I woke up early to take the city bus tour. It left from the main plaza in the center of the city in front of the old cathedral and went all over Cuenca highlighting the city's interesting places.
The architecture of the center of the city shows Spanish, French and German influence in its architecture. Seriously, being in this city feels like you are in Europe (although I've never been yet¡). Looking at the pictures doesn't do this city justice as being here is something else entirely. Here are some of the sights in Cuenca's historic city center.
The bus went up to the Mirador de Turi (meaning viewpoint of Turi) which sat on top of a big hill and show off beautiful views of the entire city of Cuenca. We had about 30 minutes to grab a drink and take photos here.
Here is a panorama video from Mirador del Turi of the city of Cuenca.
For lunch, I went to Cafe Moliienda which was highly recommended in Trip Advisor. It's a
Columbian restaurant with typical food from Columbia. I chose the menu el día which cost $2.50USD. The menu el dia had a choice of chicken, fish or beef. I initially wanted to try the fish but it was sold out so I settled for the beef which turned out to be delicious. The restaurant was full so I sat down next to a girl from the Bahamas who doing Jehovah Witness work here. She has been here for almost one year and is applying for residency.
At the entrance of the restaurant is a bell. I found out that it is a custom in Colombian restaurants to ring the bell as you leave if you liked the service and food. I didn't hesitate to ring the bell as I left. The food was superb.
The most popular places to visit in Cuenca were the new and old cathedral which sat in the center of the city facing the central park called Parque Calderon. The old cathedral is over 500 years old and is now a museum but I heard they sometimes hold Catholic masses there and weddings. The new cathedral (Catedral nuevo) which also faces Parque Calderon can't be missed because of its huge blue domes. After the bus ride, I was set on exploring both of these cathedrals on the following day.
For dinner I went to have pizza close to my house and catch up on my emails and blog writing.
After dinner I walked around the city. It was nice to be able to walk around the city without worrying about getting into any trouble. Cuenca is very safe to walk around at night. If I was in Guayaquil, I would probably not have the luxury of walking around so liberally at night time.
I couldn't help but notice the different kinds of restaurants representing other countries like a Chile, Italy and other European and South American countries.
Santuario Mariano Cathedral and the flower market.
Coming back home, I went by a store selling sweets. I decided to buy some that were specific to Cuenca.
And if the sweets weren't enough, I bought some ice cream at Tutto Freddo ice cream parlor before heading home. I asked the lady at the counter why people like eating ice cream when it's cold. She just said because it tastes good. LOL.. Ok, I'll buy that!
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