Exploring Quito and surrounding area

Traditional Danish  Christmas dinner - Dec. 24. Roast Pork, red
cabbage and brown potatoes.
Note the furniture - here's the very bizarre story about our furniture.
On Nov. 24 we went to Otavalo to celebrate my birthday in an famous, old Hacienda there.
As we were exploring the area, we went to San Antonio de Ibarra.
This community is known for its wood working. We browsed in lots of shops and by chance came across some furniture we could live with in our new apartment, which we were moving into on Dec, 1. We had already browsed
several furniture stores in Quito and weren't really excited about anything we had
found there. In San Antonio de Ibarra, however, we found a white vinyl sofa that had a nice design and was comfortable. the only problem was that it was WHITE and vinyl. No problem, the lady said, we can make it any colour and material you want. The bottom line was that we ordered the couch you see in the picture, with coffee and end table, dining table
 and six chairs - all for much less than it would have cost in Quito. Delivery was promised for Dec. 10 (or by the 12th, at the latest). It was our first real use of Spanish, but we figured that between us, we had ordered the right things. Anyway, on Dec. 8, I called to find out what time we could expect delivery on Dec. 10. As it turned out they could not
deliver on the 10th, but for sure would be there on Dec. 11 between 1 and 3 pm. Ole waited at home
and at 3:30 they called and apologized, but they weren't quite finished - they couldn't be at our apartment
until 9-9:30 that evening (or they could also come the next day, but Ole refused this offer, figuring he did
 not want to wait ALL day Wed for them to come). At 10 pm, I called them and was told they would arrive
really soon. At 11pm we went to bed. At 3:15 am the guard rang up to tell us that our furniture had arrived!!!
Although, our first reaction was to refuse this delivery at that ungodly hour, we reluctantly accepted.
It took the 3 men 1 hour to unload the truck and bring the furniture up to the apartment. We are quite content
with the furniture, but can not forget this very strange delivery time. 

The best Christmas present this year...

Amelia has a solid appetite and is willing to
try anything. This mango was a big hit!

The spectacular view from the eastern flank of Pichincha Volcano
looking toward the northeast where we live.

At 3 degrees celsius and 4600 metres we did not spend too long
 at this spot on Cotopaxi Volcano.

Although these guys have worse cold in Entwistle, we were not
dressed properly for the cold, but the view was breathtaking.

After we descended Cotopaxi, we found a warmer place for our
picnic lunch.