A view through a window of hams hanging over the bar.

Behind this portal is a small plaza.

A view of the old Roman bridge just after the sun went down.

A view of the lit up mosque/cathedral behind the old bridge.

This picture is of the dance show we saw.

After the show we walked back to the hotel. We arrived back around midnight. We felt perfectly safe walking that late.

This morning Chuck and I went to visit the mosque/cathedral. This is the biggest tourist draw in Cordoba.

This part of Spain was inhabited by the Moors after they conquered this area from the Romans. The mosque was built over an old churche starting in 743AD. After the Spanish reconquered this area, a cathedral was built right in the middle of the mosque. This unique structure is now a World Heritage Site.

This first photo is of the courtyard outside the mosque where people would wash before going inside.

This is a doorway leading from the courtyard to the street outside of the mosque.

I think I was most amazed by the architecture of the Moors, because as I look at the pictures I took, they are mainly of the mosque architecture. Maybe, living in Ecuador, I have become a little used to seeing Catholic churches and cathedrals.

The building is most notable for its giant arches, with 856 columns of jasper, onyx, marble and granite. The columns were rescued from the Roman era and the arches were added by the Moors.

The windows were quite fascinating
.

Here is a door that leads to the outside street. The door is of Moor design and flanked on each side by the gold guild-ed Spanish additions.

We were in total awe!

After touring the mosque, we met up with Clarke and Brenda at the hotel. We decided to stay another day here in Cordoba. We will meet up again tonight for dinner and swap our days' adventure tales.

Chuck and I headed back to the old city and enjoyed walking the narrow streets and peeking behind the doors and gates into the beautiful patios.

I particularly liked this building painted white with the clay flower pots painted blue.

Chuck and I are resting up now.....out of the heat of the day. We look forward to sharing dinner with our travel buddies.

Tomorrow we go to Seville.

Love,
Nancy

Madrid day two - Flea Market

2011-10-09T11:50:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Last night Brenda told Chuck and I about a flea market that is held every Sunday here in Madrid. She asked if we would be interested in going. We accepted enthusiastically. She told us to be ready to go by 8:45am. They would knock on our door as they were leaving.

We went to bed at a decent time so no need to set a clock. I woke up this morning and looked at my watch. It was 8:35am! We had to tell Clarke and Brenda to go on without us and we would do the flea market later.

Before leaving to go to the flea market we had to repack our luggage. Chuck and I brought one large suitcase each and one carry-on each. For the next couple of weeks or so we will be touring the south of Spain in a small rental car. Then we are going by boat to Morocco. In Morocco we will be going to various cities by train. All four of us agreed before we came on the trip that we should limit ourselves to one carry-on size bag each for this portion of our trip. The large bags are too big for that much schlepping around.

What about our large suit cases? They will be left at the hotel we are staying in when we return to Madrid. We fly back to Madrid toward the end of October to catch a flight to Mallorca, where we board the cruise ship.

Now...back to the flea market adventure.

Chuck and I took the metro to Plaza del Sol. We walked to Plaza Mayor where the market begins. On the way we decided to stop for breakfast.

We found a coffee/tea shop that served a Spanish breakfast and an English breakfast. I ordered the English style and Chuck ordered the Spanish style breakfast.

Chuck's breakfast. Chuck's toast has a tomato spread on it.

and my breakfast.

That glob in the middle of my plate is bacon. Not too bad, but my comment to Chuck was "I sure miss the Kookaburra and the California Kitchen about now."

After breakfast we walked on to Plaza Mayor. This picture is of the entrance.

When we went through the archway the plaza opened up. It is surrounded on all four sides by buildings. Chuck (my favorite tour guide) told me that when they first moved the capital to Madrid this was where all the government buildings were built.

We went though another archway to get to the flea market. It was sooooo crowded. The market went on for blocks and blocks and it was shoulder to shoulder people. It was much to crowded to do any serious shopping. We inched our way along...partly carried by the crowd...to the other end. We did not buy a thing. As Clarke said in his blog post...this venue is perfect for being pick pocketed. I brought my camera out once to take the photo below just to give you an idea of the humanity.

It was just this crowded from beginning to end!!

It took us a couple of hours to walk the entire market. Luckily, getting to the end paid off. We found more outdoor seating. We sat for awhile, enjoyed a nice cool one and people watched.

After we got back to our hotel, Clarke and Brenda came to tell us they were going to get something to eat. We tagged along and had a fun time catching up with each other.

AND, just in case you are wondering, those are the same clothes Chuck wore yesterday. They are most likely the same clothes he will wear tomorrow. We figure about three days per outfit to try and make the clothes last a little longer between laundering. We talked about this before we left on our trip. We said except for Clarke and Brenda, no one will know we are wearing the same clothes. But, I forgot about blogging pictures. Now everyone who follows this blog will know. Aren't you glad these aren't "scratch and sniff " pictures?

Tomorrow, we get our rental car and start our southern Spain adventure. Chuck and I had a very short stay here in Madrid, but I have a little secret that I will share with you a little later about that.

It is 7:00pm here in Madrid. As I look on my computer clock, I see it is about noon in Cuenca. If we were home we would be enjoying Mixx ice cream with Rich and Nancy about now.

Love,

Nancy

A walk in Madrid

2011-10-08T11:36:00.001-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Chuck and I spent today on our own made up walking tour of Madrid.

We started our tour at Plaza Puerta del Sol. Clarke and Brenda took us there last night. What a lively place.

This is the fountain in the middle of the huge plaza.

This lady is grinding an organ without a little monkey.

This guy is hurriedly putting out his illegal "knock-off " Prada purses. He wasn't in business very long before the police ran him off.

We then walked to the area near the train station.

One of the things I love about this city is the hundreds of out door sitting areas. They are everywhere!

Another thing I love about Madrid is the beautiful architecture and the wonderful narrow streets.

It reminds me a lot of Paris.

A beautiful park.

And lots of tourist ~~junk~~ treasures.

Chuck was colorful enough to sell in his Panama hat and Spain Football shirt.

A cool life-size display outside a tourist shop.

One of Madrid's double decked tour buses.

We LOVE this city!!

Now I have to go soak my puppies!

Love,
Nancy

Spain at last!!

2011-10-08T02:28:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Chuck and I finally made it to Madrid. We left Seattle early on Thursday morning. We flew to JFK in New York and then flew from JFK to Madrid over night. We arrived in Madrid at 7:30am yesterday morning.

We met up with Clarke and Brenda and made plans for meeting for dinner.

Chuck scouted out our neighborhood while I slept off my stooper. Jet lag is so crippling.

After a good nap, Clarke, Brenda, Chuck and I did some walking, sightseeing and had dinner. Chuck and I crashed early but are up now ready to be awake tourists.

We declined Clarke and Brenda's invitation to join them for a day trip to Toledo today. Chuck and I are going to spend the day exploring Madrid. We will meet C&B tonight and swap tales of our adventures over dinner.

Glad to be here!

Nancy & Chuck

Schedule Change

2011-10-01T13:23:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

We received word on Thursday that Chuck's 98 year old dad had passed away. He died of old age, at peace and in no pain.

We were scheduled to fly to Madrid on Sunday. We changed our travel plans and flew all night on Thursday to Seattle to be with the family. Dad's memorial service will be on Tuesday afternoon.

On Wednesday or Thursday night we will fly to Madrid to meet up with Clarke and Brenda.

Both the links below are about Chuck's dad.

http://watsontravels.blogspot.com/2011/05/happy-birthday-dad.html

http://www.queenannenews.com/main.asp?SectionID=26&SubSectionID=351&ArticleID=30439

We will miss you Dad....but we know that you are much happier being with Mom.

Nancy & Chuck

Our Travel Schedule

2011-09-28T10:00:00.052-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

More about our trip. We (Chuck, Clarke, Brenda and I) are flying to Madrid on Sunday. We will tour Madrid and surrounding areas the first week. We will then rent a car and tour southern Spain and Gibraltar. From there we will take a ferry to Morocco. We will spend about a week in Morocco before flying to Mallorca to meet Audrey and Jim (Chuck's sister and her husband) and to board a cruise ship. The six of us will cruise across the Atlantic, ending up in Panama. We will fly back home from there. (This is the nutshell version)

Chuck has done a wonderful job of designing our trip...air travel, hotels, and car rental. He provided me with the following schedule calendar. I am hoping to post to the blog as we travel. This schedule should give you a mental model of what we are doing and when.

Sun, October 2 - Depart Cuenca – Guayaquil – Madrid. 30 hours flying and sitting in airports.

Mon, October 3 - Arrive Madrid around noon, collapse in hotel.

Tue, October 4 - Tour Madrid

Wed, October 5 - Madrid Museums – Prado, see El Greco, Goya, Velazquez and more

Thu, October 6 - Day trip to Toledo

Fri, October 7 - Tour Madrid - Reina Sofia museum for Picasso

Sat, October 8 - Day trip to Cuenca. Yes, we are going to check out the original Cuenca

Sun, October 9 - Tour Madrid – Royal Palace

Mon, October 10 - Pick up rental car, drive to Córdoba

Tue, October 11 - Tour Córdoba , Drive to Seville in afternoon

Wed, October 12 - Tour Seville

Thu, October 13 - Tour Seville - Alcazar

Fri, October 14 - Drive to Granada

Sat, October 15 - Tour Granada, visit the Alhambra

Sun, October 16 - Tour Granada

Mon, October 17 - Drive to Coín to meet up with Larry and Liza Wheeler

Tue, October 18 - Drive to Gibraltar – See the apes

Wed, October 19 - Return rental car, Ferry to Tagier, Morroco

Thu, October 20 - Tour Tangier

Fri, October 21 - Train to Fez

Sat, October 22 - Tour Fez

Sun, October 23 - Tour Fez

Mon, October 24 - Train Fez to Marrakesh

Tue, October 25 - Tour Marrakesh

Wed, October 26 - Tour Marrakesh

Thu, October 27 - Fly Marrakesh to Madrid

Fri, October 28 - Fly to Palma de Malorca

Sat, October 29 - Meet up with Audrey and Jim and tour Palma de Mallorca

Sun, October 30 - Embark on Cruise

Mon, October 31 - Cruise

Tue, November 1 - Cruise

Wed, November 2 - Tenerife, Canary Islands

Thu, November 3 - Cruise

Fri, November 4 - Cruise

Sat, November 5 - Cruise

Sun, November 6 - Cruise

Mon, November 7 - Cruise

Tue, November 8 - San Maarten

Wed, November 9 - Antigua

Thu, November 10 - Bridgetown Barbados

Fri, November 11 - Cruise

Sat, November 12 - Cruise

Sun, November 13 - Cruise ends, pick up rental car, driving tour of canal

Mon, November 14 - Audrey and Jim return rental car and fly home. Clarke and Brenda fly home. Chuck and Nancy tour Panama

Tue, November 15 - Tour Panama

Wed, November 16 - Watsons fly home

We have a lot of things to do before Sunday...like finding our suitcases.

Love,
Nancy

Chordeleg Adventure

2011-09-27T10:47:00.002-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Chuck read in the newspaper that there were going to be some "goings on" in Chordeleg last weekend. We decided to ride up there and check it out. We invited Gayle and Paul to come with us. Gayle and Paul are renting the condo and are planning to move to Ecuador real soon.

When we got to Chordeleg we saw that the "goings on" were religious in nature...like most celebrations in Ecuador. They had set up the alter for the church outside on the plaza. There were food vendors all around and occasionally a firecracker would go off.

Then here came Christ being carried through the plaza to be put on the altar.

This was not a procession with the whole congregation joining in. It appeared that the people were probably one family. Posssibly they had donated money to the church for this privilege.

After the Christ was put on the outdoor altar, the service began.

All those umbrellas were not because it was raining, but to protect the congregation from the bright mid-day sun.

We did a little window shopping in the jewelry stores surrounding the plaza, but since gold and silver prices have soared, the jewelry was just a little too rich for my blood. Especially since I hardly ever wear it in Cuenca.

Chuck drove us through Gualaceo and down by the river park. He was able to find the old Spanish built aqua duct. It is over 500 years old.

We came back to Cuenca and went to our favorite ice cream parlor - Mixx.

We set in San Blas plaza enjoying our ice cream while people and pigeon watching.

On Sunday morning, Rich, Nancy, Chuck and I walked to the Kookaburra for breakfast. We are going to miss this wonderful adventure every Sunday while we are away. We couldn't ask for better friends, just love them to death.

While walking we passed a little pet shop. They had little pens with puppies for sale and one kitten. Nancy and I just oood and ahhhhhd over the little kitten and puppy snuggling up to keep warm.

I guess it is time to start thinking about what to pack for our upcoming trip. We have to remember to pack voltage converters for our electrical items....Kindle, computers, cameras, etc.

Luckily, this is a trip that if we forget to pack something, we should readily be able to buy it. We are spending our first week in Madrid.

Clarke and Brenda ordered all sorts of travel guides: DVDs, Rick Steve's Spain travel guide. The other day we got an email from Clarke...he had taken his travel guide and had it copied so that we could have a copy. How sweet is that???? Thanks guys.

We are leaving this Sunday, October 2nd. I'll be posting again before we head out. I'll share a little more about our travel plans later.

Love,
Nancy

Penthouse Improvements

2011-09-22T18:30:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

We have been busy lately adding art and improving the condo we rent out to Cuenca tourists. Below is one of the additions. We bought this rug in Peguchi, a little village just outside of Otavalo, Ecuador. The colors are perfect for the condo.

The big project, that we were feverishly finishing last night, was a new top for our terrace sunshade. When we bought the sunshade it had a canvas top. This was fine, unless it rained or the wind came up. Chuck came up with a grand solution. He said slats would let the wind and rain through and also provide shade.

We hired our friend, Hugo, to design the new top. We told him that we had new tenants arriving today and wanted the project finished before they arrived. Hugo made the top in one week. The new top was installed yesterday afternoon. Here are the pictures.

Hugo, on the right, and his helpers relaxing after a job well done.

Today, we met our new tenants at the airport. They will be renting the condo for almost two months. Below are Gayle and Paul (from California) with Karen and Randy (condo managers) and Chuck.

Gayle and Paul plan to be future residents of Cuenca. This is their first time here. We bet they are going to enjoy their stay!

Nancy

SPAIN, Here We Come!!!!!

2011-09-20T05:30:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Chuck and I, along with our friends, Clarke and Brenda are headed to southern Spain. We are leaving on October 2 and will be playing tourists until mid November.

It is my intent to take you with us by blogging and posting photos as we go. This of course depends on the quality of the internet service we have on our travels.

Clarke and Brenda ordered a Rick Steves Travel DVD series on some of the cities we will be visiting. We got together last night and watched them all.

Can you tell there is excitement in the air????

In the words of our traveling buddy, Life is Good!!

Nancy

Band Aid Substitute - New to Me!!

2011-09-05T17:27:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Sunday while Rich, Nancy, Chuck and I were eating breakfast at the Kookaburra. Jenny, owner and chef, came over to our table to show us her hand. She had a small burn and she shared with us her remedy. She said that the folks that live in the countryside around here do this often for burns, scraps or most anything you would need a band aid for.

She explained to us that she had taken a fresh cracked egg shell and removed the membrane that is just inside the shell and put it over the burn. The membrane is moist from the egg white. She smoothed it on the burn and after it dries, it forms excellent protection. The egg white is good for the burn.

Here's a picture.

Jenny, if I did not pass on the correct information, let me know and I will correct the description of the remedy.

If I get a kitchen burn, it is usually when I am frying bacon for breakfast. How perfect is this? The eggs get fried next. Just crack the egg, take the moist membrane from the shell and apply to burn..

Next time I get a burn, I am going to try this.

Happy to pass on a good ol' folk remedy.

Love,
Nancy

Santa Rosa - Family Reunion

2011-09-03T13:15:00.003-06:00

This is a reality post. What I am going to share with you, including the pictures, can be quite disturbing to some. Read at your own risk!

Dear Family and Friends,

I told you in our last blog post that we were headed to Santa Rosa for a fiesta. Well, that is not what it turned out to be for us. Yes, there was a fiesta in Santa Rosa...it was a celebration of Saint Rose (I think this is the same saint as Saint Rosa de Lima in Peru). The town was filled with the typical celebration festivities, vendors, fireworks, and artisans.

We, Chuck and I, were invited to Santa Rosa to be part of a family reunion. I misunderstood Lourdes when she was inviting us. What we got was an experience like none other.

You might remember our trip from before. Lourdes' mother lives right smack dab in the middle of a very large banana plantation. She does not own the plantation, she does not even own her own house. The house is a very basic concrete structure. Lourdes and her six siblings were lovingly raised by her mother in this house.

The yellow arrow points to where the three bedrooms are located. The red arrow points to the kitchen. Behind the kitchen is a large room with a concrete floor for eating. In the back of the building are two bathrooms (men and women) with a couple of toilet stalls and showers in each. It was my impression that Lourdes' mother cooks for the workers of the plantation. Basically, the three rooms upstairs are all that are really hers. The kitchen, eating room and bathrooms are there for the workers and she gets to use them.

Since there is no living or family room, the covered packing shed is used by the family for sitting and entertaining..

When I was putting this post together, I didn't know if I should sugar coat things or tell it like we saw and experienced it. I have decided to do the latter. For all the complaining I hear from people back home about how rough it is, I think people living in the U.S. should be aware of how some people in other countries live. There are many poor families in Ecuador...this is just our experience of spending the day with this special family.

Lourdes' mothers name is Rose. Her children chose this day (day of Saint Rose) to come together, honor their mother and celebrate together.

The brothers and sisters pooled their money and bought a pig, butchered it and spent all day preparing a very special meal. This is a really big deal because buying a whole pig is expensive.

Luckily, we did not arrive until after the pig was ready for cooking.

The following pictures are of the preparations for the big meal.

Below green bananas are being peeled and cut into chunks.

Inside the kitchen Lourdes, her mother and other family members are chopping onions, garlic and cabbage.

When it was time to get started cooking the pig, the heavy duty pots were brought out.

Chopping up the pork.

Lourdes' little brother took great pleasure in showing us the pig's tongue. Every part of the pig was utilized.

The men were in charge of cooking the meat.

Like I said, nothing went to waste. William is holding up the pig's tail.

The intestines were cleaned and stuffed with a mixture of I am not sure what.

Some of the intestines were stuffed in the kitchen with the onion, garlic and cabbage mixture.

I kept reminding myself that this is how things were in the U.S. over a hundred years ago. People lived on small farms, butchered their own meat and made their own sausage. I felt that I was taking a trip back in time.

It was a whole day affair. Like any family reunion, some of the family played soccer and volley ball while others watched.

The kids enjoyed teasing the puppies.

Everyone came together about 6:00 pm for the grand finale..."chauncho" fried pork, corn, fried green bananas, and fruit juices. This was the feast that the whole day was building up to. Would you believe I forgot to take a picture of my plate ... sorry.

We were the only non-family members there. Earlier in the day, this kind fellow brought these bananas and said they were for us. He said they had not been sprayed or treated with pesticides. They were the biggest bananas we had ever seen.

It was a day we will not soon forget. Lourdes, our housekeeper, and her husband are very special to us. We feel so fortunate that they included us in this special day.

Here is a picture of Lourdes, her mom and brothers. Her sister was not able to be there. What a beautiful family.

Chuck and I returned to Cuenca the next day. We have been home a week now and for some reason we have not had any pork to eat all week.

Love,
Nancy

Northern Ecuador trip in a Nutshell

2011-08-26T19:47:00.001-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

I planned to spend more time sharing with you about our trip in northern Ecuador but life is getting in the way. We returned to Cuenca Tuesday night and we are off to the coast tomorrow morning. More about that later, right now I want to share pictures of our trip north with you.

We went to Cotacachi after we left Quito. We spent one night there and enjoyed seeing the city. We were curious about Cotacachi because this is another city that many North Americans choose for their retirement. It is a small town located in a valley between two volcanoes, Cotacachi and Ibarra.

This is the volcano named Cotacachi that we could see from our hotel room.

This is the other volcano, named Ibarra.

The city specializes in leather goods. They have a whole street several blocks long dedicated to leather stores. Chuck bought a real nice leather jacket.

We drove from Cotacachi to the Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve. This is a lake that is in the crater of a volcano that erupted thousands of years ago. It reminded us of Crater Lake in Oregon, but not as large. Notice the two islands in the lake...they are cones that have formed since the eruption.

We drove to Ibarra and then to Tumbabiro and stayed in a wonderful hosteria that Chuck had read about. It is owned and operated by Germans. The name is Hosteria Pantiva

It reminded us a lot of Izhcayluma in Vilcabamba. A real nice hosteria. Here are some pictures I took while we were there.

We met a very nice couple, Sandy and Phil, who have lived near the hosteria for about 7 months. They bought a lovely home with beautiful gardens just up the road. They are the only gringos living for miles around.

They invited us to spend the day with them and showed us their beautiful property. They took us to Mascarilla, a village about 30 minutes away. This village is occupied by black people who came from Esmeraldas, Ecuador to work in the sugar cane fields. The women in this village make ceramic masks. We shopped and enjoyed seeing their beautiful work.

We spent the night in Ibarra and the next morning headed to Peguchi-Otavalo. We shopped for woven rugs and wall hangings. Their work is very good and the colors are so vibrant.

From there, we went to Banos. We stayed a couple of nights in Banos relaxing and enjoying wonderful restaurants. One reason we went to Banos was to visit the Biblioteca Interactiva (Interactive Library). This is an after school program for the children of Banos. The Biblioteca has yard sales to help fund their program. We cleaned out our condo over the last month and took things there for them to sell at their next yard sale.

Here is Chuck chatting with one of the ladies who works with the children.....

And, here are some of the kids having fun playing a game.

After resting up in Banos we headed back to Cuenca. On the way home we stopped in Guano, located just outside of Riobamba. This town is noted for their beautiful hand tied carpets. We bought carpets for the rental condo as well as where we live now.

We were very interested in how the carpets are made.

We really loved the quality and had a hard time deciding which carpets to buy.

This is a rug we bought for the condo where we live.

Between my luggage from the U.S. and the treasures we bought on our trip, we had a full load when we arrived in Cuenca.

It was a wonderful trip and we look forward to going back to some of the places we visited.

Now..the reason I am sharing the whole trip in one post is because we are leaving in the morning to go to Santa Rosa for a festival. Lourdes and William invited us to go and celebrate with them. We are very excited to participate in this Ecuadorian experience.

I'll share about our trip to Santa Rosa next time.

Love,
Nancy

Being Tourists in Quito

2011-08-22T11:40:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Chuck picked me up late Tuesday evening at the Quito airport. We stayed in Quito at the Radisson hotel for a couple of nights. As planned, we wanted to vacation in northern Ecuador before returning to Cuenca.

We awoke on Wednesday to the most beautiful weather I have known in Quito. Here is a view of the magnificent volcano Cotopaxi from our hotel window.

Guayasamin Museum

Chuck had our tours all planned out. The first day we visited the Guayasamin Museum. Oswaldo Guayasamin was born in Quito in 1919. He rose from poverty to become Ecuador's best known and most beloved painter and sculptor. Through his art he supported the rights of the indigenous peoples of Ecuador and criticized their social inequities and oppression.

He is so popular among Ecuadorians that imitations of his work can be found everywhere. If you live in Ecuador you will easily recognize his paintings.

Guayasamin died in 1999 and left his home and art collection to the city of Quito.

The museum is located on a hill overlooking Quito, where he lived and painted. Guayasamin's large collection of pre-colombian art is available to see along with a collection of Latin religious art.

Crystal Palace

On Thursday morning we headed out in Puff Puff with our new GPS system to find the Crystal Palace.

The Crystal Palace also known as the Itchimbia Cultural Center is located on a hilltop that was a sacred site pre-dating the Inca. The site was discovered in the 1920's. In 1997 the hillside was rescued by the city of Quito.

The Crystal Palace itself was originally imported from Hamburg to Ecuador in 1889. It was the Santa Clara market in Quito until it was disassembled and moved to it's present location. It is used as a cultural space for exhibitions and performances.

The view of historic Quito is spectacular, especially on a beautiful day like we had.

Here is a great view of the Basilica from the Crystal Palace site.

We enjoyed two touristy things we had never done before leaving Quito and heading north to Cotacachi.

More later.

Love,

Nancy

Catching Up - Fun with Family

2011-08-20T16:36:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

I had so much fun in the U.S. and such little time to spend with family that I put off posting about it until I got back to Ecuador.

After visiting with Kylie and Bryce in California, I flew to Texas to see my brother, sister-in-law and my mother. My brother Norman is the one I visited last February when he had quadruple by-pass surgery. He is doing great and I am happy to report that he feels like a new man.

My mother is living in an assisted living facility just a few blocks from Norman and Nancy. She likes where she lives and she is in good hands. My mother has Alzheimer disease. Every time I visit her I am not sure if she will know me. Although she can't remember five minutes ago, she knew me when I walked into her room. We had a grand reunion and I am happy that we could share this special time. Norman, Mom and I went out to lunch and we went to a movie. I hope to get back to see her in again in about 6 months.

After a about three days in Dallas I flew to Columbus, Georgia to visit with my sister, Mary Anne, Larry, my brother in law and aunts and cousins. I was only in Columbus a couple of days so my time was very limited. I visited with my mother's sisters, Aunt Opal and Aunt Mildred and my cousin, Linda. I had one day to shop for two large suitcases and fill them up with goods to bring back to Ecuador and one day to visit. To all my family in Columbus that I did not see on this trip, I will be returning (maybe in February) and hope to stay longer and hug all of you.

This first picture is of my Aunt Opal and cousin Linda. We had a great lunch together.

This second picture, I had to take and post. I guess it is a sign of the times in the U.S. It was posted on a door of a restaurant in Columbus.

Thank you Mary Anne for chauffeuring me to what seemed like every store in Columbus. I got all needed supplies and really enjoyed our time together.

I flew back to Ecuador on Tuesday.

Chuck drove Puff Puff to Quito to meet me. We spent a day in Quito being tourists and now we are in northern Ecuador (almost to Colombia) visiting places we have not seen.

I will post about our Ecuador vacation next time.

Love,
Nancy

Visiting Kylie & Bryce in California

2011-08-07T19:51:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

I flew out of Cuenca on Thursday for a two week whirlwind visit to family in the U.S. My first stop is in California visiting with daughter Kylie and grandson Bryce. We are enjoying being together for a few days. Yesterday we took the BART into San Francisco and went to China Town.

I really enjoyed watching Bryce explore (as only a six year old boy can do) the wonders of the big city.

Here is my lovely daughter Kylie.

Here is Bryce with three other little monkeys,

We even got to enjoy some fun street entertainment.

Tuesday I will fly to Dallas to visit my mother, brother and sister-in-law. I am excited about seeing them, but am not looking forward to the heat they are experiencing there.

I'll give you a first hand report next week.

Love,
Nancy

Special Tourists

2011-07-31T16:21:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Chuck and I were fortunate to play tour guides to some very special tourists this past week. These tourists, Mark, Teresa, Martin and Marion have been traveling together for over 15 years. Mark and Teresa live in Santa Rosa, California and Martin and Marion live in London. Every two years, for the last 15 or so years, they and their children have vacationed together somewhere in the world. This year they picked Ecuador.

They spent some time in Quito and then flew to the Galapagos to cruise the islands. Lucky for us they decided to do a whirlwind, one day, Cuenca visit before returning home. We know Mark and Teresa through Audrey and Jim (Chuck's sister).

We started the tour in Parque Calderon, visiting the new cathedral and then went to the flower market.

We showed them where the cloistered nuns live and where and how they sell their goodies. Mark decided to be a customer and bought some figs and jam. He put his money on the turn stile window and in a moment he had the jam and figs.

We, of course, took them on the famous double deck sightseeing bus.

After lunch we went to the museum of aboriginal culture.

This was great for us because, although we have lived here three years, this was our first visit too. We had a great tour....the displays were fantastic.

After the museum we went to the Panama Hat Museum where we were shown the techniques of how Panama hats have been made through the years.

They rewarded us with a wonderful dinner at Tiestos. We had a great day and appreciate their kindness.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

What else have we been up to...

I told you in our last post that I would share some pictures from our trip to Saraguro. Unfortunately my camera battery died and I couldn't take pictures.

Here is a picture I made after we returned home. This is a picture of a necklace I bought for my sister, Mary Anne.

We bought some art for our vacation rental condo.

And yesterday we spent the day with friends in the Yunguilla valley. Retirement life in Ecuador is pretty great. Look at these gingos....it ain't a bad life!

I am going to the U.S. next week to visit family.

I'll share about that with you next time.

Love,
Nancy

FINALLY! The Pottery Showroom is Open!

2011-07-22T20:23:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Chuck and I headed out in Puff-Puff for Loja this morning. We have gone to or through Loja several times over the last couple of years hoping to find the ceramic showroom open. The ceramic showroom is located at the University Technica Particular. The students make the ceramics and pottery. We have bought from them in the past and love their work, but we have had bad luck in buying more. Each time we go to Loja the showroom has been closed for remodeling. Well, my friends, it is remodeled and open to the public again.

Here is Chuck entering the new showroom.

They have two products: clay pottery and ceramic dishes.

The clay pottery is called Nakanchik which translates to Ours.

Here is a picture of a small sample of the wide variety of pottery available.

Their ceramics are called YAPACUNCHI which means Give something more.

I had my trusty camera ready but after a few shots the battery died! But here are some of their patterns.

I love the bright bold colors they use.

They had some beautiful ceramic figurines of women from Saraguro. They are spinning wool. Notice the beads at their neck....they are real beads.

We decided on some dishes to go in our short term rental condo. Since most of our renters will be visitors from the U.S. or Canada, I think they will enjoy the choice we made. It is quite a cute Ecuadorian sierra pattern. Three women sitting in the Andes mountains. Take a look.

Fun dishes for our renters to enjoy!

At this moment I have my camera battery recharging. We plan to stop in Saraguro tomorrow on the way back to Cuenca. I hope to get a few pictures there to share with you next time.

Happy weekend nos amigos.

Nancy & Chuck

River Wash-a-teria

2011-07-17T14:40:00.001-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

We have been having fun learning to be land lords. Our second set of tenants left on Friday and we have new tenants arriving mid week. This is a new adventure for us and we want to do it right. So far...so good.

This morning we left our apartment to meet Rich and Nancy for our Sunday stroll to Kookaburras for breakfast. I looked across the river and enjoyed seeing these three people using the river. They were just yards from each other and busy washing....

a bicycle....

a car floormat....

and this lady, using here feet as an agitator.

We love being observers here...after three years we are still entertained by the little things.

Hope your week is a great one.

Love,
Nancy

Right in our own Backyard!!

2011-07-09T08:36:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Yesterday, our friend, Gerard took Chuck and I to see the property that he and his wife are going to use to build their next home.

It was about a 15 - 20 minute ride out of town and up the side of the mountain.

They have a wonderful view of all of Cuenca. We had never seen the Cuenca valley from this vantage point. It was breathtaking.

We've been here about 3 years and didn't even know we had this wonderful sight right in our own backyard.

Thanks so much Gerard. We had a great time.

Love,
Nancy & Chuck

CELEBRATE!!

2011-07-03T21:19:00.000-06:00

Parrots in Cuenca

2011-06-29T13:18:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

My friend, Nancy, told me about feral parrots living in Cuenca. There are about 30 -40 of them. Sometimes you can see them flying near the Tomebomba river. They are native to the coast of Ecuador.

Yesterday I got a real treat. Karen Kimbler and I were at our new condo and heard something that sounded like crows. To our delight, these beautiful parrots were on the terrace wall enjoying themselves.

I looked them up on line. They are called Red-Masked Parakeets. Much larger than what we think of parakeets. They like to eat tropical fruit and nuts.

I think I'll put some fruit out in a dish and see if I can entice them to come visit more often.

Hope your day is going great.

Love,
Nancy

Sugar Time!!

2011-06-24T14:47:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

It is that time of year again. Corpus Christi....somehow tied into the celebration of the solstice. This time, every year, tons of candy is made in small kitchens all around Cuenca. For one week these goodies are sold right in the center of town.

Until this year I have been pretty much able to resist, but today I succumbed. Have a look.

Candy booths set up everywhere.....

I couldn't help myself. Take a look at some of these goodies....

We made a video about Corpus Christi a couple of years ago. If you want to get a feel for the celebration you can watch it by clicking here.

If you remember, I said in my last post that Chuck and I were going to Banos this past week. Well, that plan got postponed. In my last post I also showed pictures of our condo we are getting ready to rent. The day after the post went up we had emails from folks wanting to rent it. So we canceled our trip to Banos and worked real hard on getting a website up. We can manage reservations through this site.

The link is: www.cuencapenthouse.com Have a look at it....we worked hard on it.

We are getting geared up for the 4th of July. We are celebrating with our dear friends at the California Kitchen. It is going to be so much fun. Carol, George, Jim and Susie, owners of the California Kitchen are putting together a wonderful meal to help celebrate this holiday.

Chuck and I are scrambling around getting ready for our first renters who arrive on Wednesday.

Have a great weekend.

Love,
Nancy (and Chuck)

We have decided to rent our new condo

2011-06-19T15:36:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Chuck and I have decided to rent our new condo. We can't live in two places at once. For now, we will continue to live where we always have. One day we will move to the new condo, but for now we will rent it.

Now comes the fun part. We have never been landlords before. We are working on a web site to feature the condo. Should we rent it long term or short term? There are so many things we need to decide.

We have it almost ready to rent. It still needs some furniture, rugs and art work.

We are going to Banos next week and will stop in the village of Guano. They hand make rugs in this village and we want to see what they have to offer. We may either buy some rugs or have them commissioned for the new condo.

We want to put local art on the walls. We are shopping Cuenca but will look at what is offered in other places in Ecuador.

We spent this morning making pictures of the condo to use on the website. I noticed how empty the walls and floors are without the finishing touches so I don't know if any of these pictures will ever make it to the website.

I am going to share the pictures with you because you may know of someone coming to Cuenca who is looking for a high end furnished penthouse. We hope to have it ready to rent soon. If we rent it short term, we will be asking $350 per week with a discount for monthly rental. The condo includes Direct TV, Wi-Fi internet connection, and once a week maid service.

The reason we decided to rent this apartment out, rather than where we live now, is that the location of this condo is perfect for visitors. It is within a 15 minute or less walking distance to el centro, and a grocery store and many fine restaurants are within a block or two.

The entrance to our condo building, El Molle.

The lobby:

Our condo:

This is the Great Room, it has the sitting area, dinning area and a game/breakfast table.

This is the generous size kitchen.

Laundry room next to kitchen.

There are two bedrooms with generous built in closets, each with their on private bath.

Both baths have skylights and walk in showers.

There is a media room that has a sofa, flat screen television and computer table. Sorry I do not have a picture of this room yet. We still have furniture to be made for this room.

There is a half bath for guests. Here in Cuenca this is called a social bath.

Last, but not least, is the wonderful terrace that Chuck has worked so hard on. He has set up an irrigation system to keep all the plants watered. The view from the terrace is fabulous.

Well, that's about it. I am not sure how our traveling and being landlords will work out, but we will see.

Happy Father's Day.

Love,
Nancy

Old Tradition being Documented on Film

2011-06-15T07:37:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

We had Karen, Randy and Fernando over for hamburgers last night. I think I poisoned everyone. I was up all night with a sick stomach. The leftovers we put away last night are going into the garbage this morning. Sorry guys!

Lourdes (our beloved housekeeper) cleans our new condo on Wednesdays. She is bringing her husband and mother-in-law for coffee this morning at our new condo. William's mother is the lovely lady that hosted Chuck and I on our visit to Santa Rosa last year.

Chuck found a very interesting site on the internet. It is about some people who are making a documentary. They are in a little village in Ecuador filming the last remnants of a tradition of going up on the volcano to get ice. The ice is then sold in the village for making ice cream and fruit drinks.

I think it will be a very interesting documentary. To see more click here. You can be part of this if you would like to donate to the cause.

The picture below is of our newest automated statue in Cuenca. He is located right by the new cathedral and we saw him on our Sunday morning walk with Rich and Nancy. We dropped some coins in his can and enjoyed his antics.

Have a great day everyone.

Love,
Nancy

Holy Cow! Prime Rib found at Supermaxi!

2011-06-13T09:24:00.001-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Chuck and I delivered all the kids back to their respective homes in the U.S. We had a great time with them but all good things must come to an end.

We arrived back in Cuenca last Wednesday afternoon. Happy to be home!

One of our first tasks was to restock the empty refrigerator. We headed to the local Supermaxi and began filling the cart.

As I was shopping in the meat department, I happened upon a prime rib roast. This cut of meat is unheard of here in Cuenca. It is the one thing that so many ex-pats comment that they miss from the U.S. There was only this one roast, so I looked around and quickly and silently slipped it into our cart.

Yesterday, I decided to cook the roast. I found a website that gave me great instructions for cooking it. Check it out. I followed it closely and it turned out quite well.

We asked Nancy and Rich to be our guinea pigs and join us for the cooking and tasting.

Here is the roast sitting out to reach room temperature.

Here is the label. Yep, it says Prime Rib in English. It was approx. 3lbs. Price: $11.48.

Here it is sliced and ready to eat.

We all agreed that it was pretty darn good.

Thanks Nancy and Rich for helping us enjoy this new experience in Cuenca.

Hugs,
Nancy

Family Time at the Beach

2011-05-29T11:27:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

We decided to take Matt and our grand daughters to Salinas. Salinas is a popular beach destination in Ecuador.
We have been having a great time.

Matt has been enjoying having his nieces to entertain. I have nick named him the "Gentle Giant."

We are leaving for the U.S. on Tuesday. We will reverse our trip by flying into Seattle, delivering Matt in Richland, WA...taking the Amtrak back to Minnesota to deliver the girls.

Love,
Nancy

Another Fun Day with the Kids

2011-05-22T20:27:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

What a joy it was for us to be back in Cuenca today. We were able to have our Sunday morning walk with Rich and Nancy to the Kook for breakfast. We revised our normal walk plans and all met at San Sebastian park. Just the right amount of walking distance for our kids.

After breakfast we walked to Calderon park to have pictures made with the horses.

Here is Matt posing in his hat with a horse.

Petra looked like a natural on her horse.

Paige is accompanied by Rich, Petra and Nancy

We were going to take the double deck tour bus ride but the upper level of the bus filled up before we could get on board. We decided to postpone the ride until tomorrow morning.

We came home and watched a movie and took a break.

Around 5:30pm we all got into Puff-Puff and headed up to Turi to see the sunset and watch the lights come on in Cuenca.

As it turned out, we were not the only ones with this idea.

The sunset was not spectacular, but we had a lot of fun.

Here is Cuenca just as the lights were starting to come on.

As it got dark, the city lit up.

Until....

Here are the girls in front of the church on top of Turi.

On the way home we stopped at the Mall del Rio for a snack..

Here is Paige enjoying her pastries.

Before we left, the girls got into these big plastic balloons (hamster balls) and had a great time playing.

On the way home Petra told Matt that she thinks their trip is going by way too fast.

Everyone is going to sleep soundly tonight!

Love,
Nancy

Home in Cuenca .... soooo nice!

2011-05-20T21:16:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

We arrived in Cuenca late Wednesday afternoon sleep deprived and completely exhausted. Chuck and Matt helped us get unloaded and then went to our other apartment (now known as the boys cabin). The girls and I are staying in our original apartment (girls cabin). We were so tired we went straight to sleep.

After a good night's sleep, the girls and I woke up planning to make french toast and invite the boys over for breakfast. When the boys arrived they had other plans. They wanted to go to a favorite pizza restaurant for lunch. Our friends were meeting there to have one last meal because it was the final day for this restaurant.

It was really great seeing our friends. Although we have only been gone 6 weeks it seems like we have been away from Cuenca much longer. One thing I noticed is that while we were away our friends have gotten thinner. Everyone looked great.

After lunch we went shopping for house slippers for the girls. The tile floors in our cabin are very cold on little bare feet.

Today we had our french toast breakfast. Afterwards we took a taxi to town. We had to wait in Parque Calderon for Chuck to arrive. He spent a busy morning with Jose, our computer tech.

Today was very sunny and warm. Matt forgot to bring a hat and I didn't have one that would fit. The girls wore some hats I found around the house but wanted some pretty straw hats to go with their dresses.

After a few minutes, Chuck and Jose arrived at the park. Jose offered to take Matt hat shopping and then to a movie.

We took the girls shopping.

They were so stunning in their new hats and sunglasses.

We walked several blocks to San Blas in order to try the new ice cream we heard about at our pizza lunch.

We invited our friends, Karen and Randy, over for spaghetti dinner. We had a wonderful time catching up. The girls offered to do a skit for us. They enlisted Poppi to help them out.

Here are the performers and the audience.

We are having a great time with Matt and the girls. Tomorrow is market day.

It is so good to be back in home in Cuenca, even if it is only for a couple of weeks.

Love,

Nancy

Happy Birthday Dad!

2011-05-17T07:57:00.000-06:00

Lyle Watson

We love you!!

Train Ride with Granddaughters

2011-05-16T11:47:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Last Tuesday, hours after the closing of the house, Chuck and I boarded the train. We went to Minnesota to get Petra and Paige, our granddaughters. They are spending the next couple of weeks at "Camp Mimi and Poppi."

We spent half day with all 10 of our grandchildren before leaving for Minneapolis with the girls. During the visit we celebrated two birthdays, hugged all the kids and held the new grand baby, played with the Wii, caught up on everyone's news and had lunch.

We had a couple of hours to kill before the train arrived so we took the girls to Mall of America. We had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. What do you know, Paige got to celebrate her birthday twice.

After dinner we had time to go to the American Girl store. This was a big hit with the girls.

Chuck and the girls waiting for the train to arrive.

Next morning, breakfast in the dining car.

Chuck and Paige entertaining themselves in the lounge car.

Petra and North Dakota (outside the window)!

We had a chance to stretch our legs on our stop in Minot, North Dakota.

Saturday morning we arrived back in the Tri Cities. We picked up Matt and went to McDonald's. Heidi and Cannon joined us for breakfast before we headed for Seattle. Here are the girl cousins enjoying a short but grand reunion.

We drove to Seattle yesterday. Today we celebrate Chuck's dad's 98th birthday. Tomorrow we leave for Ecuador.

Love,
Nancy (and Chuck)

Transfer of Ownership...Time to Hit the Tracks!!

2011-05-10T09:20:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Yesterday we gave Marcia the keys to the house. Chuck did a walk through with her and explained the irrigation system and other things. We both have good vibes about Marcia and know that this house has been sold to the right person.

Today we step on Amtrak and head to Minnesota to pick up our granddaughters.

The timing is awesome!

Love,
Nancy

Returning from Portland, OR - Waterfalls and Cherry Blossoms

2011-05-02T19:21:00.001-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Although it was raining when we first arrived, we had a terrific time in Portland. Saturday the weather was much better with the sun peeking out and on Sunday it was a beautiful sunny day.

Chuck and I love this city. It has wonderful public transit, it is also bike and pedestrian friendly. We enjoyed shopping at the Saturday Market, eating at our favorite restaurants and visiting fun neighborhoods.

On our return trip we detoured from the interstate and took the historic scenic highway. This wonderful highway is two lane and winds through some of the most beautiful country you will ever see.

This was our view of Crown Point and the Columbia River Gorge.

Here is the vista house at Crown Point.

We saw beautiful waterfalls that reminded us of Ecuador.

Mountain streams that reminded us of the Tomebamba in Cuenca.

And of course the beautiful blooming cherry trees....

We are now back in Richland. We will be finishing the paperwork and turning over our house this week. Bittersweet for sure!!

Next week we are taking the Amtrak to Minnesota. We will be visiting our daughter, Merri and her family. We will return with two granddaughters. Petra and Paige will be coming with us to Ecuador for "Camp Mimi and Poppi".

As we come back through Richland, we will get our son, Matt, and head to Seattle. More about our plans later.

For now, we are enjoying watching our backyard turn green and blossom. Spring is a wonderful time of year!!

Hugs,
Nancy

LIQUID SUNSHINE

2011-04-28T20:47:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

We have arrived! It's raining so we must be in Portland.

Love,
Nancy

NOW WHAT??

2011-04-25T15:52:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Now that we have sold our house we are blessed with time on our hands. We still have about two weeks before we go to Minnesota. Here is what we have been up to lately.

Grandchildren

Heidi, Bryce and Cannon. Heidi and Cannon live here in Richland, Washington. Bryce lives in California. Bryce was here for a few days when we arrived. I am so thankful that Kylie came to visit while we were here.

Cannon showing me his dental accomplishments:

Heidi playing softball.
These are things we miss living so far away.

As soon as we sold our house, Chuck and I went to a seafood buffet to celebrate. We ate our fill of dungeness crab.

One day I had lunch with my friends from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, where I used to work. We have had several dinner invites and it is so great to see everyone again.

And, of course, shopping at Walmart. Notice that the sign, over the door, stating low prices is now missing. Uh oh!!

This next picture is for Nancy Hamm. Today, Chuck and I went to the Hispanic grocery store. I found that it is indeed possible to buy chicken feet here. You just have to know where to look. Cut their toe nails off and boil.....best chicken stock ever.

This weekend we are driving to Portland, Oregon, a favorite northwest city of ours.

Staying busy but really missing Cuenca.

Hugs,
Nancy

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!

2011-04-22T09:22:00.002-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

We came back to the U.S. two weeks ago to put our house on the market. We were prepared to do a lot of work to the house and leave it in the hands of a Realtor. This would mean, of course, getting a lawn service company to keep the yard up and worrying about an empty house after we returned to Cuenca.

We arrived in Richland on Wednesday evening two weeks ago. Thursday, Chuck went to Walmart, bought the cheapest "for sale by owner" sign he could get and stuck it in the front yard. I was horrified. I complained and he ignored. The house was far from being ready to show.

Thursday afternoon, our doorbell rang and there stood a lady who was interested in the house. I was embarrassed, but invited her in to look around. She told us that she wanted the house. We sold the house to the very first person that saw it.

It took a week of negotiation on the price, but we finally found a happy meeting point.

Here is the new owner, Marcia. We are holding up one finger because she made the offer in one day.

Below is a picture of Chuck and me with the cheap sign in front of our "sold" house. Notice that a person had to actually get out of their car to see the telephone number.

Here is Chuck, and Marcia's purchasing agent, Scott Anderson of Windemere signing papers.

We are so happy that everything will be completed before we return to Ecuador.

Now we have time to play with our friends and family.

The Happy Campers,
Nancy and Chuck