Casa del Alabado

The airport in Cuenca is close and small -- we could have done with a slightly later wake up call. Oh well. At least the desk agents continued their kind practice of putting our luggage together so that we didn't get charged extra.

In Quito, our local archaeologist and his son met us at the airport. Goodness, but the new airport is not convenient! It took more than 1.5 hours to get to the hotel from there, and that was with short cuts. The hotel, just down the street from my nightmare hotel of last year, was quite nice. The gentlemen went on their way and left us to settle in. They would pick up R -- yes, just R -- the next morning at 5:30.

So off to lunch we went. I was trying to avoid the tourist courtyard places, but that's where people sent us, so we gave in and ate there. It was good, but more than we would have paid other places. But it was relaxing. From there, we went to one of my favorite museums -- La Casa del Alabado. It's a pre-Columbian art museum, just three years old, in a lovely old mansion very close to the Plaza de San Francisco. I think R really liked it. It's always good to see new places, and he could tell me lots about all the pieces, as these are ancestor cultures to the Inka. 

 Yes, yes, I know. More pieces from the Valdivia culture! I can't help it -- I love the style. And there are so many that look like my dear owls.

 These hands remind me of some of the symbols we use at the museum. 

 Clay seals, wonderfully preserved.

 More Valdivia.

 Something different! I liked the very zen pose of this, I'm not sure, but it reminds me of a kangaroo. It's not, of course.

 This was nicely done. It was an interactive timeline, showing all these cultures, their connections to each other, and their relationship to events in other parts of the globe. And you could click on each culture and get a little story about them.

 Yes, gold. 

 Stunning, no?

 My notes are poor. I just liked this statue.

 In my favorite room at the museum. I love this little bird. And that beautiful red color after all these years....

 A monkey! Guess from where?

This room is just so beautiful. One day I'm going to take a book with me and just sit in here. The natural light, the wall of plants just outside, the glass, the art. Ah.

Then we relaxed for a while. JC, my best friend in Ecuador, was coming back into town and was hoping to meet us for dinner that evening. And another colleague of ours, but from the museum in New York, was in Quito as well, visiting family, so we hoped to connect with him on Sunday for dinner once R got back from Colombia. Unfortunately, JC was a bit delayed in his return, but we went to a lovely place with him called Vista Hermosa, and it truly was a stunning view. We didn't have much time to catch up ourselves, but hoped to connect again that weekend, before he left again on work travel. And no update from my professors. I was beginning to sense that, even though I was very excited to be back in Quito, that I was going to have much more solo time than I'd anticipated, beginning with a weekend I wasn't even supposed to be there.