Abbott Family Travels

 Father's Day We had a very special Father's Day here in Quito! Richard had just finished his program the day before, so there was a lot to celebrate. Our first stop was McDonald's as Richard was very hungry for some comfort food after making it to the peak of Chimborazo! This was our first time going to a U.S. chain here in Ecuador and it was fun to see the similarities and the differences. One difference that stood out to us was that outside of the actual restaurant, there was a separate McDonald's dessert stand where you could order ice cream and other treats. Another difference that we noticed was that inside the restaurant there was a separate McCafé counter where you could place your coffee/pastry order.  We then perused the mall on the north side of Carolina in search of dessert. We also stopped by a bookstore to get some activities for the kids and a new book for me! Later that afternoon we walked over to the Cinemark to catch the Spiderman movie. We were able t...

 Otavalo Day Tour Even though we had just returned from Chimborazo to Quito, the boys and I departed Saturday morning to experience the Otavalo market. It is the largest indigenous market in South America and the best day to experience it is on Saturday, so we decided that a quick turnaround was going to be worth it. It was an absolutely beautiful day here in Ecuador, just look at this view from our apartment: While the market was the main attraction for the tour, we got to experience many fun things along the route! Equator -- The Real One! As you can imagine, there are many places in Ecuador to claim to be on the equator. While Middle of the World City was a lot of fun, according to GPS, it is not on the equator! Our guide Andrew, from Happy Gringo Tours, took us to the real  line of the equator at the Reloj Solar [Sundial] Quitsato : This place was incredible. There were scientific explanations for everything to help you understand the rotation of the Earth. For example, b...