Saturday in El Centro, more food and friends!

By Donna B. McNicol -
Coffee clip art
Saturday we headed out to El Centro with our first stop being Cafe Nucallacta for lunch. It's also our favorite coffee stop and where we buy our beans for grinding.

Stu opted for the Burrito Mojado (wet burrito) that I had last time and I opted for the Greek Salad. We were both quite pleased, especially me. I'd been craving a Greek Salad for months! We ran into several friends there and chatted a bit before heading to our next stop.

We ran into more friends on the walk just down the street to the Todos Santos church. For weeks we've heard about the Puro Cafe behind the church. Good coffee spot with an amazing view. Well, on Saturday there was an artisan show going on with not just crafts but food and wine (with tasting). Who could resist? We knew our friends, Tiago and Meg, would be there, selling their goods.

We enjoyed viewing all the wares from everyone as well as running into another dozen or so folks we knew. Seems as though everyone was shopping - of course the gorgeous sunny day helped.

We found Tiago (Meg was off getting lunch at Subway) and chatted for a minute. He had sold all but TWO of his scarves. Made us both happy! As we walked around the event, Tiago found us and surprised me with a little Mothers day gift - another pillow from his collection. LOVE IT!

Here a few photos of my pillow, the event and the cafe.

[Remember, click any image for a larger view.]



We decided to walk down to the river and up to Magnolia Caffe for the coffee we never got earlier. We hadn't seen the "Broken Bridge" since its repair, it was nice to see it completed. At the bottom of the stairs, under the bridge was a small art gallery. Some beautiful works there!


We walked along the river, savoring the perfect weather, while I snapped a few shots here and there.


We arrived at Magnolia Caffe to see the new VW bus the owner, Simon Cordero, had purchased and was restoring. Sweet ride!!


Since several hours had passed since lunch, we both decided to have a little dessert with our coffee. Stu got apple pie and I got passionfruit cheesecake. Yummy!!


We sat outside enjoying the weather and the view (great spot to people watch). This little tyke came up with his father, racing along on his little bicycle as fast as his two tiny feet could move (no pedals). He was smiling and laughing, I had to get his photo - made my day!


A short walk to the bus stop and back home. A fantastic day!

Ciao for now!

Popular posts from this blog

Indurama Appliances - made in Cuenca

By Donna B. McNicol -
Image
Both our used refrigerator (if you can call one month old, used) and our brand new stove are made by Indurama , a Cuenca based appliance manufacturer. They come highly recommended and after using them each for a month, we are thrilled with them. The stove is REALLY sweet, in fact Stu wishes he could bring it back to the US with him. It's a six burner gas stove with an electric starter button (see the * in the second photo) that works wonderfully. It also has a grill that can sit on top of the two center burners and he has already used it for bacon. We both like the glass top for extra counter space if needed. Nice add! The refrigerator isn't huge but since we shop once or twice a week for fresh fruits and veggies, we don't need huge. The one downside is here the doors are NOT reversible. Really! That was the first thing Stu looked at. We've gotten used to it opening in the wrong direction and fortunately we have a good sized kitchen so it doesn't get i
Read more

It's done, We're done!

By Donna B. McNicol -
Image
Finally, everything has been sold (although some things will be picked up during our last three days here in Cuenca). It's been quite a process but surprisingly fairly painless. Once all the big things (and many, Many, MANY small things) were sold, we divided the final items into bags for friends in need. Today we had a going away party at  Magnolia Caffe  . I think we ended up with at least 40 people in attendance - it was amazing! Magnolia is a special place to us. The owner, Simon Cordero, hand-crafted our wedding rings back in May 2013. The wait staff of husband and wife, Huber and Karen, have become like son and daughter to us and their son, Juan Pablo, a grandson. We took over the restaurant today - these photos were taken before another dozen or so folks arrived. We had over forty people take time out of their busy schedule to see us off. Oh, and we also had three tables outside! Other friends couldn't make it today but we have been able to see them around to
Read more

Cinco de Mayo - a Mexican holiday in Ecuador

By Donna B. McNicol -
Image
Cinco de Mayo isn't celebrated in Ecuador. Why? Because it's a Mexican holiday and one that many in the US have adopted as a reason to party. In our case it became a reason to meet up with friends, both old and new. Jack Abercrombie , a well known tour guide-driver from Quito (the capital of Ecuador) was visiting the area for a few days and called for a gathering of friends at Fabiano's (our favorite pizza spot). He anticipated maybe 20-25 people. We ended the afternoon at over 40! We saw old friends and made several new ones. We caught up on folks were doing, talked motorcycles, listened to stories about health care here in Cuenca, chatted about the adventure of moving here and a lot more. Here are some photos I took...great afternoon and delicious food (I had the lasagna and Stu had a meat lovers pizza). [click any photo to enlarge] It was the nicest day we have had in weeks, warm and sunny. We started out the day walking in El Centro, beginning at
Read more