Ecuador Futbol - Soccer

At 1:30 I took a taxi to the Estadio Olimpico (Olympic Stadium). This is the view (zoomed in) from the Teleferico.

Today was the FIFA World Cup qualification between Ecuador and Colombia in the race for the Russia 2018 tournament. I stood in the heat for an hour and a half before I managed to spend my last penny literally to buy a ticket off a guy so I could get in. The football match had just started when I found my $40 seat in the preferred seating area.

One suggestion, it is better to detour to the pee trough before the game if you are even remotely in need of relief. Waiting til after thinking you will do it on the way out will be an experience you won't soon forget. (Sorry, no photos!)

So there I am in my winter coat soaking wet from sweat. Everyone else is in a winter coat too so that was not an issue. Except I was hot and took it off for the game whereas most others wore theirs and wore scarves too in order to keep warm- or keep the sun off their heads.

Interesting game except that Colombia Azul y Blancos won 2:0 over the home country Ecuador Amarillos. So the only excitement was a few skirmishes between the locals and a few Colombian fans who were expressing their happiness.

Funny how when a problem starts, all the armored police head for that one spot. Nobody including the spotters are paying attention to the rest of the crowd where something could happen there. Oh well, if it works for them, fine.

Overall it was a great experience and I thought the fans were great. I would take more money next time. I would think if you took something like $50 for a $25 ticket and $80 to $100 for the higher ones then you would likely get into the seats quickly before the match starts. I only had $43 and change so I was very fortunate to get in at all and am thankful to the unknown guy who wanted to unload his extra ticket at the last minute.

It took me about 45 minutes to walk the 4 km to the Swissotel where my next stop was waiting. I had used my last penny to purchase the soccer ticket so walking was the only option. By the time I got to the hotel I was soaking wet again in sweat and stinking profusely. Nose pinch!

I had promised to go see my friends Fernando and Karina play in the bar of the Swissotel. Their group name is Una Buena Excusa and they are the President's favorite group- for another four days as he is not eligible for another term in the election. My friends are very good professional musicians. You can catch them in their own coffee bar or at various events. And also some songs on my own YouTube channel
Una Buena Excusa

Made it back to the Hotel San Francisco de Quito at about 10 pm dead tired. Fortunately my brother met me at the Swissotel bar and he had money for a taxi.

11 km walking today

John Henry Tours

Breakfast at 8:30 again today. I'm eating too much pineapple because my tongue is starting to burn from the excess vitamin C.

At 10 I was in the grand plaza waiting for John Henry to show up for my tour. He arrived and we began the walking tour in the historic center of Quito. I've gone on two of his tours in previous years so I wanted something different. John is not new at the guiding game so you need to be firm on how much money you are spending or he will extend the tour for higher pay. But I'm no dummy when it comes to carrying only a certain amount of money so there is only so much to get. I also gave him my umbrella at the end of the tour. However he complained that it was just cheap Chinese junk and not a high quality Ecuadorian product. Yep, it was from Dolarama back home.

YouTube clip number one with John Henry as tour guide.

Now that you have watched the clips from this year, here are some John Henry videos I made a few years back on a previous visit. They were made with a Panasonic TH-700 HD camera and a wired Radio Shack lav mic connected to the camera with about 20 ft of wire.

This one is a tour to Barrio San Marcos which is next to the Quito Central Historical district.

Here is one of the Iglesia de la Merced (Church of Mercy) in the Central Historical district of Quito.

This year the videos were made with a GoPro Hero 5 inside a water resistant box, handheld with a 3-Way Mount. I learned I need to hold it very stable as I move around. Also it is very sensitive at picking up noise as I touch the camera or handle. Total distance walked so far today is 6.7 km.

Lunch was at the Pizza SA across the street from the Bolivar Theater.

I don't know if it is the same company but it was a pizza place in the theater building that caused the fire several years ago. The pizza was good but the garlic bread left a bad after taste and salads I just don't eat here anyway. I also had a coffee and a coke.

President's Monday Palace Appearance

Slept in and then had the hotel breakfast. Headed to the Plaza Grande to see the hoopla at the palace. The guards and their horses were prancing about.

Dignitaries were on the palace deck overlooking the plaza. A huge brass band was seated below the palace ready to play.

I shot some video and then we had to leave. We were on our way to meet John Henry at a location a couple of blocks away. He told us that every Monday there was this same ceremony where the president would appear for the people. By the way, this would be the last Monday appearance for President Correa as the next weekend was the election and he was unable to run again due to term restrictions. We set a plan to meet John tomorrow at 10 for a tour and headed back to the Independence Plaza for more video.

I shot a bit more video and it was soon over. We then grabbed a cab to the gondola or teleferico on the side of the mountain. It was a partially cloudy day but we figured we had better take it. Tomorrow might be worse and it might even be raining.

Sunday at the San Francisco Hotel

Breakfast first and it is included with your stay at the Hotel San Francisco de Quito. Scrambled eggs but you could ask for fried and the staff would get them right away for you. Toast, buns, rolls and breads. Freshly squeezed fruit juice that changed daily. Sliced pineapple, watermelon, passion fruit, and others. Coffee, tea, butter and jam. What you eat here can keep you going for a long time each day.

Went to church in the morning. It started at about 10:30 and went til after 12:30. A rather lively establishment of worshipers.

In the afternoon I wandered the streets for several hours, taking pictures and just looking. It was Sunday and the whole city it seemed had come to the historical area to spend the day. After four I stopped in at a grocery store to stock up on water, juice, apples and Doritos. 

That was my supper for the evening along with a piece of vanilla cake with white icing and piece of strawberry soaking in milk I bought off a street vendor. The milk was not something I was excited about- not that it was bad tasting - just different and very sweet. Later a guy told me it was goat's milk and some other milk mixed.

7.5 km walking today

Real Quick Trip Into Quito

Went into Quito to pick up two suitcases which had been left in storage for a month. Before the pickup we walked around in the Foche area. Of course we had to visit the market place selling the tourist knick knacks.

Then we had fish, chicken and ceviche at a place called the Yasuni Cafe Bar. OK I did not have any ceviche. But I had the chicken steak or whatever it came as. This would not be the first place that served flat tasteless breast meat as a chicken meal. I was always hoping for a chunk of thigh or leg to give some flavor. But everyone thinks breast is the best. Nope, at least not on a chicken.

Then took a three dollar taxi to the historical section to pick up the suitcases. Also ran over to the Central Mercado to try out the GoPro in taking pictures of cow stomachs, tongues, fish and other regular food items the mall had. None of the pics worked as I had not figured out the GoPro yet! It started raining extremely hard just as we got there so the mall was a good location for protection. Took a non-legit taxi back to Tababela.  It rained or poured most of the way. Rush hour traffic and constant broken down vehicles made for an erratic trip.

Quito Airport Suites (TripAdvisor photo)

Quito Airport Suites (TripAdvisor photo)

Back in Tababela at the Quito Airport Suites the sun was shining and it had not rained. We walked the few blocks to the store and bought bottled water and snacks for the evening.

5.6 km walking

United Airlines is My Stagecoach

I got my airline tickets today. I have delayed purchasing as long as I dared. Medical reasons delayed the purchase but the worry was that the exact flights I wanted would fill up. Last week the number of tickets left on one leg was only two.

All is well with the flights - and the doc says with me too. We'll see in May.

So with an outbound flight at about 8 in the morning, that will mean an early rise for my wife to drive me to the big city to be sure I have at least 2 hours entry time into US customs before the flight. I know the sign above the entry says don't even come in more than 2 hours before the flight.

I think there is more than a four hour layover in Houston and then off again for another five plus hour flight to Quito.

Airport is Nowhere Close to Quito

The first time I flew to Quito the airport was in the middle of the city. I guess when they built the airport back in the 1600s the Spanish were not thinking the city would grow up around it. At any rate the planes did drop in to the valley and land. The takeoff was also a rush to as they did not spend too much time flying in the valley - just get up there into the sky and get going. If you want to see a video of landing at the old Quito airport you can watch my video on YouTube. The flight in the video is not on an international carrier, just LAN Airlines on a return from Guayaquil.

The next time I flew in the new airport was so new it had only been in operation for a few weeks. It took more than an hour by taxi to go to the historic area of Quito- and a lot more money than before too! Furthermore if you get off the plane at midnight and you are dead tired, and then add that to a taxi driver that thinks he is the roller coaster driver king of the world, you can be quite sick by the time you reach your hotel. Just saying. So, this time I will be staying a few nights at almost the closest point to the airport. The Quito Airport Suites is operated by Dom and situated in the town of Tababela.  If you are an Ecuador blog reader you likely have run across his writings. He is going to pick me up at the airport and in less than 10 minutes I hope to be very close to climbing into bed for at least a portion of a night's sleep. I've actually got three nights booked there and plan on taking a couple of day trips from his website while waiting to fly south.

 

 That's it for now, and I'll write more about the hotel when I am there.