The phone rang this morning at 2.30.....

What is Spanish for ' b***** off, you've got the wrong room'?

I woke up again at 6am and decided that I may as well get up so that I could get my room changed and also sort out my missing trip which is supposed to be at 9am this morning. The tour office doesn't open until 8.30 so this could be tight!

First stop, the lobby. No joy there .... yet. The hotel is full and they can't move me until after 10am. So, not a definite refusal..... They have also said they will speak to the tour office for me when they open.

Breakfast appears to be included and is a small buffet. Scrambled eggs, spam and, oh yes, cheese. Lots of fresh pineapple and melon and super strength coffee. The waiter is a riot ! I have christened him Budgie. Every time he goes near a mirror he walks up to it and preens himself and for some reason checks the size of his bum! He must have done this a dozen times or more during my breakfast, almost curdled my scrambled eggs!

Right, I'm going to pack my case in anticipation of a move. When I went on Tripadvisor before I left I noticed there are newer rooms available that are more like suites, so maybe I'll be lucky?

I just visited the lobby and phoned the tour agency. They have confirmed that I am on the city tour and I will be picked up 5 minutes ago! This is South America remember!

I was collected by Raoul, along with three others, a nice couple, the Lyons and some dippy Spanish woman called Liza, who is now attached to me like a limpet. It looks like I still have that uncanny ability to pick up the loony on the bus! Bloody woman will not shut up, I'm hoping she succumbs to her sciatica, which I now know all about or she starts to suffer from altitude sickness, to give me a break!. The bad news is that I found out that she's on the same boat as well, so I could well be a basket case by the end of the week.

In between Liza's endless prattling, I managed to pick up quite a lot of the history of Quito. It seems to be remorselessly bound to the various Spanish religious factions that cowed the local populace into submission with visions of hell and damnation. We went to an extremely ostentatious church which was literally covered in gold leaf inside. Absolutely disgraceful when there are so many poor people among the congregations of this country.

Then there was a visit to a Jesuit monastery and convent. Lots of dusty old paintings of old saints and crucifixions, bit boring really. More gold leafed churches and chapels and then a visit to the catacombs underneath, which were used by the monks for nights of debauchery with copious amounts of alcohol and prostitutes!  

 Naughty little Jesuits!! More a case of do what I say, not as I do, methinks.

We also visited Independence Square which was surrounded by the President's Palace, the Cathedral and also some other governmental buildings, one of which was a school. This school was for disadvantaged and street children to give them an education and also to teach them a trade. What an excellent idea!!.

Raoul also warned us about walking through the parks of the city -  not something any sane single girl would consider. Apparently muggers hide in the trees and drop down on their hapless victims from the foliage.


 He also warned us to watch out for pickpockets.There were about twenty police patrolling in the Square and as we stood there, a pickpocket was arrested and taken away, probably to have some electricity attached to his nether regions, to make them light up like fairy lights!


The Lyons have very sympathetically asked me to accompany them to dinner tonight, so I just have to work out how to ditch the dreaded Liza ........

Meanwhile back at the hotel, I have also managed to secure a new room. The first one they showed me was just as dark as my first one, not surprising really because it was next door but one to my original room and I would probably still have been inflicted with Dora the Explorer.

This second one actually has a window in the bathroom so is much lighter and also a large window in the bedroom, so all round less oppressive. However, what I find rather disturbing is the lack of a blind or obscure glazing in the bathroom. OK, I know it is on the third floor but it just doesn't feel right being sat on the loo in full view of the window cleaner, should he turn up whilst I'm there!! 

The room is a bit noisier as it looks out on the main street but that's why god made earplugs!

I decided lunch wasn't really necessary due to the extravagant breakfast and popped back upstairs to my new room to admire my photos. Whilst we were by the naughty Jesuits' place we were approached by an official tour guide and shown his book of photographs of Galapagos that he had taken, kind of a coffee table book. He was selling them for $20, signed by himself as the author/photographer. I decided to get one as a souvenir as it was about the only extra thing that I would be able to fit in my already bulging holdall. It was then that we discovered that another couple who had joined us once we had reached the Colonial part of the city, had had a tragedy.

They asked for their copy to be personalised in loving memory of their daughter, who died yesterday. They appeared to be continuing with their holiday though. I suppose there may not have been a lot they could have done if they had rushed home. People are odd aren't they?

I finally managed to sort out the technology well enough to get my photos onto my tablet and I think I have managed to email Debs and Wendy. The Gmail refused to work so I had to use the PC version of Outlook and am awaiting their confirmation of receipt. Bit of a Luddite, me!

The rest of the afternoon consisted of a brief foray to the bar for a beer and then laying low to avoid Liza. I phoned Christine and Fred Lyons to arrange our dinner and we scurried out at 7.15, all very furtive!

They had found a really nice little restaurant called Fried Bananas down a side street. I was a bit apprehensive as there were no street lights but once inside, it turned out to be real little gem and even had a Tripadvisor award.

The food was ridiculously cheap.  I had an enormous chicken fillet and vegetables and potatoes for the princely sum of $5.60. I think the whole bill with my chicken, two grilled trout with rice and salad, two beers, two vodkas and an extremely large piece of chocolate fudge cake,came to $39. Amazing!

Tomorrow is Papillacta, bathing in hot springs, having massages and lounging around in jacuzzis. It's a hard life.....