Wandering around Cuenca

No, we haven't made it to "el centro" yet. Yesterday was the last day of Carnival, and you could tell that there weren't as many people playing with the water and foam, although I did get sprayed with a shot of  foam that came from a passing car while we were walking on the sidewalk.

So we walked directly from the house to the Cuenca Botanical Gardens, and then to an art display at the old train station.

Cuenca has five rivers flowing through it...

With all the rain recently, the rivers are definitely flowing!

From a distance, we thought this was Igor's brother!

But it's just a cousin... lol.

Interesting flower on this tree.

Another raging river.

The Cuenca Botanical Garden is free.

Lots of wildflowers.

Weird flowers on this tree.

From there, we walked to the old train station where they have a display of fanciful painted guinea pigs. Kinda fun!

Guinea pigs are called "cuy".

Guinea pigs are traditionally and culturally not pets here in Ecuador... they are food!

We were looking for somewhere for lunch, but most places were closed because both Monday and Tuesday were holidays here in Cuenca. Things are supposed to be back to normal today. Anyhow, we had noticed that the big shopping mall was open so went there to check out the food court.

The mall itself didn't appear too busy, despite the parking lot looking pretty full.

Why? Because everybody was at the food court!

We have never seen a shopping mall food court this busy!

And most places weren't all that cheap. Meals appeared to be priced at between $7 and $9 USD ($9.50 CAD to $12.50 CAD). But, we did some shopping around and managed to get a plate of pork, rice, and beans and a small lemonade for $3.25 USD ($4.50 CAD).

Today, Ruth and I are headed downtown to meet a bunch of expats for lunch. Regular readers might remember when we did a video interview back in 2024 when we were in Cambodia. The couple who interviewed us are now living in Cuenca, so it will be interesting to meet them. 

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