Happy Birthday Cuenca

As luck would have it, Daniel and I arrived in Cuenca in Southern Ecuador on the 455th birthday of the founding of the city by the Spaniards.

They were having a big party in the Parque Calderon. We found a nice restaurant under the old colonial arcade right on the Parque and had a good dinner. By the time we were done the birthday party was in full swing.

There were bands, clowns, fireworks, and the city was handing out free cups of hot canelazo, a spiked fruit punch (this wasn't too spiked), to get everyone in the mood.

Today is a city holiday, so things are more quiet on a Friday than usual.

It was a good morning to walk around and begin to get to know the city which is consider to be the most beautiful colonial city in Ecuador.

Cuenca is the third largest city in Ecuador, but only has about 330,000 residents. So it feels much more relaxed than Quito with 2.2 million. It sits at a somewhat lower elevation, about 8,200 feet.

I think we are going to like it here.