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Nicole's
Travelogues and Budget Travel Tips..
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ECUADORNew Town Accommodation For the first month, I stayed in an apartment while attending Spanish classes. El Remanso apartments were located on Calle de Hernan Cortes y Almagro (near Colon). There is a single apartment and a couple of shared ones with furniture, cable TV, and full kitchens. Prices worked out to about $4.80 per night. I stayed at El Cafecito (Cordero y Reina Victoria) for most of my nights between trips in Quito ($6 for shared room). It was a good place to meet fellow backpackers and they had a great cafe downstairs and live music on the weekends (of course don't try going to sleep early on Friday or Saturday nights!). Rooms weren't sparkling clean but it was a fun place. They were also in a great central location in New Town across the street from 3 internet cafes and a post office. Hotel Loro Verde (Rodriguez y Amalgro) is a 3 blocks from El Cafecito and is very clean, safe, much quieter and you can get own room and bathroom for 50,000 sucres/$10. The owners are helpful in suggesting interesting (less touristy) excursions. Hotel Vienna (Tomayo 879 y Foch) was OK but did not have windows to the outside - only to inner hallway. It was $7 for private room and bath. The owners blasted the radios late at night so not recommended if you need to study Spanish lessons! I also stayed at Hostal Posada Maple (Juan Rodriguez y 6 de Deciembre) which had an open porch, restaurant, and TV room. Rooms and bathrooms were very clean and staff was helpful ($6.50 shared room, $12 single). As a resident you get a discount at the restaurant and an extended happy hour.
Modern Quito is what its called - modern. All of the 'high-class' modern hotels, restaurants, and malls are in this district. You'll find Quito's largest avenues and skyscrapers here. Modern Quito's main road arteries are Amazonas, de los Shyris, Naciones Unidas, González Suárez, 6 de Diciembre, 10 de Agosto, Eloy Alfaro, and the biggest one in the North: La Occidental. Museo y Taller Guayasamin is a must! Guayasamin is Ecuador's most famous artist and now has a museum of his work on site where he used to live. It costs $1 and is located at Bosmediano 543 between Egas and Carbo. It's pretty steep so if you catch a taxi, make sure catch a newer one that can make it up the hill. Parque La Carolina is Quito's largest park (across street from El Jardin mall). On Saturdays, there is a huge aerobics class where the instructors are perched on a roof and call out commands in their microphones. It's also a nice place to put down a blanket and read or play cards. There are vendors throughout the park selling snacks and you can always join a pickup soccer game. El Jardin is a mall (Avenida Amazonas and Mariana de Jesus) located between New Town and Parque la Carolina. It's very modern and would be at home in Los Angeles with lots of clothing, gift, sports, and record stores. They have a Supermaxi (grocery store), American chain stores (a huge ACE hardware which is useful for buy tools!???), and fast-food restaurants(Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonald's, Taco Bell, Subway Sandwich, El Español Delicatessen, Cuba Libre and Donut Express) and the The Multicine Multiplex (with about 5 theaters) is located here and most movies are in English with Spanish subtitles and cost 12,000 sucres/$2.40 (on Tuesday nights it is 2 for 1). Also have a large styling salon where I got a pretty good haircut (not knowing any haircut vocabulary) for 40,000 sucres/$8. Most buses (1,000 sucres) going up Amazonas will pass the mall and taxis cost 10,000 sucres to/from New Town area. On Wednesdays and Fridays at 7:30, the Ballet Folklorico performs at the Teatro San Gabriel (America y Mariana de Jesus). It's a wonderfully colorful and lively performance and shouldn't be missed if you are into that kind of thing. |
My favorite restaurants in Quito: The Magic Bean is a great restaurant/ coffee house and has rooms upstairs. Super Papa (Juan Leon Mera y Baquedano) serves delicious french toast for a $1 and serves big baked potatoes with your choice of toppings for lunch. I went to Pizza Pizza (Santa Maria y Almagro) when I wanted to watch ESPN on the big screen and have some pizza. Mama Clorinda (Reina Victoria y Calama) serves yummy Ecuadorian dishes in large portions. Texas Ranch (Juan Leon Mera y Calama) sells hamburgers and steaks for $3. El Maple is a great vegetarian restaurant (Calama y Juan Leon Mera). They have delicious fruit shakes (batidos), pastas, and organic salad bar. You can get a whole steamed crab for $1.50 at El Viejo Jose (Reina Victoria y Pinta). There are a bunch of sidewalk cafe restaurants along Amazonas close to El Ejido Park serving Ecuadorian dishes. You can't beat beer and arroz con pollo! |
