November 26, 2018: Last days in Cuenca

By margrad80December 20, 2018 ( 2 )

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Another day of restlessness. During my time in Cuenca, I had often walked past a restaurant alongside the river, which I wanted to go to. Since that first day in town, when I dined at a Mexican restaurant, I had not eaten out, except for street food. Since I had done so well on keeping to my budget, I decided that I could splurge with one meal out.

The rains had stopped and I still needed to get a walk in. I left the condo just before dusk, planning to get to the restaurant at 7:00 pm, which is about the earliest I could dine. The river was swollen from the rains, and the sky promised more rain. It is funny, but it seems that every time I am scheduled to leave a place (even Hawaii) it rains.

It seemed that most all the lights were lit. It was the first time I had seen some of them on, and found that they didn’t have the colors I was expecting.

For a predominantly catholic country, the decorations were surprisingly non religious.

I was a bit disappointed that the bird wasn’t all blue.

Ecuador is known for the hummingbirds. When I first saw this one, I thought it was a phoenix.

An indigenous woman washing clothes on rocks along the river. A time or two I did see clothes hung to dry along the river, by never saw the washer.

Yes, I was disappointed that it wasn’t red!

It was really dark when I took this one. The iPhone camera, never ceases to impress me. I don’t even carry a standard camera any more.

This is the only hummingbird with flowers I found. I really wish that the pole had not been in the way.

As I was taking these, I really did not bother with what was in the background. I am pleased with how the backgrounds often add a lot to the photo.

This were light outlines filled with loops of metallic ribbon.

In the video below you can hear the sound of the swollen river.

After walking until it was late enough to eat dinner, I made sure my wanderings ended up at the Fondue Garden. Those of us of a certain age, have fond memories of fondue parties and fondue restaurants. When I was young you could buy a block of cheese in just about any grocery store, which was pre-prepared fondue. All you had to do was toss it into a fondue pot to melt and make sure it didn’t burn.

I don’t remember who bought me a fondue pot, though I remember opening it one christmas. It was only this year that I finally sent it off to Goodwill, though I hadn’t used in in over fifteen years. I had even taken it to college with me. Everytime my boyfriend and I went to Fort Worth to visit my mother, we ate at a place called The Fondue Pot. Even after we parted ways, I kept on the lookout for fondue restaurants. The most romantic dates I had with my ex were at a fondue restaurant in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, called Fonduely Yours.

The Fondue Garden was a bit more upscale than the fondue restaurants I was used to. I was their first, and for a while, their only customer of the night. It was monday night, when many of the restaurants around town are closed. Sence I was alone and the fondue was for two, that was all I ordered, besides my wine. The classic fondue was served with french bread and parsley new potatoes. I really didn’t like fondue with potatoes. The fondue and bread made a very filling meal alone.