Ecuador - Day 1 - Quito

I didn't get a chance to update during Christmas break, but I will post a bunch of updates of what I did.

Technically, Day 1 is my flight to Quito, Ecuador, but I didn't reach there until 11:00 pm, so I won't include it.

Day 1: Quito, Ecuador

The Basilica

My adventure started at the Basilica del Voto Nacional, Quito. The Basilica is a Roman Catholic church located in the historic center of Quito. It is sometimes also called the Catedral Consagración de Jesús or the Basílica de San Juan. It is the largest neo-Gothic basilica in the Americas. Then, we took a long walk zig-zagging through Quito's hilly streets stopping at plazas, churches, and theaters, soon finding ourselves walking up  Melchor Aymerich, a street, to El Panecillo. The Virgen del Quito stands at the top of the hill, overlooking the entire city. Originally, our plan was to take a local taxi from the bottom of the hill to the top, but our iTouch walking tour led us in the wrong direction.
Technology these days...sigh.



The view from El Panecillo. You can see the
Basilica far off into the distance.



Next, we took a local bus to the center of town, which was a very crowded and unusual experience. The bus would never stop, and none of the locals even paid! When we tried to get off at the main bus stop, we had to climb over many people to get off. I think I may have stepped on a foot or two. =/

Then, we took a taxi across town to El Mital Del Mundo, "The Middle of the World", or as we know it, the equator! We first went to the historical landmark. This was established hundreds of years ago with the modern GPS technology. I had the amazing experience of stepping one foot on the northern hemisphere and the other over the yellow line (painted of course) on the southern hemisphere. We then traveled to the actual GPS-marked red equator line 600 ft away. I liked this place better because the guide took us through a cultural Ecuadorian outdoor museum. We saw many natural demonstrations that I will post videos of. I was a fan of this equatorial line because due to gravitation forces, it is the the least I will weigh on Earth! My equator experience was one of my favorites on this trip.
Pictures and videos coming very soon!