Galapagos - Quito (Day 10)

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Sunday, September 7th, we were back in Quito following our 7 days on Celebrity Xpedition. The transfer by motor coach from Quito Airport took about 15 minutes. We arrived at the JW Marriott Quito where we checked back into our hotel rooms.

We had time to relax before departing by motor coach for a shopping trip to a local craft market. Since our flight on Monday wasn't until 11 PM, we would have the entire day to spend in Quito. We spoke with the Celebrity representative and arranged a private tour to Mindo Cloud Forest. I'll talk about this tour in my next post.

By the time we got up to our hotel room, our bags arrived from the ship. The hotel did a fantastic job with luggage throughout the entire trip. We never had to deal with the bags ourselves. As far as I know, everyone had all their luggage without incident.

We went up to the 9th floor to the Executive Lounge and had something to drink and some snacks before heading out on the shopping activity. We met in the lobby and boarded the motor coaches for a short ride into Quito. The coaches dropped us off by the market and the Celebrity representative said they would return in an hour to take us to another location.

They told us that the crafters expected us to negotiate on price and set us loose. There were several rows of crafters in a covered area. Each aisle had crafters on both sides in small booths. There was just enough room to navigate down the aisles. As we'd walk down the aisle, the crafters would try to get your attention to look at their merchandise. Many of the booths carried the same products. The majority of the merchandise was handmade.

You could get handmade scarfs, jewelry, religious and other items. I found some earrings that I liked. They were only 3 USD. Keep in mind that Equador uses US dollars which makes it quite easy to shop there. I didn't have the heart to negotiate, so I paid for my earrings and went further. We had already done some shopping earlier in the week, so we didn't buy much at the market - just a few items.

Boarding the motor coaches one more time we headed to a more exclusive gallery. There were various art pieces and sculptures. Several of the items peaked our interest, but we really didn't have the room for any large boxes, so we simply walked around the gallery admiring the craftsmanship. Some people were having items shipped home and others were taking the boxes with them.

After an hour or so, we boarded the motor coaches again for our return to the hotel. That ended the escorted portion of our day in Quito. Dinner was at our leisure in the hotel. We had a choice of a chicken or beef entree. We were hoping to meet another couple but were unable to reach them. So, we asked another couple from our cruise to join us. More people started arriving at the restaurant and eventually most of the passengers were there. We had the restaurant to ourselves complete with entertainment. It was an enjoyable meal.

Following the meal it was time to say our good-byes to all our new friends. Some of the people were leaving as early as 4 or 5 AM for their flights home. Most likely we would only see a few people on Monday. It was a bittersweet moment as we said our good-byes. With a small group like this, you really get to know people. It was like saying good-bye to friends we'd known for years. After dinner, we just went back up to our room to relax.

In my next post, I'll talk about our final day in Quito.

Click on the image to the left for more Blog posts about this trip.

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Celebrity Xpedition - Day 1

Friday, August 29th seemed like any other morning as we got out of bed, took our showers, and got dressed. We went downstairs for some breakfast as usual. Sounds pretty normal - right?

You are probably starting to wonder why I'm telling you about what appears to be a normal day.
Did I mention it was my husband's birthday? Ok, but that still doesn't explain why I'm telling you this. I suppose you want some more hints, so I'll oblidge.

If you were at our house, you would have noticed duffel type suitcases and backpacks lined up by the door. (I can't give you a bigger hint than that.) Now it's making sense, this must have been the departure day for a cruise. You guessed it!

Since the end of July 2007 we had been waiting for this day to arrive. While aboard Celebrity Century on our North Cape cruise, we booked the Celebrity Xpedition 10 night Galapagos cruise. It seemed like an enternity since we made our reservation.

Celebrity Xpedition has a capacity of 92 passengers, so it is necessary to plan far in advance. There were several dates we could have gone but we selected the August 29th departure to take advantage of the Labor Day holiday. It would mean my husband could take one less vacation day. Also, we would be able to celebrate his birthday in Quito, Ecuador.

We had an early morning flight to Miami, Florida where we would change planes for Qutio, Ecuador. There was a slight delay in Miami, but for the most part, it was an uneventful travel day.

Arriving in Quito, we deplaned and walked down a long corridor to baggage claim. The first thing we noticed was a sign that said slow down you are at an altitude of 2,850 m (about 9,350 ft). Since we were pulling a carry-on bag, we did take their advice.

Celebrity Xpeditions staff greeted us as we arrived in the baggage hall. We completed the customs and imigration process and took our luggage to the waiting buses. Our guide gave us bottled water and explained that we had a short ride (about 15 minutes) to the JW Marriott Hotel, Quito.

We arrived at the hotel and went inside to register. There were tables set up in the lobby to accomodate us. After checking in, we took the elevator to our room. The luggage was brought to our room shortly after that.

Our hotel room was located on the eighth floor. We had a beautiful room with a view of the pool area and Quito. Click on the picture above or for a closer look, view my J W Marriott Quito album.

The rest of the night we were on our own. We stayed in the hotel room, unpacked a few things, and watched some television. The next morning we'd have breakfast and embark on a city tour.

August 29th wasn't a normal day for us afterall. We woke up in one continent, North America, and went to sleep in another, South America. This was just Day 1 of an amazing journey that I will share with you.