Quito, world cup & Miguel (8-11/Jul/06)

Cuenca, Ecuador

We have a friend (Miguel) from Madrid/Fuengi in Quito working for Save The Children so we stayed at his house for a few days and got to know a chunk of the Spanish/Italian expat community. Saturday was spent mostly around the new quarter of Quito (popping into agencies to check out the Galapagos situation) and later in the old quarter (though spent more time looking at possible camera shops than colonial architecture).

Sunday was of course the World Cup final. I was supporting the French as I know more Wops than Frogs, plus I was surrounded by Italians. Sadly the stupid beret-wearing fools couldn't pull it off and lost in true English fashion. First got a star sent off for an idiotic foul, and then snuffed the penalty shoot-out.

Monday we were in the new quarter again, sorting out a few things, and in the afternoon went to the Centre of the World museum with Miguel & some chums. Not the original one on account of it completely missing the equator (not sure if bad geography or simply the land was cheaper), but the new one which actually is on the equator. It is a bit eclectic, with loads of random stuff about the various Equatorian ethnicities, but we were there mostly to prove water goes clockwise round the plughole South ofthe equator and anticlockwise to the North (or is it the other way round?) And right on the line it goes straight down. Pretty cool. It's due to something called the coriolis force, but you need a physics degree to understand it (as our guide proved by talking complete bollox). Oh, and we got a certificate for balancing an egg on a pin.

One more day rushing around the new quarter ended in us getting our final hepatitis jab, and we managed also to sort out a Galapagos tour, buy snorkelling gear, and get a camera sent to Miguel's house over the Internet. At a ridiculously high shipping cost.