Christmas in Cuenca!

Some People Just Know How to Party!

In the town of Cuenca Ecuador the children dress-up as the Christmas story principals and prepare for the "Pase del Nino" parade that lasts all day on December 24th! What a party!

 

We spent Christmas of 2016 in the small town of Cuenca Ecuador.  Mostly I remember it as a blaze of music  and color seasoned with the constant, softly spoken "buenos dias", "bueno tardes", "bueno noches" from the locals. These people NEVER pass another human being without  acknowledgment.  It may just be a wave or a smile, but the acknowledgement is always there.

The Children are so proud to pose for your camera. I'm sure they participate in putting together their out fits.

 

Getting to Cuenca is an amazing adventure in its self. It was 3 hours of breathtakingly beautiful vistas. Breathtaking is not used lightly her.  Some of the mountain roads are down right scary, but our driver was amazing. My daughter commented that he reminder her of Arnold Schwarzengger in the terminator movies. Dark glasses, lazier focus, and completly attuned to keeping us safe!There is no way I can depict the trip over the mountains. I have seen video from those who tried. You have to do it yourself.  You can fly into Cuenca, but I don't recommend it. Cuenca  is high in the mountains and it is best to let your body become more slowly accustomed to the altitude rather than just plop your self down there. We did that once going to Quito Equator. It took us a couple of days to get accustomed to the altitude.  Altitude sickness is usually not very serious, but you just don;t feel well. Headache, dizziness and you tire very easily. There are meds for this, but we think it's best to ease into the altitude rather than fly in.

Looking over Cuenca from one of it's highest elevations.

There's a parade that takes place in Cuenca on December 24th and it is nothing short of amazing. It is a  community presentation, and everyone participates It  goes on for hours! There's music  and dancing and food, food, food!  The children will win your heat with their costumes and their pride in participating. It is amazing what these families do to pull this celebration off.  What really captured us was the cultural stories their costumes and dances told! Nothing was left out and everything was from the heart. It really made our North American Christmas traditions look commercial and cold compared to the absolute celebration we witnessed here.

 

This video snippet kind of sums it up --- you see representations of "pre-spanish invasion" culture,  as well as examples or how devoted most of these people are now to the traditions and religions of Spain. Their entire culture is an amazing blend of the old and the new.  

Cuenca was our first introduction to a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In fact we had never heard about such until our visit there.  (UNESCO   --  United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) There are over 1,100 such sites through out the world and they include such places as  the Grand Cayon, The Great Wall and the Rock-Hewn churches in  Ethiopia.   Click here if you would like to see the criteria for choosing a UNESCO site. 

 

I think Cuenca is still one of my favorite places -- It is a beautiful vibrant city with tons of cultural and entertainment venues. There are parks everywhere and the parks are well maintained and equipped for running, walking and exercise for children and adults.  Our Air B&B was just steps from "El Parque de Mardre" Which also had a planetarium, pictured below,  and the day after Christmas they had a huge rock concert there that lasted most of the night! 

 

Our Air B and B was just down the path you see to the right.

 

One of the most interesting visits we had in Cuenca is a visit to the Panama hat factory! If you look closely you can see that some of the women have bunches of straw affixed to their aprons. They use this to actually weave, by hand the beautiful hats they are wearing. We bought two hats. They charged us $20 a piece. If purchased in your local department store you would most likely pay $100-$150. 

Women's Panama hat making co-op just outside Cuenca. 

This  business run by women. It was the day after Christmas when we visited and they were having a massive feast. They offered us food , but we really didn't understand and thought they were just showing us the kitchen 😟.  They then lead us to this massive showplace were they had all kinds of hats displayed. What a bargain and what an experience. I can;t wait to go back to Cuenca!

Our taxi Driver took us to a little place to have lunch after we finished shopping. -- Roasted Chicken, salad, bread, vegetables and a drink --  $2 each.

Cuenca will always be one of my favorite places. In the back of my mind I think this would be where We might end up if Panama doesn't work out. The climate, the people, the food! The only thing that we might have a hard time finding in Cuenca would be a house with a yard large enough to have a vegetable garden. Cuenca is a little more "town" than "country" although if you travel just outside the city there are many farms.

 

On to Mexico! OLE!