A lovely weekend

This weekend we went to a little town called Otavalo. We were lucky enough to have met two Argentinian ladies at our hostel who were headed to the same place and spoke English and Spanish. It was very fortunate to because trying to navigate through the public bus system was challenging.

After a two hour bus ride we pulled into Otavalo where the market starts in the town square and expanded from there. It was huge. We did our best to see each part of the market but we ended up getting lost in the streets and going wherever we saw something interesting. There were so many different things; fruits, veggies, clothing, instruments, jewelry, blankets, table clothes, hammocks, yarn, trinkets of all varieties, paintings, and cloth. Ashley went coo-coo for cloth where as I wanted to find a replacement hat and was interested in the instruments.

We stayed for two nights in Otavalo because we wanted to have less pressure to buy at the market, the surrounding area was beautiful, and the hostel was comfortable. On the second night, Sunday, we were kept awake by loud music playing. I couldn't sleep because the beat was too good and eventually I gave in to curiosity, put my clothes back on, and went in search of this live band. I found it two blocks from our hostel in a small soccer stadium. There were a couple hundred local people there all chatting and dancing. The main thing to make a group that walked single file in a circle and dance to the music. I naturally stayed on the side lines until a jovial local pulled me into a circle. I was very inconspicuous as I stood at least a foot taller than most everyone and I was the only gringo there. The music lasted and hour or so longer and then I went home ready to sleep. All in all a fun experience.

Our ride home went smoothly and when we returned to Quito we realized that we had brought more back with us than what we purchased at the market. We brought back a fervent love for Fresa Con Crema. While in Otavalo we were inexplicably locked out of our hostel and so being too early for dinner by some time we went to a nearby icecream shop. It was there that we discovered our delicious treat, strawberries with cream. We have both been craving strawberries and we thought we would try this. It has since turned into a daily event to have our strawberries with cream. We cannot get enough and it is so, so good to taste strawberries again. Lovin' it.

Pictured below are some photos of things we did not buy, a typical market stall, and Fresa con crema!