Saturday, February 21 we are lucky to enjoy a delicious birthday celebration meal with friends. Both Bert and Mark are celebrating notable birthday's and we join their wives (Evelyn and Evelyn) at Tiesto's, one of our favorite special occasion restaurants. Juan Carlos Solano the owner/chef comes to our table to welcome us, make some suggestions and take our order. We start with an appetizer of perfectly prepared seared swordfish. Along with the bread the waiter brings eight different toppings for us to try, ranging from spicy/peppery to a mild eggplant spread. Another eight larger bowls of accompaniments arrive, containing four different preparations of potatoes, couscous and some vegetable variations. Quickly the main courses arrive - lagostinos's in a generous butter sauce and tender filet mignon medallions In a mushroom sauce. Juan Carlos has been tipped off about the birthday celebrations and brings two slices of cake to the table. The plates have been hand painted with flowers made from various fruit sauces, a beautiful presentation, and the cake is moist and delicious. Following dinner we go to Mark and Evelyn's apartment for more delicious cake, coffee and discussion. A wonderful send-off, as Sunday we leave Cuenca.
Sunday our driver Angel arrives at 9:30 am to take us to Guayaquil. The route takes us though the Cajas Mountains, and the weather is sunny and clear on the east side of the mountains. The view from Tres Cruces at 4,167 meters (13,671 feet) is beautiful. Just 30-45 minutes later when Angel is going to stop at a mirador with views westward toward the coast we a fogged out - no views today!
Sunday our driver Angel arrives at 9:30 am to take us to Guayaquil. The route takes us though the Cajas Mountains, and the weather is sunny and clear on the east side of the mountains. The view from Tres Cruces at 4,167 meters (13,671 feet) is beautiful. Just 30-45 minutes later when Angel is going to stop at a mirador with views westward toward the coast we a fogged out - no views today!
We check into the Courtyard Marriott in Guayaquil for one night as we have an early morning flight on Monday. The front desk manager comments that they have upgraded our room due to my Gold status with Marriott. When we arrive in the room we are quite pleased; it is about the size of our two bedroom functional apartment in Cuenca and has floor to ceiling windows in the sitting area. A nice perk! We walk the three blocks to the mall, which is filled with all the higher-end stores you find in high-end malls across the globe to occupy some time and to get a bite to eat.
Monday's wake-up call comes very early. By 5:30am we are checked out of the hotel and in a complimentary taxi arranged by the hotel. By 6:15am we have check our bags, gone through passport control and security and we are sitting at the restaurant across from our gate having coffee and waiting for our 8:00am flight. Probably could have slept another 30 minutes, but better to be safe than sorry.
Our flight to Miami is fully booked, leaves on time and is uneventful. Going through passport control in Miami is a breeze because we signed up for Global Entry a few years ago. This allows us to use kiosks and bypass all the lines. Of course we still have to wait for our bags and re-check them before heading to our gate for the final flight home. Again, no issues.
The flight to Chicago is also fully booked, but we leave on time. As the flight moves north the landscape changes from green to brown to white. Our flight path takes us over Lake Michigan which has ice floating on top, then we fly just north of downtown Chicago with it's towering buildings welcoming us.
The temperature outside at our touchdown is 7F (-14C), quite a difference from Guayaquil's 78F (26C) at our takeoff. It's been a wonderful 9 weeks in Ecuador - maybe we should another 2-4 weeks!
Monday's wake-up call comes very early. By 5:30am we are checked out of the hotel and in a complimentary taxi arranged by the hotel. By 6:15am we have check our bags, gone through passport control and security and we are sitting at the restaurant across from our gate having coffee and waiting for our 8:00am flight. Probably could have slept another 30 minutes, but better to be safe than sorry.
Our flight to Miami is fully booked, leaves on time and is uneventful. Going through passport control in Miami is a breeze because we signed up for Global Entry a few years ago. This allows us to use kiosks and bypass all the lines. Of course we still have to wait for our bags and re-check them before heading to our gate for the final flight home. Again, no issues.
The flight to Chicago is also fully booked, but we leave on time. As the flight moves north the landscape changes from green to brown to white. Our flight path takes us over Lake Michigan which has ice floating on top, then we fly just north of downtown Chicago with it's towering buildings welcoming us.
The temperature outside at our touchdown is 7F (-14C), quite a difference from Guayaquil's 78F (26C) at our takeoff. It's been a wonderful 9 weeks in Ecuador - maybe we should another 2-4 weeks!
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