I LOVE TO TRAVEL

One of the great things about travelling is the unexpected. I am endlessly amused by things that we would never find in our country or our culture. For example, today I was walking back from the museum of popular art, (CIDAP) along the Rio Tomebamba, and I saw this:

I can tell you, this made my day.

Another thing that always amuses me is interesting signs, especially when maybe they are a play on words or maybe the person doing the sign just didn't know English all that well.


Hot dogs are big here. They are usually called salchichas and are often served with french fries, which makes them into salchipapas. Here are some examples:

Richard and Mark, this one is for you:

And, note item 7 on this menu. This is a combo you would NEVER see at home (and yes, those are US Dollars on the prices):


Sunday we took an outing to a nearby town called Paute. This is about 1 hour by regional bus and is at a lower elevation. Sunday is a large market day in Paute. Here is one of the things that delighted me there - "piggy" bank sheep (and one elephant).

We decided to ride home in a Mixto, which is a pickup truck that takes passengers inside and out. This turned out to be a BAD IDEA because the driver was a real cowboy. However, he did have a really cool gear shift knob.

Nancy is doing a whole blog on our grand day out in Paute, the fabulous restaurant we ate at and the scary trip home. Please check it out at http://www.watsontravels.blogspot.com/

I find it interesting to observe marketing in different cultures. This is especially fascinating as it applies to clothing and fashion. Here is a typical Cuencan clothing store.

And here is a typical way to display jeans for sale. I have never figured out the thought behind the 2nd pair of jeans over the 1st.

The other day when Jim and I went to the convent museum all the exhibits were fairly sobering and some things downright grim. And then we came across this amusing sight -

No, we did NOT put those sunglasses on her, honest!

I was bitterly disappointed that we didn't get to try the KING OF SEAFOOD because we were ready to eat at 7 PM and the restaurant didn't open until 8:30 PM. (However, that night we did have an EXCELLENT Tapas dinner).


I laughed out loud when I saw this sign for a card shop in downtown Cuenca, especially since Jim and I are from Peanuts territory (Santa Rosa is Charles M. Schultz country).


And I loved the sentiment of this carpenter shop:

But the crowning glory happened during the most amazing thunder and lightening storm in downtown Cuenca the other day. But first I have to set the stage - There are several guys in Parque Calderone who have lots of little horses set up around the square. Kids put on the sombreros and pose for their picture to be taken. Unfortunately my only photo of the horses is a little fuzzy but you can get the idea:

So, back to our rainstorm. It was raining so hard that the streets were flooded. We tried to wait out the storm while drinking coffee, but the rain wasn't letting up. So we made a bee line for the covered area near Parque Caldarone to get a taxi. As we were waiting we saw this guy taking his horse to shelter on what looked like an overgrown skateboard:

Does it get much better than this?

Until next time,

Audrey