Nov.20 to 27- Week 4 in Cuenca

On Sunday we decided to stay in and watch football as there were games on our cable channels for all 3 times. However, because the day started with beautiful blue skies, no clouds and warm , we went for another long exploratory walk. This time we thought that we would walk north towards the foothills that we could see from our balcony.
                         We did get some extraordonary views of Cuenca.

                       That is our apartment building seen from the hillside.

                                  And lots of hilly streets- we had a real workout

On the way home we went down these stairs

Better down than up- LOL

One evening during the week, we finally went to an Expat night at one of the many local bars that hold these. This was held at Di Bacco, an Italian food restaurant and bar that is popular among the expats. We were to meet a couple we had conversed with on ExpatBlog who were here on a two week vacation to check out Ecuador.

When we arrived shortly after the opening time of 5PM, the bar area was already crowded with many people our age who were already living here or, like us, exploring the possibility of a move.

Di Bacco is relatively small but very friendly

And we finally did run into the people we were to meet.

As we are becoming more and more comfortable in Cuenca, we took the bus home after having a nice dinner.

On American Thanksgiving- November 24- we had made reservations at yet another new place ' Don Carlos' where a huge Thanksgiving buffet was being served.

Since it was raining, we decided to get there by bus. If it had been sunny we would have gone for the nice half hour walk along the river.

This restaurant had dozens of tables for 8 or 12 set up and most seats were filled by the time service started.

We met a very nice couple during the line-up to get in and shared a table with them. We exchanged emails and hope to meet them again for exploring & hiking.

As well as the excellent buffet of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, roast pork, roast beef, varied vegetables, cranberry sauce and a wide selection of deserts , we were also entertained by a piano player.

Another day, another 2 hour hike. We again set out for the foothills, this time a little northeast of our apartment. We checked our city map first to figure out how to start and after selecting the starting street we set out.

And ,WOW, do we know how to pick them. This street continued at a +50degree angle up the hill for a least 20 minutes of walking. We stopped many times to catch our breath- remember we are at 8000' above sea level- and drink some water.

The street up- this picture does not do the incline justice!

Some of the sights along the way

The city view from there

and there are some lovely homes up there

More city views on our way down- finally

And finally the stairs taking us back to the final level

And I'm sure I did mention before that we are keeping in excellent shape walking around this very hilly scenic city.

In  Uwe's search for beer other than the light Ecuadorian brands, we found another Sports Bar. This one was located in a nice mall where for desert I found gelato ice cream- hmmmm- and of course more Christmas trees.