Miami: Diversions and Excursions

When in Rome, do as Romans do.  So we rode bikes down the boardwalk.  For some reason, the photo of us in front of the Cadillac Hotel turned out horrible, but it was the only one of us standing in front with the bikes that were free to use.

 Riding along by the beach was quite different from the Colorado trails!  We transitioned from being in the mountains at over 5000 feet, to sea level with salty air and lots of humidity.  It sure was a lot easier on the level sidewalks than going up some of the hills in Colorado.

 Below is a view from our window.  Also quite a change from the views we are used to at Boyd Lake State Park.

All four of us had decided that one of the best ways to see the city of Miami was the Hop On, Hop Off Bus Tours.  In theory, it sounds wonderful, but the buses the first day were not air conditioned and we were stuck on the bottom level.  Ugh!

We got off the bus at the art district.  This area was filled with spectacular graffiti paintings in the various art galleries and on the sides of buildings.

 Wish there was enough space to share all of the pics that I took.  That would be another two posts at least!

 Heidi and Glen posed in front of one of the outside buildings.

 I loved this painting/poster/art work!  It was quite large and thought provoking.

Heidi had already figured out how to walk to the Salty Donut shop before we went to the next stop and got on the bus again.  Good choice, Heidi!  I couldn't finish the chocolate filled donut topped with hazelnuts.  Dunkin Donuts are certainly no match for these!

Loved this food truck aptly named "Keep Calm and Eat Twice"!  Need I say more?

Heidi and I took another afternoon swim in the ocean, and the guys weren't interested at all.  We enjoyed our mother/daughter time.  Evening brought us a lovely sunset on South Beach.

 On Sunday we again rode the Hop On, Hop Off Bus.  We had snagged an extra day for free at the hotel concierge desk the day before.  This time we didn't get off at any stop and it took us over two hours.  For part of it, we were able to snatch seats on the top of the bus.  Much, much better for picture taking!

 This is part of Little Havana, a popular place for Cuban people and tourists.

 It's amazing to see all these tall buildings along the beach.  There are hotels and more hotels, plus oodles of condominiums, all waiting for the people from the Midwest and upper East coast to descend on them during the winter and spring time.

Our last evening was spent enjoying seafood at Monty's and people watching.

Quito!

We arrived at the Quito airport at 11 PM Monday night.  Thank goodness we had arranged for a private driver to pick us up in a large van.  Otherwise, we would have needed two taxis for the four of us and our luggage.  Our driver spoke no English and we knew only a few words in Spanish.  God does have a sense of humor! 

We were about 15 minutes away from the airport when we had to slow down.  The national police had stopped cars and were putting out a fire along the road.  Welcome to Quito!!! The airport road is a  long, winding road through the mountains.  Ominous came to mind.  We were supposed to pick up Hailey before going to the Airbnb.  We finally got into the city.  The driver stopped, got out and went into a building. There we were, sitting alone in the van, with young men walking along the street.  It was past midnight.  Then the driver motioned for us to come in.  The armed guard asked us for our passports….are they thinking we are a security risk?  We handed the passports over and found out that we were actually at the Airbnb condo and we were escorted up to the 12^th floor.  Whew! We settled in as the driver took Glen (our son-in-law) to get Hailey.

The couple who managed the Airbnb were wonderful.  We found out where the jug was to filter all the water, how to use the electric stove and admonished not to put toilet paper into the toilets (3 of them). There were fresh flowers on the coffee table which was a pleasant surprise.  Eggs, fruit, milk, bread and butter had been provided for our morning meal.

All together at last!  It was the wee hours of the morning and we all were exhausted and thankful to have made it this far.  Hailey knew that her banker (Glen) had arrived to replenish her cash which was down to a mere $20. This called for a both thumbs up sign from her!

This is what the kitchen looked like.  Beautiful views to the north and to the west. It even was stocked with a rice cooker, which worked out nicely for one of our evening meals.

 The main living area was perfect for the five of us.  Just enough space to move around, plus 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms  If we had to be stuck inside somewhere, this is 100% better than two hotel rooms.  Gorgeous views!

We knew at that point that we were basically stuck in the condo.  Many other areas that we wanted to explore were unsafe.  No eating out.  That necessitated a trip to the SuperMaxi grocery store about 2 blocks away.  Many police were out, and when we got into the store, we found many shelves empty.  Most of the fresh meat was gone.  There was a huge protest scheduled for the next day, Wednesday and the locals were stocking up.  We got fruit, snacks, rice, noodles, eggs, and Heidi found some frozen packaged meats.  Glen stood by the grocery cart while the 4 of us scurried around to find things.  While we were inside, the manager made an announcement for everyone to keep calm and move to the front of the store (per Hailey’s interpretation).  Down came the steel doors at the front of the store!  We paid and hurried out, all carrying several bags of groceries.  We made it to the corner by the condo.  Then one of the big trucks carrying protesters banging sticks on the side and yelling, stopped right by us!  It was a heart stopping moment!  All five of us dashed across the street against the red light! That was enough excitement for the day and we were quite content to play Skip Bo and watch out the windows at the streets below.

A bottle of wine managed to make it back to the condo with other snacks. 

Below are pics of the outside of the Airbnb and the security guard. Our unit was on the top floor, the left side.

This guard was super nice, and we sure were glad he was at the front door!

Thursday Morning and Being Adverturous

Four wall fever was setting in, and we were all antsy to get out and do something besides read or play cards.
As we looked out our windows, we saw more buses and taxis on the road, even school buses were running.  Things seemed to have quieted down after yesterday’s influx of indigenous people and the protests that were held.  We decided to venture out.  Hailey led the way and we made it to Parque de la Carolina, a beautiful park about two miles away.   Of course, there was a police vehicle, but we still enjoyed artwork within the park and being able to inhale some fresh air.

Heidi and Hailey posed on one of the many bridges in this enormous city park.

 I had never seen a vulture fountain before.  Somehow, I can't imagine vultures as something that I'd want to paint or make a sculpture of.  They are such ugly birds.  My apologies to all the ornithologists out there who love all types of birds.  We can agree to disagree on the vulture's beauty.  Below is a photo of beautiful hummingbirds in another area of Carolina Park.

 The two strollers ahead of me on the path look vaguely familiar!

 Below is an example of indigenous artwork residing within Parque de la Carolina.

  We stopped while Heidi took a picture of a hands sculpture at the edge of the park.

 Hailey and Grandpa found a post to sit on while waiting for Heidi right in front of a busy intersection.

 Success!  We made it all the way to the Quicentro Mall, complete with security guards.  It was a very upscale mall, comparable to one of the malls in Scottsdale.  Nice to stroll through, but we sure weren't going there for a new blouse or pair of pants. The women's restroom had sparkling bright cultured marble on the floors and walls.  It was immaculate.  But....there was NO toilet paper at all!  And yes, I did have Kleenex in my purse!

Don decided to let the gals browse around while he had a cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee.  Wise decision on his part.

We did stop at one of the many exquisite chocolate shops with cases of goodies all waiting to be bought and tasted.

 We contained ourselves and shared 3 pieces of chocolate between us.   A piece of heaven in each bite.

By this time, I had gotten hungry, and was delighted to find a huge chocolate croissant for just a $1.10.  How in the world could I pass that up?  For the record, I did offer to share it, but no one took me up on my offer. 

 Across from me were these two who were joking around.  Par for the course.

Next stop: a search for a restaurant for the afternoon meal in Ecuador known as almuerzo.  The daily specials are posted on chalk boards outside and cost $3.00 to $3.50 for a 3 course meal.  This is what we found and decided upon:

Hailey's belated birthday meal consisted of noodle soup, salad, potato pancake, chicken, juice and a  piece of watermelon.  Total cost for all 5 of us was $17.50!  What a deal!

The walk back to the condo took about half an hour.  This is what it looked like from street side, looking south.

 In the end, Hailey guessed we walked between 4 and 4 1/2 miles.  I think we probably burned off most of the calories we consumed at lunch (not including the croissant or chocolate sample).

Host Family Visit

On Thursday afternoon, Hailey's host family invited us for supper.  All of us went except Glen who was coming down with a cold and not feeling well.  The 20 minute Uber ride cost us a whole $3.00!

She is in a safe neighborhood, off a main street.  The houses are huddled up next to each other, with no yards and tall walls across the front entrance. Heidi had bought a beautiful bouquet of flowers on our way back from lunch for the host family.  Price was only $8.00!

 Hailey pointed out that it was the house on the left after we went through the gate that was actually part of a garage door.  She needed her key to get through the gate.  The family is comprised of a grandmother, a mother and one grandson who is 18.

 We were thankful that she was in such a secure place, especially now with the unrest in the country.

We climbed up to the third floor where Hailey has her own bedroom and own private bath.  We now call her the Princess since her family does all of her laundry, cleans her bathroom and won't even let her clear the plates off the table!  So, to offset some of the royalty treatment there, we made sure she did the dishes while we were at the condo!

 The whole house was filled with this type of furniture.  I was a bit surprised and not at all like I had envisioned.

 If you look closely, the walls are filled with paintings that the grandmother has done.  She is quite a gifted artist. We were offered tea or coffee, a type of native tomato juice and sandwiches.

 I had Lolita, the host grandmother, stand in front of the gorgeous picture she painted of the Quito church domes.  The detail was amazing!

After supper, we browsed around the side room that was stacked with her arts and crafts.  Both Heidi and I found things that we bought from her and she gave us each a picture as a gift.  Below is a photo of Carlos, the grandson, Lolita his Abuela (grandmother) and Hailey.  The host mother was still in the hospital with a respiratory ailment.  Lolita couldn't even get to see her daughter that day because the police had taken over the hospital after the protesters tried to get in.

Hailey served as our interpreter since the grandmother only speaks Spanish.  We did pick up a few words along the way that we knew, but not enough to grasp fully what she was talking about.

Friday morning and the Marketplace

It was our last day here and we had yet to buy anything except groceries.  I didn’t want to go home without at least a t -shirt and a magnet for our refrigerator.  I also didn’t want to get these at the airport since they are way over priced and there is not much of a selection.  Hailey knew of a marketplace about a mile away where we could find everything that we wanted at fair prices.  We even did some bargaining in the process.  The guys were NOT interested.  Can you imagine that?

Hailey, Heidi and I decided to hoof it.  We needed the exercise anyway.  Off we went.

After about an hour of shopping and browsing in the various stalls, we came back with shirts, magnets, caps for Don and Glen, a purse for Hailey, a shawl for me and bars of Ecuadorian chocolate.

 They even had chocolate that tasted like a rose!  So many choices.

This part of Quito had quite a lot of buildings with murals on the walls.  We enjoyed all the various colors and graffiti covered walls.  We also noticed that there weren't many people walking on the sidewalks or driving in the streets.

Not far from the building above was a hostel painted in various colors with tall gates for protection.

As we walked back, a police helicopter was flying nearby, and motorcycle police were blocking off the road beside us.  Then hundreds and hundreds of taxi drivers passed by, all honking their horns and some waving flags.  Our walk turned into a brisk one. It was a bit disconcerting.

 Back safe in the condo, we looked out the window and there was another group of taxis, along with trucks carrying protesters.  Boy, were we ever glad we had made arrangements to be taken back to the airport in a personal van!

If you look closely, you can see people hanging out the windows and waving flags.