1st weekend in Quito

Day 1 in Quito
I was picked up at airport and brought to my homestay. I am staying with Mercedes who lives in a 3 bedroom apartment in the Luz district. My first night sleep was O.K. The single bed is long enough if I lay diagonally and since we are near the airport you can hear the planes coming in, but other than that it is O.K. I woke up in the middle of the night with a bad headache and a terrible feeling like I would pass out if I got out of bed. I eventually got up to take a Tylenol and went back to sleep. I suppose that is just part of adjusting to the high altitude; the next morning I felt fine.
On Sunday Mercedes took me to the old part of the city via public transit. We took a bus to a terminal where we transferred to another bus which took us to the centre of Quito. Everything was crowded and busy. I don`t know how I will remember to find my way around when I try it myself tomorrow.

Day 2 in Quito
I hopped on the metro bus this morning with plans to go straight south to Centro Historica. My mistake was I boarded the bus on the wrong side of the street and started heading north. This would not surprise Bill ..... he has hiked with me several times and knows this is typical. I eventually figured it out and got off the bus, walked across the street and boarded the next one heading south. I eventually arrived in Centro Historica. I walked all day. I roamed around not too concerned about where I was going and took in the sites. Every Sunday there is one lane of a street blocked off for cyclists, and runners. The route goes for about 50 km. The participants ranged from athletes decked in cycling gear to little kids on bikes with training wheels. I only saw one roller blader. The event runs weekly from 10:00-3:00 p.m. It seems Centro Historica is the place to be for locals on the weekend. Various groups including families, friends, and couples were strolling the streets. There was live music, vendors, cafes, etc. everywhere. I finally located a tourism centre and got my hands on a map of Quito. I apparently did not refer to it much and got lost about 4 times. Oh well, you see things you normally would not see when you walk around like that. Tired and hungry after much walking I went into a cafe to order lunch. They find it a bit strange that I don`t want meat with my meal, but a friendly waiter suggested rice, beans, 2 fried eggs, and fried plantanes for $1. It was great, especially with picante sauce on it, and especially because it only cost $1. I ran into a friendly couple (Tom and Peter ) who moved here from the U.S. to retire. They said they could afford a much better retirement in Ecuador than back home. Their morning chore was to buy a shower curtain, but they ended up taking in a bit of sight seeing. The 3 of us went in to view the Campaninia. It is known as Ecuador`s Sistine chapel. I see why. I saw more gold and glitter in this cathedral than I did in Rome. After a long day of walking I took a taxi back to my home stay. (I thought this would be wiser because although I could get there via public transportation, I was less sure about how to get back).