Quito is the capital city of Ecuador. For spring break I decided to go to Quito SOLO-dolo. I was a little nervous because Ecuador experienced an earthquake literally a week before I arrived and the altitude. I have visited Denver and Kenya without any problems and thought I would be fine.
Must See Spots
Panecillo:
Brazil has the Chris the Redeemer which sits on a mountain and watches over the city. Quito has the virgin Mary which sits on a loaf shaped hill and does the same. No matter where you go in the city, the locals will always ask if you have visited Panecillo. She is their prize possession. It figures since she is the tallest aluminum statue in the world and is allegedly higher than Christ in Brazil. It's free to enter. If you're afraid of heights this may not be the best spot for you. You literally drive up a very high hill. It's so high that you can literally see the city of Quito when you look down. Once you're up there, you can see the city sprawled out before you. All I can say is thank god for anxiety meds. Instead of freaking out I just stared in awe.
Ciudad Mitad del Mundo
I am putting one equator at the must see list and the other at the must do list. Ciudad is the "fake" middle of the world but I feel that everyone should visit it because the grounds are beautiful. They poured a lot of money into this "fake" equator museum and it shows. It is very touristy, full of shops and restaurants. However for $5 it's a nice spot to visit and take pictures while shopping and eating.
Pailon del Diablo
Listen I may have had about 3 anxiety attacks before I got to the waterfall but it was totally worth it. I could've stared at it for days. I love water. This waterfall is 80 meters and just beautiful. There are numerous ways to get to the water fall but we went the short way .. which included crossing over a suspension bridge. I cannot lie. I stopped right there. It took a lot of coaching, encouragement AND my tour guide literally holding my hand while I cried for me to cross. I don't know how long it was but it seemed to go on forever. Til this day I am happy that I crossed because the waterfall truly was beautiful...and wet. DUH! I did not pack anything for that (my bad) and ended up soaked 🙆🏾 Thankfully the weather allowed me to quickly dry off
La Basilica
This is the most famous church in Ecuador. It is huge and around $5 to enter. There are various floors but on this day I did not feel like climbing stairs so I stayed on floor 1. The urban legend is that when this church is complete, the world will end. The first stone was placed in 1892 and yet they are still working on it. It is gorgeous. The pictures do not do it justice. 
Church of the Society of Jesus
About a mile from La Basilica is the "gold" church. Funny story, I caught an Uber and the guy was like you can walk. Tell ya mammy to walk ... I'm going to catch this $1.12 Uber 😂 It is also $5 and comes with a guide. Although there wasn't an English guide available when I visited. That was for the best because you are not supposed to take pictures or videos while inside and I did both *Kanye shrug*. This church is completely covered in gold sheets and it flat out beautiful. I walked around in awe for about 15 minutes because that's really all you need.
Must Do So on day 1 I modified my schedule and decided to do the bus tour while my body acclimated to the altitude. Best decision ever. The tour took me all around Quito so I was able to navigate on foot later on without being lost. The tour is hop on hop off but I stayed on for the entire time. It took about 2-2 1/2 hours if you did not hop off. They took you by every major spot in Quito and stopped at the Virgin of El Panecillo. This is also where I did my souvenir shopping at. There were so many pretty souvenirs at an awesome (LOW lol) price.
Initinan MuseumSo this is the REAL equator. It is located next door to Middle of the World exhibit. This was one of my favorite things to do. I went with a hostel tour for $10 and it was truly worth the price. The only regret was that I was given less time at the fake equator. We were given about 2 hours at the real equator and it was definitely need. It costs $5 to enter and that includes a guide who not only explains everything to you but also does cool science experiments. My inner science teacher was so giddy. We learned a lot about the amazon and the equator in general. My favorite task was trying to balance the egg on the nail. Only a small amount of people are able to achieve this feat and I was one of them. Ya'll see my egg certificate. 
Banos is a town in Ecuador about two to three hours away from Quito that is known for its hot springs, sitting in the base of an active volcano and extreme activities. Don't let the distance keep you away from going. It's totally worth it. As a matter of fact I would like to go back to Ecuador just to stay longer in Banos. Please remember that all of the extreme activities take place in Banos. We crossed from one mountain to another on a tram, visited the waterfall, crossed a suspension bridge and swung off of the end of the earth in Banos. If you decide to visit Banos, I included the company that I used on the link. Please hope and pray that you get Jessica. She was the best tour guide motivator and photographer.
Must Eat
I stayed at Hotel Ibis which is centrally located. Their restaurant was amazing! Every dish was amazing! Like EVERY dish! The breakfast buffet was stellar and the prices were reasonable. The service can be a little slow but that is just the Ecuadorian way. You adjust. The food is worth the wait. I literally would sit in the evenings in wipe away tears as I placed the food in my mouth. It was just that delicious.
Dulce de Guayaba
So in Ecuador they have a fruit called guayaba. In the US we call this fruit guava. I am not a guava lover at all but I visited this candy factory and omg! The guava candy, sweets and wine ... yes wine.... were fantastic. I immediately purchased the candy taffy to bring home to share with my daughter (which I never did lol).
Mercado
If you ask a local for eating suggestions, they are going to recommend a mercado. I was sitting at the hostel waiting for my tour to begin and I was starving. So I decided to walk down the street to look for a restaurant with amazing reviews. I had to stop and ask 3 locals and they all pointed me in the direction of the mercado. So I headed inside the mercado. There were tons of homemade food vendors who were so friendly and welcoming. I had soup, an appetizer, fried fish with rice and potatoes and a drink for $7. Look at the plate! Of course I could not eat it all and I felt bad for leaving so much food on the plate but it was yummy and satisfying!. We stopped at another mercado on the way to Banos for fruit!
Quitis Cafe-Gelateria
When I arrived to La Basilica it was rainy and cold. I stepped inside the Quitis to grab a snack and escape from the rain. It was so good. I was trying to be good by only ordering one scoop but I really wish I had of ordered like 5 lol. I ordered the tres leches gelato and it was scrumptious!
Quito is a great place to relax and EAT! The locals are very friendly. Hopefully you will give it a try and let me know what you liked ❤️
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