On the second day, we used the hop on/hop off city bus to visit the sites of Quito. Usually, I avoid the hop on/hop off buses because I love to explore on foot and see bits of a city that may be missed by driving around. For Quito, however, I only had one day to explore the city so I would recommend this option.
While waiting to get going a couple of us negotiated with a man on the street to buy our sick panama hats that I’m fairly certain annoyed Kristin for the remainder of our time together 🙂 (Spoiler: getting that hat back to SF was a nightmare… yet somehow… it made it)
Our first stop was the Basilica del Voto Nacional.
I’m still trying to conquer my fear of heights so I joined the group in climbing up one of the towers
But I’m not crazy enough to climb the flimsy ladder on the OUTSIDE of the tower that went to the tip top. I still had nearly 2 more weeks including the Galapagos Islands which I paid a pretty penny for so dying before getting there was not on my itinerary.
This view was sufficient for me.
Another one of our stops was El Panecillo. 
The statue of Madonna is on the top of a hill where you can see out over the city of Quito both from the ground, or you can climb up to a little deck in the middle of the statue (below the dome).
Our final stop on the bus tour was this cute and colorful street called Calle La Ronda
This was an actual barbershop! It looked like a museum exhibit from the 1950s.
That night, all the “young people” went to a bar in Cumbaya called “Shots Only” where we proceeded to play beirut and take many shots. Remind me if I ever get married to not do this the night before my wedding.
Waking up the next morning (Saturday) was a little rough, but our first activity was a massage at the hotel spa which was a glorious start to the wedding day. My new travel goal: get at least one massage during every trip.
We then spent most of the day being a little lazy before prepping for the wedding. Jason and Valeria’s wedding was hands down one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. Everyone looked so beautiful dressed up in black tie attire.
Yes, it’s blurry… but our car caught up with the bride and groom on the way to the ceremony so we had to wave hi
Unfortunately, with my group trip beginning the next morning at 8am, we left the wedding around 2:30 upon which I finalized packing and sorting items that would be going back to Massachusetts. I snoozed a few hours and before I knew it, it was time to wake up and join the group!
xx
Nicole