Today I went to the only Gothic basilica in Quito. Am I looking for the wrong architecture? This is my first view above the city and it’s magnificent. I count at least 3 volcanoes. Lonely Planet warns of the ascent up the tower. The wooden plank is nothing – it goes along the roof, not across the tower. The 
ladders are not as scary as the tower in Trogir¹ because they appear to be actually attached to the building. At the same time, they are more scary because they are outside and very steep. Surprisingly the tower ascent is actually the tower in the back of the basilica, not the belfry in front. There is a separate spiral staircase up to the belfry with a nice little cafe on the way. It’s nice to sit in the quiet cafe in the belfry and not worry someone will run by and snatch my stuff.
Later on I went to the park “El Ejido” near the house. The park isn’t much, but the citizens take full advantage of it. There are kids running around the park – on bikes, pedal cars, various things for them to climb on.
Luly, the house mother, was off tonight so dinner was a chance for us students here to speak English.
Costs
Cost today: $31.65
Cumulative cost: $309.96
¹ This is referring to a recent trip to Croatia where the stairs in a bell tower I climbed did not appear to be substantially attached to the wall.