Ecuador: Day 1 - Quito

​We arrived in the wee hours of the morning in Quito.  After the fastest international arrival I have ever experienced, we found our driver and arrived at our hotel around 2 am.

In the morning, we went down to breakfast around 9:30, and then went off for a little wander in the neighborhood.  Our hotel is in the Mariscal district, one neighborhood over from the old downtown /Centro. We headed out with the Olga Fisch Folklore (https://olgafisch.com)  gallery as our general destination.

On  the way we passed a very charming shop run by two Ecuadorian women. They made a variety of dolls and animals, all hand crafted from natural fibers by the two women with the huge variety of fibers in the shop.  We were hooked.  We had fun practicing our rudimentary Spanish, while deciding which items to treasure. We want one of each…but restrained ourselves.  Interacting with these charming women  was a delightful way to start our adventure in Ecuador.

Next we made our way to the Olga Fisch gallery/shop and museum.  Olga was a Jewish woman from Germany who escaped the Holocaust with her husband, Bella, 1939. When she arrived in Ecuador, she discovered local tribes making exquisite crafts that were largely ignored by the local wealthy class.  Her husband started collecting antiquities, and she collected crafts.  Before long she opened a shop - and 80 years later the small museum has an extraordinary curated collection of pre-Columbian pottery, textiles and jewelry as well as a wonderful shop with all sorts of beautiful and creative crafts from local artisans. 

A surprise bonus was a tour of the museum with fascinating information about the artifacts by Karen, the shop manager. Wow! The collection of ceramic figurines, statues, musical instruments and bowls was organized by tribe and represented 4000 years of the cultural  history of Ecuador. It was quite a learning experience.

[Above seals and marks, miniature figurines of women made to represent unique individual people - about 4000 years old, ceramic figure - 2000 years old, ceramic bowls with shiny glaze, sweet sad figurine, San Cristos parade figure), 

After enjoying the museum, we examined everything in the shop, twice, and made some choices. The cost of the crafts was on the high side but we appreciated the fact that the artisans were being appropriately paid, and the quality was superb.

After the museum, we went out for an excellent Ecuadorian meal at San Ignacio (https://share.google/NYpMfN7EEkmRZ9akk), around the corner from our hotel.  Lots of delicious seafood.

As the afternoon rain started, we made our way back to the hotel for a nap and relaxation.