Backtrack: April 29 ❤ Parque Metropolitano and Vista Hermosa

We tried to start out as early as possible, trying to miss the impending rain.  We went to el Parque Metropolitano (the Metropolitan Park).  Leah and I went for a walk while Christina watched Lucas and Joshua.  There was a little play area with a miniature house that Joshua was fascinated with.  The walk was really beautiful with lots of trees and fresh air.  We got to a viewing area and I took a few pictures.  The sky was hazy, so we couldn't see to far out, but you can tell what a big city Quito is from there. 

The Vista Point at Parque Metropolitano.

We decided to turn back even though we hadn't been walking too long because it looked the rain was moving in.  We made it back and piled in the car to drive down to the area where they sell juices and ice cream.  We got jugo de mandarina, which is mandarin orange or tangerine juice.  It was really good.  I also got an ice cream bar and Joshua got a popsicle.  Leah was worried about owing the man a few more cents and had me run back to pay him from the change she keeps in the car.  When we got home, she looked at the change the man had given her and she realized he had shorted her ten dollars.  We didn't bother going back since we had reached the car just before the heavy rain started.  It had started hailing too just after we left the park.  Joshua calls hail "pelotitas," which means little balls, instead of the correct word in Spanish, "granizo."

Back in the house we ate lunch.  Every day we have fresh squeezed juice with our meal and today Leah told me that it was from a fruit called "tomato de arbol" or tree tomato.  It's sweeter than a tomato and I actually liked it.  I'm not such a big fan of tomato juice.

After lunch we relaxed until Leo came home.  We planned to pick up Matteo, Leah's stepson, from school and then head down to el centro historico (historic downtown) to eat dinner at the restaurant Vista Hermosa (Beautiful View), where Leah and Leo had gotten married.  Shannah told us that she was going to be bringing the kids in her program (US high school students spending time abroad) there that night.  It was their last night in Quito and the day after she would be accompanying them back to the US, where she was going to stay for a month, helping them reacclimate to life in the US.  Gina said she would join Shannah there also.  Before we went to the restaurant, we walked around the downtown area a bit and Leo told me some about the history of the buildings and statues.  Everything was damp from the afternoon rain and the air was clean like it is right after a rain.

When we got to the restaurant, we walked up the steps to look out at the view.  The area up on top of the restaurants isn't covered, so we decided to sit down below since it looked like it was going to rain again. We ate really well.  I had ribs that were really tasty.  There was so much food, I wasn't sure I'd be able to finish it all.  Leah and I also had canelazos, which are a typical Ecuadorian drink.  They are served hot and consist of a sugarcane liquor, brown, sugar, lemon juice, and lots of cinnamon.  It was really good.

When we were finished with dinner, we went back upstairs to say hi to Shannah, Gina, and the students in Shannah's program.  I took some pictures of the view.  You can see the angel on top of the hill in the distance amidst all the lights.

View from the Vista Hermosa restaurant.

After dinner, we piled back in the car and went home.  We needed to get some rest since we were going to do some bigger trips with the whole family for the weekend.