inSPIREd Sunday

One of the twin spires of the Basilica del Voto Nacional,
in Quito.  You can probably climb up inside it,
but I wouldn't even if I could, since this church sits at one
of the highest spots in the city (which is already
at 9,000 feet); I live at sea level and definitely felt the 
effects of the extra altitude when I was there. 

[To see more churches from around the world, go here.]

Thursday Challenge—"fast"

I found this little hummingbird near a feeder
in Mindo, in the cloud forest of Ecuador.
When it's hovering like this, its wings can beat
 from 50 to possibly even 200 times per second!

[To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge,
visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Thursday Challenge—"wood"

My daughter Katie and I spent a night at
Hacienda Cusin in San Pablo, Ecuador, a few years
ago.  While we were at dinner, someone got this
fire started in our room, then left a huge basket
filled with wood and we kept the blaze
going until well after midnight.

[To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

InSPIREd Sunday

These are the twin spires of the
Basilica del Voto Nacional, in Quito.
Not very old (begun in 1887, inaugurated
101 years later), it is the largest neo-Gothic
basilica in the Americas.  Also maybe the highest,
since it sits on a high point of the city (which is
already more than 9,000 feet above sea level).

[To see more churches from around the world, visit Beth's meme.]

InSPIREd Sunday

It's Palm Sunday—and somehow this church, 
the 16th-century Cathedral of Quito, 
seemed like the obvious choice for today's post.

[To see more churches, visit the InSPIREd Sunday meme.]

Thursday Challenge—"fire"

My daughter Katie and I enjoyed this fire up in
the Andes in Ecuador last October.  It was started for
us while we were at dinner, then we fed it until past
midnight while we played cards, talked, and polished
off a bottle of red.  Do you have a fireplace? Do you use it?.

[To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge, go here.]

ABC Wednesday—Q is for "question"

It's true!  Trees do so much for us,
and, really, what do we do for them?
After I saw this sign in the little town of
Mindo, in Ecuador, I felt a bit guilty.  ¿Y tu?

[To see more ABC Wednesday posts, go here.]

Skywatch Friday

My daughter Katie caught this one
from a moving car as we were headed
up into the high Andes in Ecuador last fall.

[To see more Skywatch, go here.]

ABC Wednesday—M is for "moss"

Here's another shot from the Hacienda Cusin, in
San Pablo del Lago, Ecuador—which I've shown here
and here. Like all gardens, theirs are a work in progress,
but look like they've been here as is for centuries.

[To see more posts that feature the
letter M, visit the ABC Wednesday meme.]

Thursday Challenge—"green"

We're still in Ecuador. These green terraced
fields were shot by my daughter Katie when she
and I were high up in the Andes last October.

[To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge, go here.]

ABC Wednesday—J is for "juice"

Breakfast in Ecuador = a feast of textures, flavors,
and colors—and always fresh-squeezed juice.  Yum!
(We had mango juice with this delicious, nutritious
meal at the Dragonfly Inn, in Mindo.)

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

ABC Wednesday—F is for "fabric"

This brilliant batch of fabric was for sale
at the huge market in Otavalo, Ecuador.
Beautiful—though I did find the array 
of choices a bit overwhelming!

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

ABC Wednesday—C is for "cabbage"

You can't tell here, but this cabbage
was enormous. It was growing in the
beautiful (and abundant) kitchen gardens 
of the Hacienda Cusin, my new favorite hotel
 in the world, in San Pablo del Lago, Ecuador.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

ABC Wednesday—Z is for "ziplining"

I've been saving this picture since October
when my daughter Katie (that's her, about to
fly over a long, deep ravine) and I went
ziplining in the Ecuadorian cloud forest—
one of the most fun things I've ever done!

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

Laundry Day

What's more sleep-inducing than slipping
between crisp cotton sheets that have been
freshly laundered and dried in clear mountain air?
(Well, the roaring fire and the bottle of wine
probably didn't hurt either.)  This is Hacienda Cusin,
in San Pablo del Lago, Ecuador (alt. 8,500 feet).

[Today is also Shadow Shot Sunday.
To see more shadows, go here.]

ABC Wednesday—V is for "vines"

Not sure what the main vine is—wisteria, maybe?
But I'm impressed with the bougainvillea
blooming in October.  This garden is in the Andes, 
where it was warm during the day but the temp 
dropped down to near freezing at night.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

Mellow Yellow Monday

This one is compliments of my daughter Katie.
Love the way this kid is oblivious to the
scene behind him: That's Lago San Pablo, at the
foot of the Imbabura volcano. (Or maybe it's
not that hard for a 14-year-old to ignore a 
volcano that hasn't erupted in 14,000 years!)

[To see more Mellow Yellow posts, go here.]

Shadow Shot Sunday

These kids (on a Friday night in the small town
of Mindo, in Ecuador) are awfully young to be looking
so bored, but at least they don't all have some
kind of hand-held device in their little paws—
a very good thing, if you ask me.

[To see more Sunday shadows, go here.]

Skywatch Friday

I went to Ecuador without a very good
idea of exactly what I would find, and certainly
didn't expect to fall in love as much as I did—with
the people, the Andes, and the architecture!

[To see more Skywatch Friday pics, go here.]

ABC WEdnesday—S is for "spires"

The 377-foot (115-meter) spires on Quito's
Basilica del Voto Nacional make it the
tallest church in Ecuador. I might  have gone
up if I hadn't already been feeling the effects
of Quito's setting 9,350 feet (2,850 meters)
above where I normally live—at sea level.

[To see more ABC Wednesday, go here.]