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Vilcabamba Glimpse #04
Weekend in Quito
I spent last weekend in Quito, Ecuador's capitol. Attached photo was taken from my hotel room. With a population of about 1.3 million, it's Ecuador's second largest city (Guayaquil is larger). Quito is high up, elevation is 9,200 feet. It's a large modern city with all the smells, traffic, noise, people, shops, and shopping malls typical of large cities. It's an enormous contrast to Vilcabamba's tranquility. Airplanes do not even fly over Vilcabamba.
Saturday afternoon, I enjoyed a professional soccer game in Quito's stadium which was just a block from the comfortable hotel where I stayed and have stayed before (Four Points Sheraton). The game was between Quito and Guayaquil. About 40,000 very lively and supportive fans attended the game. It was very colorful and reminded me of a big time college football game.
I went to Quito to meet with an architect, Patricio Falconi, who I am going to team with to do homes at Hacienda San Joaquin. Patricio is one of Ecuador's best architects. Some say he is the best. Over the last 25 years, he has designed about 400 homes. His specialty is rustic country architecture. Perfect for Hacienda San Joaquin. His work is beautiful. A book of his work was published this year: Espacios Acogedores. The book is very well done.
I spent all day Friday with Patricio. We first looked at his 3,000 square feet country home about an hour outside of Quito (see attached photo). It's a great place on 10 hectares (25 acres). He will be in Vilcabamba at Hacienda San Joaquin mid-May for his second visit. At that time, we will begin design work on four new homes that we will build.
At the moment, two Americans from Sarasota, FL are visiting, Marty Bednar and Gene Strutt. Yesterday, we spent the morning at the hacienda walking 24 of the 26 Lots and the afternoon walking the 24 larger quintas (country estates, about 5 acres each). We got a lot of exercise as there is a lot of ground to cover. It was a beautiful day. Lots of activity going on at the hacienda with about 75 workers busy at a variety of tasks. Marty and Gene are staying at Hosteria de Vilcabamba, the same hotel I've lived in since I moved here in August. Great hotel, nicest in southern Ecuador.
The photos:
Best, Joe
Joe Simonetta
Owner/Architect
Hacienda San Joaquin
Vilcabamba, Ecuador
P.S. International Living named Ecuador "The Best Place in the World to Retire" http://www.haciendasanjoaquin.com/best_in_the_world.html