(written February 16-20, 2023)
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, but lately it has become infrequent.
While I'm traveling, I let go of the weight-tracking and food journaling, except for food shots when I've eaten something interesting or pretty. And that's where we find ourselves now.
I guess I've been busy. I wrote a lot in this blog post, but when I came back to add pictures and finish, I didn't like what I wrote.
So, this blog is late. No, the fact is, I'm not on a schedule, no deadline, so not really late. It just feels that way.
Late last Sunday night, I was looking for a restaurant nearby that served dinner late. There weren't a lot of options, but I discovered a new restaurant, Terra Rooftop 360.
It ended up being quite the event. The restaurant is across the street from the back of the New Cathedral - the one with the three blue domes I've posted so many pictures of (like the one at the top of this blog. Get ready for more pics of the dome(s).
The restaurant is on the rooftop of the Terra Hotel - seven stories up. |
| Elevator on the way up had mirrored walls. Kind of irresistible to take a photo. |
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| The view from in front of the table (standing at the railing). It's big and a little overwhelming. |
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| Selfie at the table at Terra Rooftop 360. |
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My first (and last) bottle of chocolate wine. I'd heard of it but never tasted it. Now I have. Nope. Still, it was a good setting for a glass of wine. Just not chocolate (it tasted like ordinary table wine, but had a tootsie-roll finish). |
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| After dinner (very good, except for the wine), the hostess led me up a 'secret' flight of stairs to a separate viewing platform above the restaurant, and it was truly spectacular, and is where the restaurant lives up to its Terra Rooftop 360 name. |
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| The hostess was kind enough to take a couple of pics with my phone. I will be coming back to Terra Rooftop 360. |
A few days later, Felipe, my best Cuencano friend, Anthony, my best visits-Cuenca friend, and his friend Maria and I took a walking tour to visit a part of the city known for its artisan crafts, specifically metal-working. I have never seen more blacksmith shops in one place, and they were turning out beautiful works, which they were very proud to show off.
We had a fine traditional Ecuadorian lunch of tigrillos, after which we walked to the museum of metal work, which was closed for the Carnaval season (which started the day before).
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| Before we got to the Museum of Iron Works (called, colloquially, the museum of fire - El Museo de Fuera), we encountered this very impressive statue. I was quite taken with the way it was set so dramatically and yet, organically. It did seem to be rising out of the museum's courtyard. The museum, which was closed, was pretty bland from the outside - no pics. |
We then set off for the botanical gardens, but again, closed - for a private function. I was willing to crash it until I found out it was a memorial gathering.
We continued our walk, finding beautiful little parks and then the confluence (I wait years at a time for an opportunity to use that word) of the Yancunay and Tarqui rivers. Growing up next to the Hudson River, these rivers look a lot more like streams to me, but we're not in New York anymore, Toto.
Another night, I went out to play some bass. You're going to have to take my word for that, there are no photos.
Play I did. I'd been invited to Bistro Yaku by my friend Paul, whose son, Paul, Jr. was playing guitar in the host band. I played with him a few times last year when I was in Cuenca.
It was great seeing Paul and Paul and a few members of the family I'd met last year - a big reunion.
As it turned out, I knew a few members of the house band, and Paul remembered some of the stuff we had played. They did a good first set (they're all still in high school).
I got up early, and I think it was a good set, and well received. There was plenty of showcasing for Paul and the cajón player, Jorge (I think - we had met last year, and I didn't get a chance to reintroduce.myself). It was very satisfying.
After dinner and drinks (Bistro Yaku being one of my favorite places for both), which happened partly before and partly after my set, I walked up to Sucre Salé Café, which also has an open mic on Wednesday (as does Wunderbar and sometimes Common Grounds. This year every open mic I know of is on Wednesday).
It is a small coffee shop right on Parqué Calderón, and it was packed. No seats. They did seem glad to see me, and brought me up fairly quickly.
I assumed the people playing were the house band, and asked the guitarist and cajón player to play with me, which they did, and pretty well. It turned out, the guitarist was just a jammer like me. After a couple of tunes like that, I asked if I could play guitar, and finished my set accompanied by the cajón player, who was the sole host.
And it went over well with everybody. The audience was appreciative, the other players indicated they had.a good time, and when the following 'act' came up, they asked me to stay. So I did a tune, a local pop hit, I think) and think I made a dignified exit after.
When I walked home at the end of the night, on near-empty streets for a few blocks, it felt like all was well with the world.
While not unique at all in my travels, that feeling of well-being is something I enjoy a lot in Cuenca.
Next night, I went to a place I've been to on previous visits for movie nights and brunches, La Guarida. This year, they are only open for events (which thankfully includes an upcoming Sunday Jazz Brunch). This night, it was a dinner concert with a group called Trio La Comarca.
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| Trio La Comarca. I didn't know what to expect. I thought, maybe Andean music, and that was close. But what it really is is Andean-influenced World-Fusion music. They opened up, with a two-guitar and Andean flute instrumental that turned out to be their version of 'My Way,' Frank Sinatra's hit from the sixties. And it went from there. Here's an idea of what they sound like, straight Andean, a YouTube link: https://youtu.be/dkMLYu1ujcc. |
I went out on their break to smoke.a joint and tell them how much I enjoyed the music. As soon as I mentioned I was a musician who was really enjoying their performance, in my horrible, broken Spanish, they lit up. Then, when I lit up, the 'leader' (I don't know, the guy with the biggest personality) started singing 'Light My Fire'. I had to laugh. I looked at him and started singing back, 'Love Me Two Times'. He laughed. Everybody laughed. Yeah, pot.
Come back for the second set, and by now I'm wondering how they're going to top the first set, which ended with a Greek Sirtaki that had everybody in the restaurant on the floor. The answer was to start with a set piece that became so rhythmically complex, it began to sound like free jazz, but, somehow, kept a structure going that made it make easy sense.
It was amazing. And then I heard a perfect guitar-only recreation of the guitar-electric piano intro of the Doors' 'Love Me Two Times'. The version by the trio was excellent, obviously a song they knew and had played. The instrumental work was flawless, the vocal, perfect. I laughed, I shouted, I clapped, I sang along. It was an awesome moment, an instant inside joke. And then we all exchanged high-fives.
In the voice of Rocky (Rocket J. Squirrel)] "And now, walking-around pics:"
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| You might have seen this photo - I asked Anthony to take it with my phone when I saw it as we walked down Santa Ana alley, next to the New Cathedral. Then I put it on Instagram and Facebook. I've seen no Reggae culture on display anywhere in Cuenca (as opposed to, say, Chiang Mai or Oaxaca) before this sign, and I had to mark the occasion. |
Finally, Saturday was the Carnaval parade. In the past, it went from Parque Paraiso to Parque San Sebastian, up Calle Simón Bólivar, passing under my third-floor balcony. In the past, I had watched the parade from the street, which is, unfortunately, a wet and messy affair.
I don't know if it's all Ecuadorians or just Cuencanos, but they celebrate Carnaval with spray foam and water guns here. They love it. Everybody participates. Most expats and visitors like me regard it as a nuisance, and tolerate it.
My first time, I was warned to stay off the streets and out of crowds. I listened, did the best I could, left my phone and wallet behind.
I was soaked to the bone and covered in foam in about five minutes.
I was really looking forward to seeing the whole parade from the safety of my overhead perch.
The joke was on me. This year, the parade went from Parque Paraiso to Plaza de San Francisco, and the parade turned south a block away from my place. While the parade was on, my block was empty.
I did watch a bit from the street, then I walked over to Plaza de San Francisco, where there was pop music on a huge stage and a lot of costumed fun - and foam cannons and water hoses.
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| They really, really love their carnaval foam. |
Food Comment
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| Tigrillo mixte - Fried green plantain, eggs and cheese, with beef, chicken and pork. Sadly, I don't remember the name of the restaurant, it was a small, local eatery on the walk I took to the museums and botanical gardens. Best thing about the restaurant (besides the food and service): It was open, and everywhere else we went was closed. |
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One thing Cuenca has over every other place I hang out is bakeries. I like the bakeries here even better than the ones in Lisbon. I have had some fabulous breads from this bakery, Panaderïa Internacionál, which specializes in sourdough bread, and in whose window I took this photo of chocolate bread with beautiful crust sculpting. There is another bakery near me that is making the most delicious Carnaval-special cheese bread, and from whom I've been getting ham-and-cheese rolls for years. Really special.
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