I've got the Gypsy in My Soul: Catching Up...Part 1

Greetings! It has been a busy couple of months for us. After leaving Bogota, we spent time in Quito, the States, 15 days on a transatlantic cruise, a few days in Barcelona, and almost a week on the Costa Brava. Currently...we are residing in Valencia Spain. Today I am setting aside time to get myself caught up and back on track with my blog. Therefore, I am going to try to hit the highlights of the some of the places we visited and the things that we did over the past month and a half. Let's start with...Quito

I have to admit...I wasn't very excited about going to Quito. To me, it was just another city in Ecuador that was similar...but probably not as nice as Cuenca. However...I was pleasantly surprised to learn it had a lot to offer. Above is a photo of our view from our dinning room. It's definitely one of the best views we've had since moving to Ecuador. We rented an AirBnb on the edge of the historic district. Our apartment was very unique because the design was similar to an ecolodge...rustic...but with a fair amount of charm.

The highlight for me was bringing my youngest grandson, Adler, here to spend 9 days during his spring break from school. He was a great traveler and a joy to have around during the entire time. During his visit, we climbed to the top of the steeple in the church pictured above...and...took a mini trip to Mindo for several days. There, Adler and I went zip lining.

Adler's bedroom in Quito

Adler, Lance, and I climbing to the top of the steeple

Zip lining in Mindo

Yes...that is me.

Hiking to the various waterfalls in Mindo

Playing cards in Mindo while waiting for the bus. One of our favorite down time activities.

We also took some time to visit the Carondelet Palace (the seat of government of Ecuador,) the Ciudad Mitad del Mundo (the middle of the earth,) and saw the procession that took place in the historic center on Good Friday.