Our first full Saturday in Cuenca

By Monica - March 23, 2019

Today was our first full Saturday in Cuenca. Most afternoons we go downtown, and explore a little, but this Saturday we were able to spend most of the day out and about. We started our day by visiting the Catedral of the Inmaculada Conception. This Cathedral is relatively new, it dates back to the late 1880's, and it features three beautiful giant blue and white glazed domes. I think this cathedral is perhaps the largest one we have seen in South America, in fact I read that when the Cathedral was first constructed, it could house 9000 of the 10000 inhabitants of Cuenca.

A view of the Cuenca Cathedral from Plaza San Francisco

Our kids are intrigued by all the candles in the churches here in Ecuador, it is not something we see in our church at all. In one of the catholic church services we attended in Loja, Wyatt and I were giggling watching a little girl blow out candles, while her mother took a video of her, and then quickly fixed the damage afterwards.

Plaza Calderon

Cuenca is a little more touristy than Loja, while walking down Plaza Calderon we were approached by someone offering a "free" walking tour, we might take them up on it next weekend. Technically they are free, but of course a tip at the end is expected, which is honestly not bad at all, but we already had a full day planned, and we like to take our time in our activities, and walk at our own pace (fast!....have you ever tried keeping up with Wyatt's walking speed, lol).

In front of the new Cathedral of Cuenca in Plaza Calderon

I remember the first time I saw Notre Dame in Paris I was just in awe by the stain glass, well this Cathedral rivals the beauty of any European Cathedral I saw in Paris. I just wished our photos could capture what our eyes see, but no luck there.

Detail of the stain glass windows

Attempting to capture the sizes of the Cathedral in a phone camera ;)

Vendors selling candles, and rosaries in front of the cathedral

We then visited the Museo del Sombrero de la Paja Toquilla. Fun fact, did you guys know that Panama Hats are actually from Ecuador!? Misleading name, right?! ...you can read Maija's post about that museum here. The museum was intended to show the visitor the whole process from weaving to shaping of a Panama Hat. It was a small place, and honestly it was more hat store than museum, but it was still cool to visit.

After a few museums we hit a little restaurant for a menu, all over Peru and Ecuador you can get a "Menu" lunch for around $2-$3 USD and the lunch includes soup, a main dish, and a drink. Almost 100% of the time whenever we try a menu we end up happy with the meal, our kids usually share one menu as portions are pretty large. In Loja we saw people giving you bananas at the beginning of a meal, they way you would get bread sticks back in Calgary, here in Cuenca they often give you a little bowl of Cangil (popcorn), which we recently learned you are supposed to put in your soup. We tried it, and although it sounded a little odd to us, it actually tastes pretty good...maybe this will be a nice way to use up the 50 lds of popcorn that we usually like to keep in our basement ;)

Sopa de Zanahoria con Canguil

After the Panama Hat Museum we went to the Casa Museo Remigio Crespo Toral. This museum showed the works of Remigio Crespo a famous poet, journalist, and famous person of Cuenca. The museum is housed in this beautiful colonial Casona, with many furniture pieces, and clothes displays of the early XX century.

Con Sucre y Bolivar

I want this couch! It looked so absolutely comfortable, and beautiful

The museum also featured a beautiful photography exhibit.

A very old camera

I can't believe these cameras are in museums now, they don't seem that old to me.....film? who does that?

We then ended our day by visiting the Museo Pumapungo, which has huge gardens in the middle of Inca ruins, an aviary, and many indoor exhibits showcasing all the geographical regions of Ecuador. My kids even saw a shrunken head!