Cinco de Mayo - a Mexican holiday in Ecuador

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).

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It was the nicest day we have had in weeks, warm and sunny. We started out the day walking in El Centro, beginning at the Santa Ana Market (aka the Hippie Market) where I picked up another necklace, moving on to Rotary where I bought some string balls for a basket I am using in a corner (decoration - still need more balls) and browsing in a couple of stores for gifts to take home in June and September. Along the way we noticed another mural we hadn't seen before and as usual, I nabbed a couple of flower photos as well as the street vendors and an apartment owner taking advantage of the sun.

[click any photo to enlarge]

May 4 2014: Sunday Sundry Photo

P.J. Max and his Entourage of Mannequins in Cuenca, EC

Who knew I'd need a social calendar in Ecuador?

I realized soon after I "retired" that life was going to change. My dreams of lazy days of doing nothing but sipping tea and reading disappeared into a haze of activity. I often wondered how I managed to get it all done when I worked full-time and had several small children?

Fast forward to life here in Ecuador and we are discovering that you can be as busy as you'd like or not at all. There is always something to do, someone to meet, lots of places to go and people to see!

In the last week we have gone to a wonderful one year anniversary in Cuenca party where we enjoyed seeing old friends and meeting new; I have had a pastry treat with a new friend while we discussed writing and life; I've had breakfast with a large number of women now living in Cuenca,; I've gone to a creative writing seminar that was amazing; I've shopped for groceries and collected laundry for Mr. Wash to do (yeah!); we've gone out to a delicious dinner where we enjoyed watching the Argentine Tango (and met more new friends); and tomorrow we are meeting good friends for lunch!

Phew! Wonder what next week will bring? Oh, and just so you won't think we're among the missing, I plan to post a random photo taken in Ecuador every week...what day? Hmmm, how about Sunday? We'll call it Sunday Sundries!

Ciao!

Dinner and Dancing (no, not us dancing)

We don't go out much at night, it's usually a special occasion, something we've been invited to, but after attending a great party at friends Kathy & Sara's house (where we met some amazing people), we saw an ad for dinner and a dancing demonstration at Paladar's Restaurante. Well the owner's, Ricardo and Roger, were two of the people we met!

[All images can be clicked for a larger photo.]

They have only been open three months, they are getting rave reviews. Okay, truth be known, I was sold when I read the dessert (apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream) and Stu was sold on the BBQ baby back ribs (oh, and knowing he would get to watch some "sexy" Argentine Tango.

This is what they posted on their Facebook page:

Paladar's proudly presents the "Argentina (Ricardo) vs Texas (Roger) BBQ-Asado". Both Argentina and Texas are known for barbecue. Since we represent both, we have chosen our favorite dishes from each of our areas. To celebrate this event, a 40-minute live Tango show will be performed in the pathways of our garden (tent covered) after dinner. The Argentine Tango is perhaps one of the most sensitive and sensual dances performed. The intimacy of the garden will allow you to be close enough to the performers to allow you to see the intense facial expressions and the poetry of motion in their dance steps. The professional tango dancers are from Argentina. The live music for the dancers will be provided by singers playing both the Bandoneon (accordion) and a guitar. The show has been choreographed to tell the history of the Argentine Tango. 

So we sent in our reservation with me opting for the chicken appetizer and vegetarian entree while Stu went with the whole main menu. When the time arrived to leave, it was pouring rain, always fun (not) when dressed up. But by the time we got to the restaurant it had stopped.

A good sized crowd was arriving at the same time and we chatted while we waited to check in. The restaurant is located in a renovated house with all the little rooms both up and down being dining areas of various size. Each room is named and painted distinctively. Out back is a gorgeous garden area for the final entertainment of the night. Perfection!

They feature an hour of socializing before dinner with mixed drinks, beer or wine. Stu opted for beer and I had my first Sex on the Beach (yummy). Once we had settled at our table we met our table mates. Two of them were as yet unmet Facebook friends and the others completely new. But what a wonderful group! We chatted, shared, laughed all the way through dinner. Loved it!

Dinner? Oh my, delicious! Here is the menu (and sorry, forgot to take any photos, too busy eating)

Starter: Choripan (Argentina)
(Choripan is a grilled sausage link in bread served with chimichurri)
Gluten Free guests: No bread with the Coripan.

Main Course: Baby Back Ribs (Texas)
(Baby backs will be slow cooked, doused in homemade barbecue sauce and then grilled)

Sides: Argentina Potato Salad
Coleslaw
Baked Beans

Dessert: Apple cobbler with ice cream
Gluten Free guests: Cinnamon baked apple slices with ice cream

Non Beef/Pork quests: Choripan will be will grilled chicken instead of sausage link
BBQ chicken breast instead of baby back ribs

Vegetarian Guests: Choripan will be grilled vegetables, cheese in bread served with chimichurri.
Roasted stuffed pepper instead of baby back ribs.

Everything was AMAZING, the ribs were good (according to Stu and my other table mates) and not too sweet. My roasted stuffed pepper was the best I've ever had (I want the recipe, the seasoning was perfect).

Between the main course and dessert, the two dancers came upstairs to give us a brief view of what we could expect (they even brought the musicians upstairs to accompany them). Needless to say, they whetted our appetite for more.

Sorry for the poor quality of the photos, I forgot my camera and had to use my iPhone 3S (no flash or zoom). Not the best for indoors and worse for outdoor night shooting but you will get an idea of the evening. Their feet were flying and it was hard to get anything to focus!

 

Oh, the cost for all this - 3 course dinner for two, two beers and two mixed drinks? $56 (we also tipped the dancers/musicians and our waiter). We are talking about making this a monthly event for us. We like the early evening hours on Wednesday versus the later hours on Friday. Here are some shots of the staff, me goofing off with Roger and Roger and Ricardo (the owners) as well as the dancers chatting with us and giving a quick private lesson.