Our Great Adventure: Quito Day 301 16/07/2015

After breakfast at the hotel we headed out to get the open top bus tour around the city. A good option as although Diane was feeling much better she was still tired so sitting on a bus for 3 hours was just the ticket. We joined the tour outside La Compania de Jesus, an elaborate gilded Jesuit church that we visited before the bus arrived. The church is on Calle de Siete Cruces named after the seven crosses that line the street. From here we went south driving through the Old Town and up El Panecillo. The hill is topped by an aluminium statue of La Virgen de Quito. The bus stopped here for 20 minutes which gave time for us to have a walk around and take in the views over the sprawling city. Back on the bus we drove north along the west side of the city towards the New Town, passing the shopping centre that we'd been to when we were here a few days ago and continuing along the Parque El Ejido, one of the biggest parks in downtown Quito. From here we travelled through La Mariscal neighbourhood, full of bars, cafes and restaurants. It's a popular travellers destination but unfortunately has a crime problem especially after dark. Back in the Old Town we got off near Plaza Grande. It was a great way to see more of the city sites especially given how spread out it is. We had lunch at Cafe del Fraille in Pasaje Arzobispal, nice but very expensive for what it was, before wandering back to the hotel. In the evening we went back to La Ronda and had dinner at Los Geraneos. It was OK, not the best meal we've had, overpriced (seems to be the thing in Quito) and the restaurant was full of westerners! We spent the rest of the evening reading and enjoying the lovely interior balcony area in our hotel.