O.K. There's something I need to get at SuperMaxi anyway.
Quick stop at the flower vendor's stalls.
Looks like a crowd gathering along side of the New Cathedral.
Must be street musicians.
Yep, you were right, but these guys can actually play.
That's why there's a crowd.
Oh, yeah, duh.
Sunday afternoon and the Central Square Park is jammed packed.
Another look at the Old Cathedral.
I don't think people want to see anymore of your boring church pictures, honey.
Let me know when you get to the part where I care what they want to see, O.K.?
Whatever!
I'm not a photograper.
No argument here.
Well, maybe they'd like to know you're walking towards the Justice Building.
Well, maybe they'd like to know you're walking towards the Justice Building.
I'm sure they're dying to know just that very thing.
Straight on, front entrance view of the Old Cathedral which is where most of the free, classical music concerts take place because of the suberb acoustics.
Looks like I could be first in line to buy tickets for the new play opening this week.
If she's an actor I wonder what her Method is, where does she find her motivation?
Even the old run down buildings are interesting and, see, this one isn't a church.
No, but it's full of amulance chasers.
Yeah, I guess they are similar in that way.
Last time I showed you the back side of the convent where the cloistered nuns hang.
Here are their front doors which...
never open and maybe that's because they're over twenty-five feet tall and heavy carved wood.
Another modern ruin.
Here's the front entrance to the school where Jo and I teach English.
And, right around the corner is one of our favorite watering holes, La Cigale.
This is an apartment building where a few of our teacher friends live.
The only thing Jo likes about this place is they used very old, large photographs to decorate the outside facade.
The city center is up on the top edge of a river ravine, so you're always going up and down staircases. This one has a tree growing in the middle of it. In the background is New Town where we are headed.
And, at the bottom of the staircase one can always find the latest in graffitti.
Also, at the bottom of the stairs is the river with its many bridges and one of our teacher friends, Rachel from England.
Farther down the river bank we go past the grand staircase or escalera which leads away from New Town and back up into Old Town where we live.
Here in Parque de la Madre we walk quickly past the statue of Jefferson Perez, Equador's favorite son. He was the only winner of an Olympic Gold medal in the country's history. It was for Speed Walking.
There is another statue in the park and it's of a Mother with her children awaiting the Father's return. A common enough theme everywhere in the world. The Lady of the Sea statue on the wharf in Anacortes has the same expression on her face as this Madre.
The police had set up a photographic display of all the used and abused people they come across in their work with a little of their crime reports and Jo read (in Spanish) them all.
At the other end of the park is the city's cute little planetarium.
In case you didn't figure it out before, SuperMaxi is the Latin American equivalent of Safeway and here we are picking up some "Lite" Olive Oil. We were at the traditional Mercado or market yesterday and got all our fresh tomatos, strawberries, etc. then.
Headed back home now and noticed this unique juxtaposition of the park's colorful little children's theater and the glass skyscaper behind it. The building in the background is as about as close as Cuenca gets to tall office buildings and it's the only one in the city's skyline. All the other tall edifices are church steeples. And, Jo wonders why all I ever take pictures of are churches.
One more look at the lives of the victims.
Back in Old Town and peeking through the gates of a closed museum
with a combination scarecrow-mobile in its patio garden.
Then a quick stop at the coffee shop haunt of other fellow English teachers in order to swap war stories about our little angles.
Headed for the short-cut through the artisans market in San Francisco square.
Every church has a food vendor outside waiting to feed the hungry sinners and saint alike.
This guy had bags of pink colored popcorn.
Look Jo! A Church.
I'd like to get home sometime this week.
Jo preparing to run the guantlet of handicrafts.
Sweaters from Peru, blankets from Bolivia,
Indigenous tapestry,
flip-flop keychains,
bags for every occasion,
and even unphotogenic school packback merchants.
This is our neighborhood hardware store, kind of like Sebo's Do-It-Center where they sell everything from pistacio nuts to 7 inch switchblades.
Here's the wife's sporting goods store by day and the husband's garage for his taxi by night.
Another universal truth...the best place to dry the laudry is on the rooftop.
As I, also, mentioned last time the 1st Birthday parties are a growth industry here and that means Clowns are always in demand.
And here we are back on our little street after a Sunday stroll.
Say Good-Bye, Jo.
Are you going to put that frikkin camera away now?
Yes, dear. I gotta go, bye.
