The journey started on a limp with fingers crossed. I got up to take the local ferry over to the Seattle side but when we ought to have begun loading, the ferry was canceled due to issues with the rail arm on the one side. Sigh. Fortunately I was the last car in my lane so I backed out and drove around to the airport. Red eye flight to Raleigh. Long layover. Flight to Atlanta. Late but had lots of time. Good news was that Patty was there and has a membership in a beautiful new lounge area to wait. We excitedly boarded the fight to Quito but after one hour were told there was a mechanical issue so we had to circle for an hour to burn fuel to land in Orlando! 3 1/2 hours later we were finally airborne and on our way.

The amazing Celebrity staff was there waiting for us as we finally got through immigration at 0130! A 45 minute ride later we made it to the Marriott. By 0330 we crashed. Up at 7 for breakfast and our sightseeing day in Quito.

14 of us that will be on the Flora were teamed up with our guide and bus. Our first stop was up atop a huge hill overlooking the city and the surrounding mountains with a beautiful statue representing the Virgin of the Panecillo. It’s rather striking as she seems to be protecting the city, though the hill’s history was as a military fort.

We then drove to the old town and wandered thorough the streets with the local market with locals and tourists alike everywhere. I’ve noticed some amazing graffiti and murals all over but on our walk Patty and I saw an amazing section with tons of multiple colored handprints. Turns out they were just put there yesterday in honor of International Women’s day. How perfect!

Our next stop was the monastery and church of La Compania. Now those who know me know I’m not religious but this place was phenomenal! Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos except of the outer door. But trust me that the art and decorations were jaw dropping.

Next it was on to the monastery of Santo Domingo which was another beauty, with a gorgeous courtyard and interior. We stayed for lunch.

We had a bit of extra time so we opted to go to a specialty chocolate shop where we tried multiple flavors of rich dark chocolate and learned about the cacao culture. I bought some of my favorite flavor- chocolate and coffee! Yum!

The then it was on to the equator and the museum depicting some of the indigenous people. Of course we had to take the obligatory pictures being in both the north and south hemispheres at once. Not only did we learn local history through that stop but our fabulous tour guide had a tremendous amount of Ecuadorian history and culture to relay all day.

We topped off the day with a delicious dinner with fellow cruisers whom we’re already getting to know and enjoy.