Sunday August 15, 2010: a lazy Sunday morning, we had thought to go out to breakfast somewhere but ended up eating here as Casa Ordonez, our home away from Grants Pass. Visited with other guests and then back up to our room of an early nap. At noon we tuned into Parkway and enjoyed the service. As most things are closed on Sunday we took a cab to the Mall Del Rio. Yes girls, there are malls in Ecuador full of all kinds if stores. I can now honestly say, a mall, is a mall, is a mall. It was in someways surreal, there was a huge food court on the second floor with a big screen TV broadcasting a soccer game. There was a Burger King and KFC along with Chinese, Italian, and Ecuadorian favorites. We broke down and had Burger King . . almost like home but there was a slightly different flavor to the meat. They tell us all beef is grass fed here. Anyway, at the other end of the Mall is the Corral a "Hipermercado", think Wal-mart. I wondered the mall and Jack people watched. We did a little price shopping and stoves are relatively cheap but other appliances are spendy. Another interesting thing was unlike eating Ecuadorian food we were hungry after two hours!

We took a cab back to Parque Caldaron and sat and watched people. Heard music a block away so I went to investigate. A band was playing in the flower market next to a church. I think a funeral was soon to happen. Had an early dinner at Raymipampa. We like this place, it is right on the square of Parqe Caldaron and very popular with tourists and locals. I had potato soup and Jack had a great chicken and mushrooms in a cream sauce.

By now you have noticed there are no pictures. That part of the story is yet to come.

Monday, today, we walked to breakfast. Had a simple breakfast of juice, eggs, rolls, and cheese, tea and coffee. The sun came out so I dashed back to the hotel for Jacks hat. Off we went heading south with a goal of the English bookstore, Carolina's in mind. We must have walked a mile if you can believe it! Jack is doing so well. Anyway, turned in the three books we had brought with us and finished and got two new ones to read. Next door is a fun little cafe, Bananas, had to check it out as it had been recommended to us. Shared a plate of pancakes. Excellent. From there went to the Banco Central and the Museo Pumapungo. Adjacent to the museum are excavated ruins of the second capital of the Tahuantinsuyo empire which predated the Inca and formed the foundation of the Kanari people, one of the most important ethnic groups in Ecuador.

We were tired, hailed a cab for the return trip. In the rush to get in and out of the cab I guess I failed to put my camera back in one of my many pockets and so there are no pictures of Sunday or Monday . .. . . . as there are hundreds of cabs and many cab companies, someone in Cuenca has a wonderful new camera . . .

Jack took a nap and I went hunting for a new camera. There are lots of stores but I was hoping to find the same one . . no luck. Bought a new camera. The camera is now attached to a lanyard arond my neck and then in my pocket to hopefully there will be pictures! In addition to the camera issue, the borrowed phone stopped working so the simple fix was get a new sim card ($8) and it worked fine. Even came with $3 of minutes.

Dinner was another adventure. Had the name of a good Colombian restaurant so off we went. Not sure we found it, at least the name was different but had a wonderful dinner of the house soup (potato with carrots), steak with an egg on it, rice, fried plantain, and fruit juice probably pineapple and something else. It was good and very filling and for the two of us we spent $5. The taxi each way at $1.50, so a cheap date for Jack!

Getting ready to tuck in for the night. Tomorrow is planned for looking at apartments in the morning and we will see what happens from there! We are retired so who needs plans!