Our bus trip was all on time and we made it to Cuenca early and checked into our hotel by 8am. We were able to unpack, shower, and then run out the door for a walking tour of the city.

We started in the plaza de armas, which was surrounded by the “old” church and the “new” church. The new church was beautiful, made of pink marble.

We walked around in the historical part of the city, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Our guide pointed out many of the older buildings and told us stories of the previous inhabitants and how they came to be built.

After the tour, we tried a typical drink made by the sisters of one of the churches, called Agua de Pitimas, made with a bunch of herbs. Neither of us was a huge fan, but it was a pretty color.

Next stop was the market. We bought some maracuya (passion fruit) and granadilla as well as some local cheese for later. We tried 2 more typical dishes for lunch. The first was called Papas Locas (Crazy Potatoes), which was a stew with potatoes and pork served with rice and mote, as well as a spicy sauce. It was yummy!

Then we headed over to a nearby stand to try Hornado, which consisted of an entire pig that was cooked in a large oven overnight. They brought the whole thing to the market, then served up pieces with the crispy skin. On the side we had Llapingachos, which were essentially mashed potato balls crisped up on the griddle. It was also very delicious, but we forgot to take a picture!

We went back to the hotel for a little while to rest and eat some of our fruit and cheese for dessert, and then went for a walk along the trails near River Tomebamba.

After our walk, we headed back to the New Church to go inside. Cassie thought it was the most beautiful of the churches we have been to in South America.

 

While we were looking for some dinner, we saw a rainbow!

We found a place to try a couple more local specialties. We ordered a combination dish called El Cuencano. It came with Mote Pillo, which is a mix of mote, eggs, and cheese (this one was our favorite!), Mote Sucio (Dirty Mote- with seasonings), chicken, sausage, and more Llapingachos. We split the dish and it was still plenty.

After dinner, we headed back to the hostel for some relaxing.