Bicyclists on Sidewalks and other Annoyances of the Ecuadorian Capital

I only arrived in Quito 6 hours ago and I am already ready to face another bus ride just to get out of the Capital city. I am not sure if it is the gray skies and rain that are keeping me from seeing the bright side of this place, but right now I would prefer to be in Tegucigalpa, and that is saying a lot. But...as the eternal optomist I went out in search of something to change my mind. Instead, I found children who wanted to polish my tennis shoes, a piece of cake that was overpriced at $3 and tasted like it was baked a month ago, a grouchy waitress at a cafe specializing in ¨empanadas de platano¨ but didn´t have any to offer and was annoyed with ME at that request, and a bicyclist who thought he owned the sidewalk and only stopped for me when his bike tire was actually touching my leg (And I think he thought I was in HIS way.)

I have heard so many wonderful things about Quito and came here in search of all of them, including that it boasts the largest in-tact historic core of colonial buildings in South America. I will agree that the buildings are beautiful, but I think the Lonely Planet writers got a little romantic over the balconies on the buildings, because, while they are nice to look at, it ends there. Most of the store fronts are crammed with poor quality fast food or boarded up shops. Panama City and Cartagena, Colombia offer equally as beautiful, if not more, historic cores, while on a slightly smaller scale. The thing that Quito has to offer are its plazas, very European, large stone expanses with historic churches and government buildings on all sides. This is a very religious country. There are more churches and monasteries here than I have encountered in other Latin American cities, but with that said, there are much better examples in Europe.

I also respect the fact that there has been some effort to bring modern conveniences to the old town, but the addition of contemporary light posts and kiosks does little to reinvigorate a place. I have met a few public spaces and pedestrian streets today that could be quite beautiful, but the city only added modern light posts, when they would have been much more pleasant spaces with the addition of some green (ie trees, grass, flowers), seating options, etc...so the spaces feel very empty save the beggars and street entertainment.

On two occasions today I entered beatufiul old historic buildings which had open air patios within. In both occasions I noticed people sitting around all edges of the space, so I stopped to see what they were all looking at...but the space held nothing, they were empty patios that had stone floors but lacked any of the traditional elements that make up latin american patios...such as plantings, fountains, statues. bizarre.

Though not a typically negative person, I am a little dumbfounded by this place.

I am going to give the new city a try tonight or tomorrow and hope to have better things to write...but with little expectations, I plan to be on my way out of Quito very soon.

Disclaimer: This speaks nothing about my sentiment for the rest of the country which is beautiful and has treated me very kindly.