Saturday Morning Tourists

We have a new senior sister who has come to Quito. She is replacing Sister Naylor who is going home in two weeks. Elder Geldmacher found an English speaking tour guide that took all of us in a small bus downtown to the oldest part of Quito and accompanied us as we toured several churches, the Presidential Palace and what was the first jail and now is a museum. The weather was sunny and warm and we had a wonderful morning.

Our first stop is the new Basilica. It is new because it was begun only 100 years ago and is still not finished.
Below is the newest portion. It is built of lighter stone and is in a European style. Notice the gargoyles - they have wings and look like dragons.

The older part has gargoyles but they are all Ecuadorian animals. I love that. They took an old tradition and made it their own.

We passed these ladies as we got off the bus. They are awaiting our return in hope of a sale. They have lovely scarves. They offered them as 2 for $5. (But we know they can be purchased for $2 each if you go to the mercado.)


The Basilica is a huge building with two towers. Here is one of them.

Here are some iguanas carved from stone.

These are turtles.

Inside the building the stained glass is absolutely beautiful. See the streaks of color from the other windows?


My favorite was this depiction of the Good Samaritan.


Sister Naylor and Sister Thomas each bought a scarf for $2. Isn't it amazing how this woman is wearing her baby. All of the indigenous women tie their babies to their backs.

Now we are on the Grand Plaza where the Presidential Palace is located and looking back at the Basilica.

We were able to go into the Presidential Palace and have a tour. A photographer took our photo (we did it as a group) and they gave the photo to us as a gift from the president. I thought it was a nice touch (although it might also help with security). There is a sign on the front of the building that marks the place that one president was assassinated. Below is the room where the cabinet members meet with the president.

We love the traditional interior patios of Spanish buildings. We also saw the banquet room and the many beautiful gifts that have been given to Ecuador by other countries displayed in glass cabinets. The President and his family live in a portion of the building. Every Saturday, the president travels to one of the cities of Ecuador in order to be accessible to the people.

Here are the senior missionary females standing on the balcony where we saw the President when we came for the changing of the guard. Sister Yost, Sister Thomas, Sister Geldmacher, Sister Naylor and Sister Pettingill.

As we left we passed these guards. There is one on each side of the doorway. We learned that they stand there for two hours at a time. It was a good photo op and they did not seem to mind.




Inside the building that was once a jail are a series of wax figures that display the history of Ecuador. Their independence from Spanish conquest was a long struggle. They are very proud of those who felt that the indigenous people (those who lived here before the Spanish came) were not inferior to the Spanish people who came to claim the land as their own and ruled as they saw fit. This little scene shows the men who came to Ecuador from France to determine exactly where the equator is located. Ecuador is the only place in the world where the equator passes over high altitudes.



This is a small portion of one column on the face of the Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus. Our guide told us that all of the churches we visited are Catholic but each was built by a different order within the church and there was a great deal of competition. Each successive church wanted to outshine the existing ones. This one certainly takes the prize. The entire chapel area inside is covered with gold with an incredible amount of ornamentation on every surface. All of this was done when there were no power tools (build between 1605 and 1765). Can you imagine the amount of patient work that went into building these amazing churches? No photos are allowed inside so you have to just imagine all of the gold.


The last church we visited is one of the first built in Quito. There is a very, very large space in front of the church for large crowds. This church needs some tender loving care and a lot of restoration. This statue of a boy carrying a Bible is at the base of some steps leading up to where a priest can speak to the large congregation.

We enjoyed our tour and learned quite a bit from our guide. Ecuador is such an amazing country with so much variety in the landscape and the people and the animal and plant life. I wish we could spend more time experiencing all that Ecuador has to offer. But we are very grateful that our time is spent helping the wonderful young people of Ecuador to have an opportunity to obtain better jobs and therefore be able to build strong and happy families.