So it?s week three at spanish school and all is going well. My powers of communication are definitely improving, just need to master the art of tenses now so it?s obvious whether I?m talking about something I?m doing or something I?ve already done!

I went into the old part of Quito one afternoon this week?as I hadn?t yet managed to get any pictures of the beautiful old buildings and churches, the Plaza Grande, Santo Domingo and San Fransisco?plazas by day. I wandered around for a good few hours, snapping away, but it?s really difficult to get good shots because on your own you have to take them so quickly in case?someone grabs the camera out of your hand. Now while you may think that?s a little melodramatic, one of the other students already had that happen to her while she was trying to take a picture - crazy city?!

I also climbed to the top of the Basillica towers for a better view of the city. It?s ok whilst your climbing up the first part but as you get higher the stone staircase turns into a metal spiral staircase and eventually just a vertical metal runged ladder when you get right to the top. Yet again mastering my fear of heights I made it all the way to the top and it was worth the effort. Huffing and puffing I took a few minutes to recover before whipping out the camera for some 360 degree shots of the city.

More salsa this week too. Week three and I have to say it?s not coming along as well as my spanish, although I do think I am getting a little better. I?ve defintely decided that dancing is not my thing though. Too many drunken nights made me think I had some sort of coordination but in the cold light of soberdom I?ve realised I?m absolutely terrible! Still I enjoy it and there?s plenty of other people?just as bad as me! I really don?t think dancing in my trekking shoes is helping the overall image either. Not that I?m trying to make excuses or anything but I?m sure a nice dainty pair of shoes would make life a bit easier! Shame there?s no room for them in the now bulging backpack!

Wednesday brought a new type of evening entertainment for me - a cookery class at the school. We were all given some ingredients to bring along and mine happened to be fairly easy - 7lbs of potatoes! However, more interesting was the buying of the potatoes as my teacher decided he?d help me out and during my class we went to the local market to buy them. It was great to see the locals at work, bartering and haggling for all sorts of goods. We only wanted potatoes but you could pretty much buy anything you could think of food-wise - even a cow?s foot for your soup if that?s your thing?! In Ecudaor they have a lot of lotions and potions made from indigenous plants for curing all sorts of sniffles and silments. And if you?re a man who can?t afford to buy viagra (should he need it of course!) then all is not lost because you can just head to the local market and have a "special" drink (of which I can?t remember the name), but it?s made from a jungle plant and apparently within about an hour it has the same effect!

Anyway back to the cooking class...we made a typical ecuadorian dish of potato and cheese?tortillas (hence the potatoes!), served with sausage, fried egg, a peanut salsa (kind of like satay) and avocado. I was in charge of frying the tortillas - risky business some might say - but no-one complained, they were nicely browned and not one came out any form of black or burnt! It all tasted really good, so?to reward ourselves for our efforts we all headed off into town afterwards for a few sneaky beers...

My only other significant activity of the week was a visit to one of Quito?s newest attractions, the Teleferiqo. It?s a cable car that takes you on a hair-raising 2.5km ride up the side of Volcan Pichincha, to a mere 4100m. Before you begin the ride you can take advantage of the tacky theme park and fast food restaurants if you wish, but we were more interested in reaching the top than taking part in a reinactment of Disneyland! Once at the top the altitude really kicked in. I had a slight headache and my ears were screaming. When we first got there the cloud had come in and we thought we?d left it too late in the day to see the best of it, but a quick wander around revealed some wonderful views through the clouds and after about fifteen minutes we could see nearly the whole city. The view on the mountain itself reminded me of the peak district! It was quite barron in places?becuase of the cold and the cloud but very lush and green, rolling hills and horses roaming around. It is possible to climb to the peak of the mountain from here, but it takes about another?three hours. Not that we had ever intended doing it,?we were stuggling for breath by taking just a short walk, so?it wasn?t something any of us were particularly tempted to do. Plus it was significantly colder at such a high altitude - I even had?to wear my?scarf!?But it certainly gave me a taster of what to expect on the Inca Trail though, as in parts it reaches the same level of altitude as this.