En el Norte de Quito

We looked around the New Town area of Quito today and found
this nice little boating area in Parque de Carolina. Lots of families
out today since it's a Saturday.


On three of the four corners of this very large park (Think Central Park
in New York) are shopping malls. We stopped by the El Jardin and
the wealthier people of Quito definitely don't want for lack of
selction when it comes to their shopping. The big grocery chain
here is Maxi...either SuperMaxi or MegaMaxi which is kind of like
a Super Wal-Mart. Many of the expats here call them Maxi Pads!


Ecuador is a coffee growing country but not a lot of it is exported
to the United States. However, a face familiar to many in the
States is Juan Valdez. Similar to a Starbucks, we've seen several
of these cafes in Quito and are run jointly between the Ecuadoran
and Colombian coffee growers.


Where would the world be without Apple Computers? I would guess
that Ecuadorans aren't as Mac crazy as Americans since very few
people were in this store while we were visiting, but it did provide
a good quick way to check our email.


We walked around the neighborhood of our hostel a bit and
found this street/stairway that was taunting us. However, the
stairway won, since there was no way our oxygen-challenged
lungs were going to tackle this monster! However, three dogs
seemed to be enjoying the view as they chatted amongst
themselves, including the spaniel on the stairs and the
boxer on the roof.