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We’re headed south for winter in the Andes

January 7, 2020 | Happening Now, Stories From The Road

The Ñucallacta Café is a delightful, and popular, eating establishment in Cuenca. There are two restaurants, one more or less on either end of the El Centro (center) district, where we stay. This particular location is in the same building as our apartment, and we received a $10 courtesy voucher, which paid for the huevos rancheros and cappuccinos Char and I enjoyed on our first morning in the city. Ñucallacta also roasts its own coffee, which we buy while we stay in Cuenca.

Getting to Ecuador is the toughest part of this episode. Our flight was approximately eight hours to Quito via Atlanta, arriving in Quito at 11:30 p.m. We were dragging by then. We opted to spend $70 to use a layover lounge in which we could get a snack, coffee, beverages, use a bathroom (and shower, if needed) and use lounge chairs to try to rest. I’m sure you know how that goes; you may be able to sleep, but not really rest. Our flight to Cuenca was at 5:50 a.m. Monday morning. Easy flight. Arrived in Cuenca at 6:45. However, our landlady was not able to meet us until 9:15, so we had a cappuccino and a snack at the Cuenca airport, then grabbed a cab into town. Unpacked. Walked over to an outdoor café to have lunch and enjoy the afternoon sun and temps–about 70°. We were joined by a couple from Minneapolis whom we met in the Quito airport. We told them what we knew about Cuenca. After that, we just crashed.

Shopping in this market, which we would call a farmers market, is truly an experience. It’s a great place to get fresh fruits and vegetables. Many vendors are selling the same items, at different prices, and we sometimes wonder how these folks can sell all of this produce before it spoils.

This morning we had breakfast at a café located in our building complex. Both Char and I ordered huevos rancheros. We received a $10 voucher for the café, and it covered both of our breakfasts and a couple of cappuccinos.

Then we were off to do our initial shopping. It’s about a 15-minute walk to the local super market where we stocked up on some food and household essentials, bought some cherries from a street vendor (’tis the season), walked to the local farmers market to procure some avocado, dragon fruit, strawberries, grapes, and ginger. Bought a couple bottles of wine on the way home. Then we walked up the street to a little one-man bakery to buy fresh bread. He included with our loaf of bread a slice of a bread he was trying to push. As we Minnesotans say, it wasn’t half bad.

This evening, Char and I relaxed with a cocktail–a Maker’s Mark manhattan– prior to enjoying lentil soup (which Char made this afternoon) and watching the news from the U.S. This year, we brought three liters of whisky along, the max allowed by Ecuador. We learned last year that American Kentucky bourbon is almost impossible to find here, so we brought some along. If you come to visit, please bring more. :)

And, after all of that, I checked out my computer connection for work (for those of you who my not know, I work mornings part-time as a newsletter editor for a Twin Cities’ company), so I am ready to fall into the routine that I followed in St. Paul, except that my Cuenca routine will be snow-free and warm!

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Category: Happening Now, Stories From The Road

About Joseph Koppi

Joseph Koppi is a traveler and writer with over 40 years of writing experience. He currently treks the world, writing about his adventures in foreign lands and with the amazing people he encounters. Read More

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Comments

  1. Marsha says

    January 8, 2020 at 7:27 am

    So happy you are able to get away from the cold and be in such a neat place. Looking forward to following your adventures this year
    Thank you for all the Christmas treats. As usual they were wonderful, just as you are wonderful neighbors.
    M & M

  2. Judy Horsnell says

    January 8, 2020 at 10:28 am

    Joe, enjoy your escape to that beautiful area of the world; really, you are not missing anything back here in Minnesota, and I KNOW all the bad national news travels to you wherever you happen to be on the globe! Judy

  3. Jeanine Ryan says

    January 9, 2020 at 6:11 am

    Thanks for taking me along! I look forward to reading more!

  4. Andrea says

    January 11, 2020 at 10:42 am

    I’m so happy for both of you.. continue enjoying Cuenca!! :) xoxo

  5. Claudine says

    January 13, 2020 at 5:22 pm

    Glad you have arrived safely and are settled in. The Farmer’s Market looks luscious. And the weather is nice too. Happy Days!!! Claudine

About BoomerTrekker

When you travel, only one of two things can happen: something good or something bad; either way, you have a story to tell.

Boomertrekker.com is the cave wall on which I try to etch the stories and pictures of my travel experiences. You will find stories of setting out to go one place, but arriving at another; of finding, quite by accident, experiences that I could not have anticipated; of meeting and becoming friends with people whose language I cannot speak. Sometimes you will find me paralyzed and out of my comfort zone, as I was in Cambodia when I regretfully let pass my opportunity to eat a cricket. At other times, I hope you marvel, as I have, at the intelligence and ingenuity and inventiveness of ancient peoples everywhere. These are the stories I tell here. They are the stories of my travels to foreign lands in which I am the foreigner. Read More

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Recent Comments

  • Claudine on We’re headed south for winter in the Andes

    Glad you have arrived safely and are settled in. The Farmer's Market looks luscious. And the weath......

  • Andrea on We’re headed south for winter in the Andes

    I'm so happy for both of you.. continue enjoying Cuenca!! :) xoxo...

  • Jeanine Ryan on We’re headed south for winter in the Andes

    Thanks for taking me along! I look forward to reading more!...

  • Judy Horsnell on We’re headed south for winter in the Andes

    Joe, enjoy your escape to that beautiful area of the world; really, you are not missing anything bac......

  • Marsha on We’re headed south for winter in the Andes

    So happy you are able to get away from the cold and be in such a neat place. Looking forward to foll......

BoomerTrekker

Joseph Koppi is a freelance travel writer with over 40 years of writing and communications experience in both the media and corporate arenas. He currently treks around the world, writing about his adventures in foreign lands and with the amazing people he encounters. Read More

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