The city center is nice to wander around and very walkable. The surrounding area is scenic with a lot of outdoor activities. The cost of living is relatively low. And it's a fairly safe area, compared to the other parts of Ecuador.
So yesterday we went downtown for the first time and wandered around for a bit before meeting up for lunch with a group of expats and fellow travelers.
Scenery along the way.
Mural at the central market.
Another cloudy day.
I've been needing a haircut for the last couple of weeks, and Louise had mentioned a place where the price was around $3.00 USD ($4.10 CAD). We stopped by there and they weren't busy and the lady took me right away. She did a good job, and the total price was $2.50 USD ($3.45 CAD). It's not normal to tip a taxi or a barber here in Ecuador, but I'm sure that most expats do. I gave her $3 and told her to keep the change.
This treat shop looked yummy. We'll have to pick up a variety pack!
Plants for sale.
Statue at the main plaza.
Tough to get a decent photo of the cathedral because they are doing some construction work out front and it's barricaded.
There are a lot of interesting buildings in the central area.
We went to the Mani Cocina Creativa restaurant. It's located in a hotel, and the restaurant has only been open since October. It's a "gourmet" lunch... for only $5 USD ($6.85 CAD) per person, with soup, main course, drink, and dessert.
Everyone there was in our group!
It was organized by Warren and Julie. They have a popular YouTube channel at
They had done an interview with us a couple of years ago, and we wanted to meet in person. And, it was interesting to meet up with some other expats and travelers and hear their stories.
So we had a nice lunch and sat with fellow Canadians Justin and Rhonda from Niagara Falls area, Randy from New York City, and Sandy from Florida.
We also met Glen and Stacey, Cathy and Doug who are also readers of this blog. So that was fun!
We really didn't have enough time exploring and we are heading back downtown with Louise so that she can show us some more things.
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It was great to meet you both! Cuenca is a walker's paradise as far as I'm concerned, and I lived and walked in NYC for forty years! I love the variety of murals throughout Cuenca, from comical to sublime.
ReplyDeleteIt was nice to meet you as well. It was a lovely lunch and a great turn out.
DeleteWe agree, Cuenca is definitely an easily city to walk in and there is so much to see. The murals are wonderful and yes, a wide variety of them.