Mary Anne and Larry...fun time in Ecuador

Dear Family and Friends,

Aunt Opal's visit was fantastic.  I flew back to Georgia with her, arriving in the early morning hours of  Sunday, October 28th. 

On Monday, October 29th, my sister and brother in law headed back to the airport to come to Ecuador.

Like Aunt Opal, this was Mary Anne's and Larry's first trip to South America.

Here are Mary Anne and Larry waiting for the adventure to begin in the Atlanta airport.

Chuck drove to Quito to meet us. 

After a good nights sleep, we went to the equator.  This is always a fun trip...it is fascinating to know that you are exactly at the middle of the earth.

Here is Chuck trying to walk the equator.

The next day we left Quito and headed to Banos.

This picture was taken in one of the major plazas in Banos.  The sign says "Bridge of Love."

We drove down to Puyo.  Puyo is the gateway to the jungle.  On the way we stopped and took a ride across the river gorge on a gondola.  Here is Larry photographing the scenery and the waterfall.

While in Puyo we had lunch.  This is one of the best fried talapia dishes I have had in Ecuador.  I think the price was something like $3.

We drove to Cuenca and stopped in Alausi for lunch and to visit the tall St. Peter statue that overlooks this city.

Here are Mary Anne and Larry with Alausi in the background.

We got into Cuenca in the evening on November 2nd, just in time to celebrate Cuenca's independence day on November 3rd.

We saw as many celebrations as possible and shopped the vendors who were here from all over South America for the festivities.

On Sunday we took the obligatory trip to Parque Calderon for the "horsey picture" to go on our refrigerator.  Mary Anne and Larry are now part of our refrigerator visitor hall of fame.

We did the flower market and San Francisco plaza.

One day we drove up to Chordeleg to shop for jewelry.  I always love to go there, always something new and interesting to see.

We drove on to SigSig to do some hat shopping at the source.

We took the back road home so that we could go through San Bartolomé, where they hand craft guitars.

This town is in a beautiful mountain setting.  

Larry, trying out a guitar.

On their final day in Cuenca, we took the tourist double deck bus tour.  The day was beautiful and we really enjoyed seeing Cuenca from above.

Mary Anne and Larry have said goodbye to Cuenca and headed back home to Georgia.

 
We are sure they will return...9 days is just not enough time to see everything.  We enjoyed having you and sharing Ecuador with you.  

Love,
Nancy and Chuck

Aunt Opal's last week.

Dear Family and Friends,

We are heading into Aunt Opal's last week in Ecuador.  We have been having a wonderful time.

Here is Aunt Opal and Chuck at Turi.  The city of Cuenca is in the background.

We had fondu at a Swiss restaurant with old friends and new friends.

We took Aunt Opal to Eduardo Vega's gallery.  While we visiting, Eduardo Vega, a world famous ceramics artist, posed with Aunt Opal. 

We went to Clarke's and Brenda's house for homemade doughnuts.  Here is chef Clarke making sure we had fresh hot delicious donuts to eat.

He used his grandmother's recipe.  They were very, very good.  Thanks for inviting us Clarke and Brennie.

We had a nice dinner at Tiesto's.  The most famous restaurant in Cuenca.  Here is our table.  No one was paying attention to the camera, we were all busy yaking it up....as always.

Here is Aunt Opal with Chuck.  Our friend, Nancy Hamm, presented Aunt Opal with a token gift for her to take back to Georgia.

Best of all Aunt Opal is staying hydrated.  She is making a lot of friends too.

Love,
Nancy

Sig Sig and more....

Dear Family and Friends,

We had a very nice time this past weekend.  We took Aunt Opal on a day trip to Sig Sig to see where panama hats are made.

With so many hats available, choosing the one you want can be difficult.

Here is Chuck showing Aunt Opal how they use heat and a mold to form the shape of the Panama hat.

On our way home we crossed the Paute river and went to Hacienda Uzhupud.  Nancy and Rich joined us there for a delicious buffet lunch.

Sunday morning we met Barbara and Howard at San Sebas for breakfast.  After breakfast we went to Parque Calderon to have Aunt Opal's picture made. 

 

 She is now adorning our refrigerator "visitors of fame" wall.

Sunday afternoon, Lourdes and William came over and cooked a wonderful traditional Ecuador coast dish, arroz con cameron, which is a stirred fried rice with shrimp.  We had a wonderful meal together and even Aunt Opal had second helpings.  

We still have road trips to take and places to visit.  So glad Aunt Opal has the time to have a relaxing visit.

Love,

Nancy

Sharing Cuenca with Aunt Opal

Dear Family and Friends,

Last Sunday evening I flew from Quito to Atlanta.  After arriving in Atlanta at 6:00am Monday morning, I rented a car and drove to Columbus, Ga. to pick up Aunt Opal.  Aunt Opal is my mother's younger sister and she has always been a special person in my life.

On Tuesday, Aunt Opal and I drove to Atlanta and started our journey back to Ecuador.  We arrived in Quito about 10pm.  We spent the night in Quito and continued to Cuenca on Wednesday.  Although we were both tired from the travel, a good nights sleep brought us both back up to speed.

Thursday we headed out for a little adventure.  A little each day, with time for naps in the afternoon, seems to be working real well.

Here are some pictures so far.

Aunt Opal at the flower market downtown.  She wants her kids to know that she is drinking a lot of water.  

Aunt Opal is taking a lot pictures to share with her great grandchildren.  Here she is photographing musicians from Peru playing pan pipes on the street.

Today, we went to the 10 de Agusto market.  Besides looking at all the fruits and vegetables, we ran into some little children playing with baby chicks.

Aunt Opal formed an instant bond with them and they with her.  She photographed them and then showed them their pictures.  They could not understand a word she said nor could she understand a word they said, but believe me there was communication (via the heart) that was taking place.

Here is Aunt Opal at a store that sells the skirts that the indigenous women wear in Cuenca.  The embroidery is beautiful and the colors are spectacular.

Tomorrow we are driving into the countryside.  I will share more later.  For all the family following Aunt Opal's adventure I want you to know that she is having a great time and we are loving having her here.

Love,
Nancy

Aunt Opal, Here I Come!

Dear Family and Friends,

I am leaving for a quick trip (arrive one day and leave the next) to Georgia.  There is an exciting reason for this quick trip.  I am flying down to escort my Aunt Opal to Ecuador.

Aunt Opal has been wanting to visit us since we moved down here and now is the perfect time for her.

Aunt Opal is such a beautiful person....inside and out.  Chuck and I admire her adventurous spirit. She will be visiting us for almost three weeks. During this time we plan to share a lot of the Andes mountains, especially Cuenca and surrounding areas with her.

We love you Aunt Opal...can't wait to see you on Monday.

Love,
Nancy