2 days in Quito

We spent 2 days in Quito, which was one day more than planned. It was nice though, because we had more time to get things organized. We went to "El Panecillo", which is a visual landmark in Quito. The statue "Virgen de Quito" is located there as well. We weren´t there for very long, since we took a taxi up there and back. It is not recommended to walk up there because it´s apparently quite dangerous in that area.

Afterwards we went to Santa Catalina, which is a monestary for nuns. There is a pharmacy there which sells things made in the monestary, but you never get to see the person behind the counter. There is a revolving door and you only get to hear the nuns voices. There was a museum there and we went up one of the two towers. The tower had a great view of old town in Quito. We climbed out of the tower onto the roof, which was allowed. It was a bit exciting to be walking on the steps on the roof, because there were no guard rails and it was a long ways down.

We´ve started to notice a few things here that are different from Europe/Canada that we haven´t mentioned yet. Lots of boys work in the city shoe polishing (if you´re wearing shoes that can´t be shined then they gladly pose for a photo for a donation). Kids and grown-ups are often trying to sell things on the street and on buses. Sometimes there is even a whole sales pitch. People basically sell most things anywhere, even at your taxi window. There are buses everywhere, for most places you don´t need to wait very long. Also, buses will pick you up anywhere and stop anywhere to let you out (it doesn't need to be an actual bus stop). There is a person on the bus that tries to get people in the bus, by yelling the destination or getting out of the bus to ask. That person is also responsible for collecting the money. The buses are always in a hurry, so if you say you are going with them then they grab your bags and run off to the bus - even if the bag weighs 20 kilos and the person weighs max 60 kilos.