We landed at the airport, and it was a beautiful flight in with all the mountains and ocean we traveled past, but the first thing you realize is that you’re nowhere near a city. Quito’s airport is an hour ride down the mountains from the city center. As you drive through the mountains and valleys you get to witness all the diner type restaurants, roadside mechanics, and various degrees of lifestyle from depressingly impoverished to decadent mansions. It was a very interesting drive as we curved up and down the mountainside, through tunnels and over bridges. It is impressive how the Ecuadorians have bent nature to their will without completely wiping it out.

Quito itself is an ultra-modern city with skyscrapers, epic parks, and lots of great dining. We checked in to Travellers Inn, a cute little home turned hostel with a sweet set of hosts. We headed to El Padrino, and I had to try the lava stone grilled meats. They brought out a heap of different meat, chicken, steak, blood sausage, other sausages, and some veggies all still grilling on a scorching hot lava stone. Think fajitas on crack. As a side they served up potatoes and corn on the cob, plantains, cheese and chicharron. It was so good, the meat was so well seasoned, the lava stone kept things well grilled as you shifted what you wanted into the hotter spots of it. Perfect meal.

The next day we wandered around La Pradera, a charming neighborhood with plenty of people watching and food options. We stopped at Costa Sierra Cocina and tried some of the soup that Ecuador is known for. They brought a really nice Locro Patato, a creamy potato, cheese and avocado soup, with a plate of sides to drop into it including avocado, two types of corn, plantains and corn cakes.

The late Anthony Bourdain once asked something along the lines of “how many different ways can you describe how good something tastes? It was really good.” And that’s how I feel about pretty much everything we had in Ecuador. Everything tasted so good, was so well plated, and the sides were so well paired, its really a gastronomical experience that you need to try. Foch Plaza was an especially good area for food and people watching.

We had had plenty of red meat… for now… so we headed to Noe Sushi Bar in the Mall El Jardin. The mall was in full holiday swing and kids were hanging out with Santa and there were singers and all kinds of fun. The sushi bar was a great modern bar with some really tasty cocktails. We tried the Sake Kani Yaki (some good fresh salmon and avocado with a mustard sauce), Kanebi (crab, cream cheese and an orange sauce), and the Flambe Roll (shrimp and cream cheese flambéed at the table and topped with a sweet sauce).

Noe was in the mall, so we ended up checking out a movie called “Animales Fantasticos” while we were there… you might know it as “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”. Hitting the movies up in other countries became a big thing from time to time when we were traveling because it’s truly one of those experiences that does not change around the world, and that’s a great comforting thing when you’re in the middle of an unfamiliar culture.

The next day we hopped a cab and headed for Mitad del Mundo, or Middle of the World City. It’s a fun park a little north of Quito where you can experience being in both hemispheres at once. In reality, the equator’s equatorial bulge is about 27 miles wide, so straddling it with two legs is impossible, but it’s a fun visual.

The park was full of other attractions. There were smaller buildings that offered videos and education about the area and the equator. There’s a tower in the middle that you can go to the top of that offers some amazing views of the surrounding mountains as well as some interactive exhibits.

There were art exhibitions and historic information about the missions to map the equator. The pieces from Oswaldo Guayasamín were especially powerful, and the bird sculptures were a lot of fun. There were also art exhibitions and historic facts about the Quitu-Cara, an extinct culture in the local area who disappeared with the arrival of the Incas.

On our last day we headed west towards the mountains to take the TelefériQo Cable Car up Pichincha, a local volcano. The volcano is crazy close to the city, which is wild because it’s actually still active, but it’s also a popular spot for hiking, biking, and other activities. We saw some snow at the top, so it was nice to actually feel like we were visiting winter for a change with it being late December and all. The views of the city from the top were a little foggy at first, but as it cleared up it became a site to behold.

Back at the bottom of the cable car, there’s an amusement park, called Vulqano Park. We skipped over that and headed straight for the Historic Center. Like many historic districts that we found in South America, Quito’s was a collection of squares surrounded by fantastic stone architecture. One of the highlights was the Basílica del Voto Nacional. The largest neo-Gothic basilica in the Americas, this dual towered wonder has so much detail on its façade that you can spend hours trying to catch everything.

As we wrapped up our time in South America, we wandered around the area for hours people watching, checking out historic buildings, and enjoying empanadas and desserts. We had other plans for the holidays that included the Galapagos and Costa Rica, but unfortunately some family emergencies back home cut all that short. The next time we hit the road would be in February, as we headed West to begin truly circumnavigating the globe.