Parades, or maybe not.

WAITING FOR A PARADE:

There are parades in Cuenca all the time.  Michael stumbled across one a few weeks back that was simply celebrating the street cleaners!!

Cuencanos love parades. 

We were told there would be a big one on Good Friday, so Michael, me and Oscar went to Parque Calderon, the main square in the city center, and waited for a parade.

I was POSITIVE there would be a procession of the Stations of the Cross, we weren't sure what time it might occur, but I was betting on 3:00.

While we waited, we met this little boy and his Grandfather.  I thought the Grandfather looked like a "Grumpy Gus" type of person, but when he saw that we let his grandson play with Oscar, his face lit up.  Once again, we have little, to no Spanish, and he had little to no English, but we managed to communicate.

The little boy had the same beautiful smile as his grandfather. 

We gave the boy Oscar's leash to hold, and you would have thought we had actually given him the dog.  TOTAL joy.  The little guy didn't say a single word to us the entire time we sat with him, which was about a half an hour.  He would just smile and laugh.  Turned out he lives in Milan, Italy, and was here visiting his Mom's family in Cuenca.  The little boy only spoke Italian, he didn't understand his Grandfather's language, and his Grandfather didn't understand his grandson's language.  There were the four of us, hanging out, and communicating through the universal language of smiles. 

Some friends met us in the park a little while later to watch the procession / parade. 

Well, no parade, no precession took place, but a torrential downpour did, and we all dashed for cover. 

While we waited out the rain, this little boy befriended Velkey, the beautiful German Sheperd, the little guy didn't seem interested in the other dogs, Seamus the Irish Terrier, or our little Oscar.  The kid just adored Velkey.

Everyone was wet, and the park was drenched, so we decided to call it a day and we all went home.

We read in the paper the next day that there had been a parade after all, but in a completely different neighborhood. 

Classic Ecuador, LOL.

 BEING TOURISTS IN THE CITY WE LIVE IN:

We think Cuenca is a beautiful city, so a few days later, we wanted to be tourists in our new home town and take the City Bus tour.  We had done this twice before, but both times the tour was in Spanish.  We decided to take a different bus.  This service just started operating in November, so we were hoping to learn things we missed the first two times around.  It is a two hour tour of the city and costs $5.00.

It was great, there were only six people on the bus, so the guide just sat with us and chatted about the architecture, the history of the city and answered any questions we had for him.  It was a lovely day, the weather cooperated and didn't rain.  It was pretty funny sitting up top, if you weren't careful you could have been strangled by the low hanging electric wires!!!

A view of the Old Cathedral Domes on the cloudy morning of our tour.

Street in El Centro



This balcony belongs to one of the oldest homes in Cuenca







Cuenca weather can be schizophrenic, one minute it is overcast, and literally five minutes later, the sun is so strong you HAVE to wear a hat. 

Me, in my new hat.  There are great leather shops here, this little baby cost $15.00.  I LOVE it.



 Our friends.  We have several pictures of them taking pictures of us, while we take pictures of them.  Too funny.

 

Police Officers along the River. 

It was a busy time in Cuenca, between Holy week and the upcoming Founders Celebration, so there was a large influx of tourists. 
When this happens, we see alot more Police presence.





This street performer was at the same intersection as the mounted police. 
He was juggling machetes and seemed pretty handy with them. 
I guess in his line of work, he needs to be!


The culmination of the city tour is a trip up a hill to a place called Turi.  There is a small church, a famous Ecuadorian Ceramic artist's studio, and a few little Tienda's.



We have found that most of the churches around the city are open all the time, but the Turi Church was closed.



I stuck my camera between the closed gate, what a pretty place.

Michael enjoying the view of Cuenca.

View from Turi.  The cloud formations here are amazing.

It was fun to be tourists in the City we now live in.

By the way, the parade we had been waiting for on Good Friday, took place here.  The procession of The Stations of the Cross went up the road to the little church in Turi. Bummer, sorry we missed it. 

WE FOUND A PARADE:

A few days after our City site seeing tour, Michael and I went to El Centro, we had a little shopping to do, and, yeah, there was a parade. 

Cuenca was founded on April 12th, 1,557.

We ran right into a parade.  Fun.

Azuay is the province in which Cuenca is located.

The hats that most people call "Panama Hats" actually originated in Cuenca.  They are referred to as "Panama Hats" because they were popularized during the building of the Panama Canal.  Hard working men needed a shield from the hot sun and wore these hats.  A picture of Teddy Roosevelt wearing one at a Canal construction site cemented the name.  So, a little history; the hats are actually from Cuenca and surrounding areas.  

Another province represented in the parade.  Canar is the province where the Ingapirca ruins are located.

All kinds of vendors show up at the parades.  It cracks me up that kids here still eat Cotton Candy.


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These woman never stopped dancing.  By the end of the parade they must have been exhausted. 



Michael wants one of these masks.

Nuns enjoying the parade from one of the many balconies in El Centro.

Yeah, in addition to the funny mask, Michael wants a pair of these pants.

Saraguro, another province in Ecuador.  This is the area that we were served Cuy for lunch.  We BOTH want one of these hats.

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We have no clue what province this little guy represents.  Maybe the Amazon.

So, we found a parade when we weren't even looking for one.

Cuenca, gotta love it.