The sun was shining by the time we got up and out. Whilst it was warm in the sun, it was still pretty chilly in the shade. We walked a few blocks down the road to Plaza Grande to check out the iSite and get some tips for getting the most out of our short visit in Quito.

After a quick cafe breakfast we took the trolley bus to the Cometa Travel Agency. Apart from confirming some details for our Galapagos trip on Sunday, David's replacement ATM card had been couriered there (it had been skimmed in Colombia).

We were close to the TeleferiQo that took people up the Volcan Pichincha to Cruz Loma offering great views. The walk up the hill, in the midday heat, was a bit further than we anticipated and thankfully there was a free shuttle bus up the last wee bit. The gondola ride was 2.5km long, up the steep side of the mountain to over 4000m above sea level.

As we stepped out the car at the top, we realised that we were not really prepared for the trip - it was freezing cold compared to the sweltering heat down in the city. We braved the cold and walked around to see the views of the city and the surrounding mountains and volcanoes.

Back down at city level, we took the bus to Tejar and walked a few blocks down towards the old town. After walking round for a while trying to find an ATM that didn't have more than 20 people queueing to use, we gave up and went for pizza. PizzaSA had good reviews and did make a good pizza even if it was a bit pricey.

After dinner, we headed back towards Calle Ronda and the Happy Mondays Cafe which had the best beer offer in the entire street - two bucks a large beer which kept David happy while Maria went for hot wine.The bar opened out onto the street which allowed us to watch the Friday evening crowd jostling along the street while being entertained by the numerous street performers.