Two Discoveries (in Cuenca): One Bad, One Good

Before coming to Cuenca I had decided two days would be plenty. After arriving I decided I would need three. My travel buddy, her friend, and I spent our second full day exploring the city on foot. We walked its streets taking in all its charm. We did this the first hour and a half because we could not find the restaurant we were looking for. Nevertheless, Cuenca was a great city to get lost in.

We walked along its river (which looked like a slice of Switzerland), we glanced at its Inca ruins (what was left only required a glance), we visited it`s museums (and snuck pictures of monkey skeletons), and we ate for hours at its restaurants housed in colonial buildings (because we had to wait out the rain to stop).

That night I was looking forward to catching the UNC game against Ohio State. In the States the game was playing across the country on ESPN at 9pm. I asked and asked some more where there was a place that would show U.S. basketball games. Answers varied, but the best option seemed to be a sports bar in the newer section of town. I managed to talk the other two into joining me, warning them things could get ugly. We arrived at the sports bar more than an hour early for the game. The bar was empty but looked promising; flat-screen TVs lined the walls. Yes, they all were showing soccer games, but the odds looked good. I asked a waiter if they were able to get the game. He happily offered to flip through the Direct TV menu to see what channel it was playing on. My wide grin shrank steadily as he scrolled through over 600 channels without seeing any mention of a college basketball game. He patiently scrolled through them again. And then just once more to be sure. Nothing. A prime time game on ESPN in the States did not interest Ecuadorians?? This question seemed to amuse my coworker when I asked him later.

And thus the realization that I would probably not see one UNC game during my travels. I was not a happy camper for the rest of the night. I did park myself in front of a computer at a cyber cafe hitting refresh over and over to see updates for the game. UNC won. *sigh*

Cuenca did have more to offer though. We discovered this the next day as we went in search of the outdoor markets. After a few distractions along the way (an ad outside of a women`s underwear shop showed undies with fake cheeks attached - had to check that out), we came to the area of Cuenca one goes for fresh fruits and veggies. And meats. And when I say fresh meats, I mean still squeeling. We went a little crazy. We bought a little of almost everything (except the meats). When we saw kids hunched over a pod-like object, Mark had to find out what it was. It was big. And sweet. We looked for other things we didn`r recognize. We found items in a variety of shapes and colors. We chatted with the vendors. We tried to take pictures. The vendors tried to charge us. We declined. But we walked away with three large bags full of fruits and veggies. We were pleased with ourselves. We bought breads from a bakery. And we celebrated our purchases by making sandwiches. Bellies full, yet again, we decided to celebrate our find again; this time at Cuenca`s thermal baths. This time they were clean. And there was classical music. And there were no kids. All was right with the world. I almost forgot about missing the UNC season.

Almost.

All pics of Cuenca can be found here:
http://flickr.com/photos/15233918@N00/sets/72157603376142164/