Starting to Explore

Well it’s day three, Saturday, September 25^th.  The air is still as thin as it was yesterday and there are still 1,000 steps between our room and the street I don’t care what anybody says and if you don’t believe it just ask Di.

We got up early this morning.  We went to breakfast at Sakura next door.  Nope, we didn’t have sushi for breakfast either.  The hotel provided us with a continental breakfast certificate to eat there for free.  It wasn’t much and it was continental.  We got coffee, a juice that we didn’t get because we had no idea what the waiter was saying until we saw someone else get it and a lighter than air croissant with butter and jam.  That was our first and last continental breakfast at Sakura.

Now it was time to go out and explore Cuenca.  We decided to get a taxi and go to the center of the old colonial city and see what was there on a Saturday morning.  And a beautiful Saturday morning it turned out to be.  It started out a bit overcast and cool but within an hour it got beautiful and sunny and a very warm maybe 75F.  We took the taxi to Plaza de San Francisco.  The taxi cost us $2.  These photos say more than I ever could.

These are bottle rockets.

                                         Di bought something and made a new friend.

After touring the Plaza de San Francisco we decided to start walking through the city.  We walked to the Plazoleta del Carmen.  This is a small plaza and what we found was a beautiful flower market and beautiful buildings.  Again these photos tell more than I ever could.

We moved on next to Parque Calderon in the middle of the old colonial city of Cuenca.  On the way there we took these photos.

                                                        These flutes were real good.

And here we are in and around Parque Calderon.

We finally decided that that was enough.  It was time to go back to the hotel and we were about 6 blocks or so away and it was all downhill.  Easy huh?   Right!  Remember the air is still as thin as it was yesterday and the day before, etc.  We made it about half way and this is where we ended up.  It was rest time while we pondered whether it was worth flagging down a taxi.

Well we decided to tuff it out and walk the whole way.  As you can see from these photos it may or may not have been a great idea but we did it anyway and we are glad we did because we found the WunderBar.  These steps are called La Escalinata Staircase.  They go down from Calle Larga (Larga Street) to Av 3 de Noviembre where our hotel is located.  Pictures tell more than I can say.

Well we made it to the hotel.  We were exhausted.  Diane took a siesta and I took photos out the window of our room.  We had a beautiful view of the Rio Tomebamba.

About an hour later I looked out the window again and you will never believe what I saw.  Yep. They wash their clothes in the river.  This guy worked for 2 ½ hours down there in what has to be real cold water.  He would make someone a real good wife.

When siesta time ended we decided to go get dinner at WunderBar.  We climbed almost all the way to the top of La Escalinata Staircase to WunderBar and ate a huge meal that included a Pina Colada for Di and double rum and coke tall and a beer for me.  We got a salad next then I had spaghetti with meat sauce and Di had spaghetti with alfredo sauce.  We couldn’t eat it all and the total bill including tax and gratuity was $18.  After a slow walk down the staircase and a half block to the hotel we crashed for an hour or two and went to bed.  And so ends another day.

Getting to Ecuador and Cuenca

Our first two days were spent getting to Guayaquil and Cuenca in Ecuador.  Although you can travel to Cuenca from Miami in one day we decide that these two old folks ought to just fly into Guayaquil and hold up for the night.  No sense in pushing it.

So we left Tampa Florida about 7 AM on Thursday, September 23rd with a medium size suitcase and a backpack each.  No way did I believe that we would get out of the house with so few suitcases but I have to hand it to Di, she held my feet to the fire and made me pack light.

We arrived at the Miami airport park and fly about 11:30 AM and transferred over to the airport American Airlines curbside international departures area.  Our luggage was checked through and we had our boarding passes in about 10 minutes.  We were first in line.  We couldn't believe it.  Now it was time to head to the worst part of our trip.  Security check in.  We always put Di in a wheelchair because she can't manage the long walks through the airport.  I never push her because if I did we both would never get where we need to go.  We would both still be in Miami.  As normal we paid an airport assistant to push her.  This assistant was real good.  The line at the security point was huge.  That assistant pushed us right to the front.  As normal I was first through the security check with mine and Di's stuff because they have to send her through pat down due to her pace maker.  We made it to the bar next to our boarding gate and had lunch and for me a beer (a big one).  We paid the assistant well and sent her on her way.

At 3:45 PM we were loaded into the plane like cattle and at 4:35 PM sharp we were airborne.  The flight was pretty much uneventful.  We both slept a lot and they served us a sandwich for our in flight meal.  Needless to say I had a cocktail (or two or.....).  The flight landed right on time at 7:30 PM.  It was a nice smooth 4 hour flight.  For those who don't know it, Ecuador is on Eastern Standard Time which right now is one hour earlier than the States.  The States sprung forward to Eastern Daylight Time.  There is no need for Ecuador to change time as it is on the equator and the days and nights are the same, approximately 12 hours each depending on where you live in Ecuador.

We were met by an airport assistant at the door of our plane with a wheelchair for Di.  This guy was good.  Not only did he get us to the baggage claim quickly and get our baggage quickly but he got us through the baggage check area without a search and to the customs area quickly.  Then he took us straight to the head of the line in front of about 250 other passengers to the customs check through.  Man that wheelchair paid off again.  Our passports were in order, they put us in their computer and we were through.  Now to get the Howard Johnson's shuttle to come get us and we would be down for the night.

At this point I would have paid a taxi $100 to take us across the street to a flea bag hotel.  Di and I both were tired.  As we made it from the customs check to the departure area we told the airport assistant that we needed a Howard Johnson's shuttle.  Ten steps later there was a guy standing there holding a sign that said "Robert & Diane Spencer" and under it it said "Howard Johnson Hotel".  I knew then that Di and I had died and gone to heaven. 

They treated us like royalty.  The van was already pulled up right in front of the terminal exit door.  There were two guys.  There was the driver and the guy that met us.  On the short drive to the hotel we were checked in while on the shuttle.  They don't fool around and it was Mr. This and Mrs. That.  We never had to touch a thing.  Next thing we knew we were in a beautiful king room by 8:30 PM.  Needless to say we tipped everyone at both airports and Howard Johnson Hotel well.  They earned it.  A drink at the bar for Di and I and by 9:30 PM we were in bed.  What a first day.

Day two.  Friday, September 24th.  It was a quick uneventful traverse through Guayaquil airport at about 8:30 AM.  Di didn't even need a wheelchair for this part of our trip.  This was our short flight from Guayaquil to Cuenca.  Now you got to remember that Di and I had worried that we might have problems with altitude sickness in Cuenca.  For all of our lives we have been relatively speaking nothing but flatlanders.  Cuenca is nothing but up there.  Average altitude in the city is 8,250 feet.  Now that's nose bleed seats in any stadium in the country including Denver.  We were leaving sea level at Guayaquil for a 40 minute hop to 8,250 feet and we weren't coming down for five weeks.  So here we go.

We took off at 9:30 AM.  Again it was an uneventful flight on a cloudy day and we had no idea where land was until we suddenly broke out in the middle of the mountains.  Right next to us!  It was beautiful.  We landed at 10:15 AM and got through baggage claim quickly and didn't even use a porter.  This is where I really appreciated the new four wheel luggage we bought.  You could push it around with ease.  We went about 50 feet to the taxi stand caught a taxi from the airport to our hotel in Cuenca.  What a ride.  I knew this was going to be fun when we got through with that taxi ride.

We were at Villa Nova Inn.  The taxi dumped us and our luggage there and we paid him $3.00.  A nice young gentleman helped me get the luggage up the 1,000 stairs (well almost) to our room and we were there.  PHEW!!!!!!!  Man the air was thin!!!  We went down to the terrace and I had a beer and Di had a coke and we just simply crashed.  Then we went to our room and we just simply crashed.  Man the air was still thin!!  So we took a nap.  Man we love retirement.  Later that evening we went next door to Sakura Sushi restaurant for our first dinner in Cuenca.  Now you have to understand, it was close and Di and I don't eat our bait, we fish with it, so we opted not to have sushi.  They did however have a great steak meal.  This dinner is when we realized that we really needed to learn the language real bad.  You may not get what you really want.  Well it was good and we went back to our room and went happily off to sleep.  So ended our second day.

Our Retirement Adventure Begins

It became apparent after the first five days of our retirement adventure that posting each days events and photos on Facebook and sending out e-mails to family and friends was not going to work.  We were spending more time telling all of you about our adventures than we were actually going out on our adventures.  So on this sixth day, which we will call our day of rest in our new apartment, we will begin Bob and Di's Retirement Adventure blog.  This will be the soul source of information on our retirement adventure.

Our retirement adventure actually began back a few months ago.  It became apparent to us that the economy in the U.S. was not going to allow us to retire in the lifestyle that we wanted.  The economy was not going to allow us five more productive years so that we could retire at 66 in comfort in the US.  We also were getting unhappy with the extreme hot Florida weather and the high electric bill that came with it.  It was time to find something new.

It did not take us long to discover that there was nowhere in the U.S. that we could afford or that we could enjoy in retirement..  It was either too expensive or too hot or too cold or too much snow and on and on.  So we decided to look outside the U.S.  It didn't take us long to eliminate all other countries but Ecuador.  Only Ecuador fit everything we were looking for.  We researched Ecuador for a couple of months and decided that Cuenca was the city that would most fit our needs and desires.

So what made us decide to look at retirement in Cuenca Ecuador?  The answers are cost of living, quality of life, the weather, the scenery, the public transportation, the lack of need to own an automobile, the chance to explore a new part of the world, to be able to afford to travel, the adventure.  Will there be hurdles in our path?  You bet but that is part of the adventure.   In this blog you will learn of all of those hurdles and all of the excitement, enjoyment and adventure as we experience it.

The next step was obvious.  We needed to go to Cuenca and be sure that it was in fact what we wanted.  We decided on the dates and length of our trip.  We were going for five weeks including travel days.  We booked all of our flights and hotels and our apartment.  Now we had to wait.  We had finished our bookings by the end of July and our flight wasn't until September 23rd.  Never give Di almost two months to think about what to do before our adventure.  By the time we left to go and decide whether we wanted to retire in Cuenca, Di had sold half our belongings and furniture and put the house up for sale and had already made up our minds.

So this will begin Bob and Di's Retirement Adventure.  Off to Cuenca Ecuador we go.