I may have forgotten to mention that we didn't get into Ecuador until Friday. Flights got cancelled on Wednesday. Que lastima!
While walking to Louis' restaurant we ran across Scruffy, a typical Cotacachian street dog. He roams the streets by day but the owner of the pizza and massage parlor next to the hotel (and no, I did not make that up) took him in, gave him a flea bath and a henna rinse.
She was chatting with some of her American friends and asked us to come in for a beer. This was my introduction to the ONLY beer to drink in Ecuador. And that's because they only have technically one beer here! Cerveza Pilsener. It's actually a quite tasty lager. Nice creamy body, clear golden straw color and fluffy white head. Goes down easy and from what I can tell the ABV makes it a great session beer.
Well what else to have with beer but pizza! As I mentioned, this place is a pizza parlor so the large and gentle Argentine chef whipped us up a Pizza Espanola. Ham, peppers, sausage, a delicate tomato sauce and lots of cheese. This was honestly one of the best pizzas I have ever tasted, and I have tasted my fair share. Glenn wholeheartedly agrees!
The place was jumble of artwork and furniture from several different cultures. But here we were, eating Spanish pizza made by an Argentine, chatting with the ex-pats, playing with Scruffy, drinking Ecuadorian lager and listening to classic delta blues! The chef's culinary talents extended to pies of the sweet kind as well, so we split a piece of blueberry pie. But this was no ordinary blueberry pie, but more like a blueberry cream pie with a light and fluffy double crust. Delicioso!
With our bellies full but not quite ready to call it a night, we found a grocery store and bought a bottle of wine and some of the BEST coffee you can get in Ecuador. From the Intag region, this coffee is legendary throughout Ecuador for its aroma and taste. And some of you lucky devils will get some as a gift!
The Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon went down easy and after a glass or two we were ready to say buenos noches!
Stay tuned for Day 2!
Dee
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