#2783, Thursday, February 3: Just hangin' in Cuenca

Reverend Ken's Travel Blog

Post 2783

- 12 years and 34 days since I started this blog -

Winter Travel Journal

(written February 2-3, 2022)

Read this once (it won't change for the rest of the trip(s): I'll be linking this post to Facebook. If that's how you got here, here's some background: About 12 years ago I started this blog as a food journal. I had a medical situation and needed to lose weight. Initially, that's all I did here: Journal my food intake and my weight. It contributed to helping me lose 20+% of my body weight in 6 months, and continuing has kept me on track since then. I started adding commentary after a while, originally 7 days a week, then 5, but lately it has become occasional. 

While I'm traveling, I let go of the weight-tracking and food journaling, except for the occasional food shot when I've eaten something interesting. And that's where we find ourselves now.

After my birthday came the move, a return to Hotel Balcón del Arte after finding my studio digs lacking in a few amenities and less comfortable, all-around. The Balcón is where I stayed for a month during my first visit here, and I knew it had everything I was missing (especially a more comfortable bed) in the apartment. 

The studio had a better location, although the  was closer to a few of my favorite restaurants. The two places were an eight-block walk. Nonetheless, I had more to move than when I arrived, thanks to some food and laundry, meaning it would be done in two moves. And check-out turned out to require a third visit.

I haven't been giving you a lot of pictures of Cuenca so far, beyond a couple of new views of the cathedral, because so far I haven't really been to places I didn't take pictures of two years ago. The night I finished up the physical move, I stopped to take this pic. I was just struck by the way the light and absence of traffic set off the architecture that earned Cuenca the first designated UN World Heritage Site.

And then, on Tuesday, February 1, I was in. I'll be here for a little more than a month, leaving for Guayaquil, by van again, the afternoon of March 6, for a 2am flight to Fort Lauderdale, then a bit more than a week with my friends in Wilbur By the Sea, and then back to Syracuse. 

I expect you to have the weather sorted out by then, because it will be my weather, then, again, okay?

Once in, I had to sort out a weird wifi connectivity problem. For some reason, my phone could connect but my computer could not. I was assisted by the Balcón's owner, Nestor, who, luckily for me, happened to be at the desk when I brought the weird situation to his attention.

Between the two of us, we failed completely to solve the problem, but Nestor is a resourceful guy. That afternoon he brought in the hotel's IT department, his niece and her boyfriend. 

They were absolutely pro, not intimidated by working with my Macbook (as opposed to Windows, which is about a thousand times more common, and probably near-universal, in Cuenca, especially among residents). Still, it took them an hour, too. But they completely fixed the problem. 

And in so doing, solved the last - and only - issue of the day for me. It was time to head up to the smoking terrace. I hung there a while, enjoying the comfortable temperature and the view at sunset.

Sunset view from the Hotel Balcón del Arte's smoking terrace.

Pacari is the only Ecuadorian manufacturer of Ecuadorian chocolate bars. Also, the only Ecuadorian chocolate maker that exports a finished product. On amazon.com, the bars go for between five and twelve dollars each, the good ones around around ten dollars. I buy them for $2.25 here.

Or, at least, I bought them the last time I was here. This time, they were not for sale in the tiendas and cafés that had them two years ago. I could not understand why, but yesterday, I found out. Pacari, the company, has opened up a café that is also an outlet for their product - about three dozen different kinds of candy bars, plus other chocolate stuff.

So, I went there yesterday. I found it, a modern, trim shop, and felt like I had Willy Wonka's golden ticket. And, I now knew why they weren't available anywhere else - nobody could compete on display, stock, variety. The café looked very inviting, too, but a little short of savory offerings.

After purchasing a half-dozen, including three flavors I hadn't tried (or found) anywhere else, I took a taxi to the Balcón.

Three seconds after exiting the cab, I realized my phone and hotel key had fallen out of my pocket in the taxi. I ran after the cab, saw the cab turn the corner a block away.

Running back to the Balcón, I luckily found Nestor at the front desk. He looked at me with alarm, but also sprung into action. Back in my room, I used the Find My app to bring up the phone's location. It was a mile away, now. We called on Nestor's phone, sent some messages to it, offering a reward and our location for the return of the phone. These would show up on the lock screen. 

I watched the phone (the taxi) on my Find My map, as it moved further away, then turn. Five minutes later, I was running back down to the street to meet the cab as it returned. I got my phone back, the cab driver got what I hope was a decent reward - $50 - and, triumphantly holding my phone and keys overhead, I exclaimed to Nestor that I was his luckiest guest. The whole thing, from panic to redemption, played out in about fifteen minutes.

I acknowledge, and don't take for granted, that I am the most fortunate person I know, and have been for a long time. I also don't have any idea how I became the lucky, happy guy I am.

That being said, that running I did, chasing the cab and then down to meet the returning cab, threw out my back. I tried to walk it off, but ended up at a pharmacy seeking some over-the-counter relief for my pain.

Shot this reminder of why Cuenca was chosen as the very first UNESCO World Heritage Site.

On my walk, I passed this seminary, with a cathedral facade.

Back at the Balcón, I brought my meds up to the smoking terrace, took 'em and got high. Spent the early part of the evening relaxing and stretching. Went out for some rather ordinary seafood pasta, and went to Wunderbar's open mic for the first time.

I walked in on what seemed to be a couple of sisters (U. of Cuenca students, maybe) singing, one on guitar. They were singing what I took to be Ecuadorian pop songs - but whatever, their harmonies were devastatingly good. Everly Brothers-level good. And it was all harmony, no solos or call-and-answer. They were jaw-droppingly perfect, the way only siblings, with their similar genetics and background, can be. It was amazing. They did not speak English, and I hope they understood how much I appreciated their performance.

They were followed by a series of guitar-playing singing guys, of very good to not so good skills. After a few White Russians (I was feeling a bit Lebowski, with the back pain and all), I was up. Handed a guitar, I did some tunes from my "export' set. It felt good, and the audience seemed to be on my side.

Singing at Wunderbar. Picture is 'way cropped, but it is what it is.

I got back at midnight (a five-block walk), went out on my tiny terrace and had a puff, and then, happy for the day, it was lights out.

Today, well, today I took it easy. I spent some time video-calling friends. I wrote this. I had a surprisingly excellent burger and fries, at a place, T-Rex Burger Pub, I'd resisted going to last time, and for the first month this time, on the basis of, 'I'm in Cuenca, why eat a burger?'

I can be an idiot.

It was, assuredly, one of the best burgers I have ever had, and the seasoned fries were, too. Definitely geared to gringos, it wasn't a bargain. But bargain-prices, when I get them, are icing on the cake. The quality of the cake is what counts.

That's it for now. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to spin my tale, and grateful just to be here to make some new memories.

Food Comment

No food pics this issue.

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