ab 19.09.: My neighborhood Mariscal in Quito

19.09.

The last two days have been uneventful. For the second time, something wrong has ended up in my stomach, apparently something really wrong, so that it took me two days to recover. Charcoal tablets and an electrolyte juice with lots of sleep have made me healthy again.
Cities with phonetic spelling ka should be avoided in the future. First Cusco and now Quito...?

The day starts slowly, but already with a good breakfast with avenas and scrambled eggs, and a nap after breakfast.
Today is a really hot day - in the summer it is difficult to bear here, which is further exacerbated by the basin location of the city.
I go back to the Vespa workshop once again because I want to have a replacement belt. The navigation device is barely readable because the sun shines almost at a right angle on it.
The workshop no longer has a drive belt. Delivery time two months. I was lucky that the last one was installed in my Vespa.
A somewhat questionable warehouse management - new drive belts should have been ordered two months ago. If a customer comes now - the revenue is gone.

The working conditions for the workshop and office staff are tough based solely on the conditions of the office and workshop. Asbestos roofs that let the sun heat into the interiors unfiltered and only one window, which is also closed. Already now in the spring it’s probably 28°C, but the senor serving me knows other temperatures. He seems cold, he’s wearing a black sweater and shirt.
he calls Ambato for me, Cassandra's brother works there, and asks about the belt. The answer is not quite clear. Ambato is on my way. I will try it out.

I go back to the hostel and shortly afterwards have a real craving for a wrap with vegetable filling. In the late afternoon I go searching, get stuck at a Mexican place and explain to them what I want. Yes, they can make it, I should have a seat.

Not block, but colorful and diverse architecture

My idea is to take the wrap and eat it somewhere on a plaza. Later, a beautifully decorated plate with avocado, a delicious vegetable skewer, some salad, yogurt, and tacos arrives. The tacos are even refilled. I ask for the check and it says: 2 dollars! I hesitate a bit when paying, but the amount is correct.

View from my table

Prior to that, the owner asked if everything was alright. Yes - everything is fine, I just expected a wrap. That was the reason for him to limit the bill to two colas. If I had sent the plate back, then it would have been okay - but I had eaten everything neatly...
On my way back to the hostel, I find a store that sells natural yogurt. A rarity here in South America!! The colorful chemical yogurts are available in supermarkets, but natural yogurts are not. I eat two cups, the second one is a coconut yogurt. There they also have wraps - my lunch for tomorrow.

Tomorrow I will visit the basilica, which is within walking distance, and get the Vespa ready for traveling. On Thursday, we will head back towards home. About 10,000 kilometers to the port of Montevideo lie ahead of us.

20.09.

I don't see myself on the way to the southeast yet...
Today I got a salad that could be responsible for me staying here for weeks!! Fresh tomatoes with flavor, salad cucumbers, crisp bell peppers, onions, a delicious olive oil dressing, and a kind of Philadelphia cream cheese for seasoning. In addition, there is also tzatziki and not so heavy pancakes. And all of this in a nice environment on Avenida Rio de Amazonas, under green trees, at the neighboring table a group of men drinking coffee and smoking. Tanned, energetic retirees with a good social environment. They know everyone and are in a great mood.
Me too! Afterwards, a cafe con leche and a cigarette. It couldn't be better.

But let's start from the beginning: I have a real need for healthy eating. This may annoy some of you. But six months of more or less good and healthy food justify my hymns of praise here in Quito.
The day starts with 500 milliliters of natural yogurt, a fruit salad, and oatmeal. 500 ml - a whole family can feed themselves for two days with that...
Today, this neighborhood is on the program. It's called Mariscal, and life is good here. No intrusive scene howling with loud music and pseudo-entertainment, but everything is balanced. Good bars, organic food and yoga shops, restaurants from all continents - today I discovered one called Menue Europa or something like that - there are many green street trees, street cafes, men's and women's clothing stores, several leather shops, heavy traffic, lots of people working in the surrounding offices who have to walk around in suits, and in the evening there are 'sex workers' on a few corners - for gringos, it is advisable to only move around in a group.
The architecture is diverse, from ugly to beautiful, slim and light towers, then the colorful two-story gable buildings, the whitewashed 'palaces' adorned with plaster and wrought-iron bars - it's all there and it gets along well.

My first stop is the cathedral, which is also part of this district and does not feel quite comfortable in its Gothic attire in the hustle and bustle of multistory houses that are quite close together.
But that fades into the background when I enter the church. It's not comparable to the overloaded cathedral with gilded leaves in the city. Here everything is sober, clear, with only a somewhat kitschy altarpiece, otherwise rather sober. The colors gray with white limestone predominate.

No spacious church square

Doors wide open, the outdoor life is part of being here, and yet the atmosphere has something soothing.
We humans can be so creative and build such churches, works of art -
on the other hand, we are equipped with the desire for power, which bombs everything into ruins and ashes. The threat is not far and can be followed every day in the press.

I spend over an hour here, summing up the past 6 months and letting my thoughts run free.
And here there is no organ either.

I refresh myself and immerse myself again into the roaring life, go to the Casa de Cultura, where the street concert took place on Saturday evening.
This house must have been a luxurious family residence in the past, just like the oldest restaurant in Lima.

This lamp or rather this lighting fixture is made of wood. A gallery, a light-flooded courtyard, high-quality materials are used here.

There are readings, a photo exhibition, concerts, and all of this in my immediate neighborhood.

The houses here have beautiful architecture. The families who once lived here - where are their descendants, that now everything belongs to 'everyone'.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Integration

Still towering

I still have three things on my list: the converter for 110 to 220 V, a road map of Brazil, and a spark plug wrench with a ratchet.

Unfortunately, the bookstore doesn't have the map and can't get it quickly.

The man in the hardware store has nerves. He doesn't have the right size wrench and personally guides me to his archenemy. The hardware store, which in the long run will level the small tiendas to the ground. But here I find what I am looking for, the converter is too expensive for me and not worth it considering that I will leave in 3 to 4 weeks, I can get the wrench and ratchet. Later, the wrench turns out to be too big - so tomorrow before departure I have to go back and exchange it.

On the way back, another beetle has to perish. A European model.

I will probably leave this city tomorrow...