Asia

Africa

America

Europe

Cities

home (map)
Edit Template

themes

experiences

islands

Edit Template

Who are we?

This travel blog is created by me, Lars Aldman, a Swedish journalist and traveller, always in the company of my wonderful wife V. who is also a journalist and a fantastic photographer.

I worked for many years for the Swedish National Radio and Television, as a reporter/producer/studio host and a bunch of other roles.but now I’m retired and do whatever I like.

We love to visit foreign countries and cultures and meet people all over the globe. So far we have been to Asia, Africa, South America and the Caribbean and of course Europe. And we’d like to share with You, dear reader, what we have experienced and seen. We hope You want to join us and possibly find ideas for Your own adventures.

PS. To see more of my photos from journeys far and near, head over to aldmangallery.com

To contact us via mail: info@resormedv.se

Edit Template
swedish

More results…

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Search in pages

Travels with V

Ecuador

Travels with V

Ecuador

round-line-left-arrow

back

Edit Template

next

round-line-right-arrow
round-line-left-arrow
Edit Template
round-line-right-arrow

In the house of Quito's great painter​

Quito part two

We go for a walk around Quito, a city full of beautiful colonial architecture. A bit like Havanna, but better preserved. Lots of impressive churches and palaces. It’s a strenuous walk, the town is very hilly in some parts.

But it’ also unsafe for tourists in some areas, and during our walk a tourist police asks in a friendly tone where we intend to go. –You can go one block this way, then you should turn left. It’s not safe to go further. Ok, we think. So why isn’t the police there? And we turn left.

Some pictures from the beautiful white city of Quito:

MARIASTATYN MED VINGAR
MARY STATUE WITH WINGS
DOWNTOWN QUITO
DOWNTOWN QUITO
CHIC HATT
CHIC HAT
PLAZA DE ARMAS
PLAZA DE ARMAS
PLAZA DE ARMAS IGEN
PLAZA DE ARMAS AGAIN
GAMLA CENTRALBANKENS HUS
OLD CENTRAL BANK BUILDING
BASILIKAN
THE BASILICA
EFTERMIDDAGSDIMMAN RULLAR IN
AFTERNOON FOG ROLLING IN

The next day is spent taking in some of Quito’s great cultural and historical heritage. Our first goal is Capilla del Hombre and the Guayasamin museum. Oswaldo Guayasamin was certainly Ecuador’s and probably South America’s greatest artist, and insanely successful in his active period between the 1940s and the 1990s. A fascinating man, moving in different styles and materials, a believer in socialism and humanism and counted both Fidel Castro and US liberal politicians as his friends.

THE CATHEDRAL OF MANKIND
INSIDE THE CATHEDRAL

Guayasamin believed strongly that the cruelties of war and exploitation could be turned by solidarity and love. It’s a comforting outlook, but today it seems more and more like a dream, and I think Guayasamin himself would be utterly disappointed with the contemporary world, now that the destructive powers that he fought against are again on the rise. All over the world, sadly.

But Guayasamin died in 1999 and his home, a beautiful and spacious villa overlooking the city of Quito is now a museum where his art is on display, side by side with works of other artists that he admired, like Chagall. There’s also a big collection of indigenous art, in his bedroom there’s a series of erotic Indian sculptures, some even involving more that two persons. You may not take photos here.

Later in the day we move down to the National Museum, an ultra-modern creation where art and objects are displayed in accordance with some theme that we can’t comprehend. But it’s great, and shows many aspects of the history of colonization in Ecuador. But there’s no reference anywhere to today’s political problems.

A SHUAR "SHRUNKEN HEAD" IN THE NATIONAL MUSEUM

After two nights we are transferred to another hotel, with a lot more comfort and warmth. And perhaps less charm. But this one has a restaurant, a very pleasant place with excellent food. If only there wasn’t this annoying guitar player with a neckstand for a pan flute. Beatles, ABBA etc, of course followed by El condor pasa, a song that already gave us a headache in Peru. And it’s not better here.

Now we take a leap straight into the heart of the Amazonian jungle. A world of rivers and canoes and ramshackle houses.

up-arrow Back to top
previous-arrow Continue

Vi använder cookies för att anpassa innehåll och annonser, för att tillhandahålla funktioner för sociala medier och för att analysera vår trafik. Vi delar också information om din användning av vår webbplats med våra partners inom sociala medier, annonsering och analys, som kan kombinera den med annan information som du har lämnat till dem eller som de har samlat in från din användning av deras tjänster. Du samtycker till våra cookies om du fortsätter att använda vår webbplats.

Inställningar Inaktivera alla Tillåt alla