Morning all. Well after getting in at about 6 last night and a really great meal at the local mall food court. Food court at the Cuenca mall is way better than food courts in Reno. They made the food fresh and the menus were like that found in a restaurant. Don't get me wrong there was KFC and Burger King there as well but the other places had very nice food. I have to say sitting there looking at the KFC I had the craving for one of their biscuits. I was heart broke when I came to learn they don't serve the biscuits here in Ecuador. They have cookies instead. I almost died. A KFC with no biscuits is like, well, I don't know what its like but it pretty damn awful I assure you. So anyhow, It was up at 8 for a walk of the city. We managed to find a French style cafe with French style service. Really bad service. I got my beverage after the first portion of my breakfast and the rest of my breakfast after everyone had already finished eating. How hard is it to make a damn crepe with whipped cream and chocolate syrup. NO TIP..... We continued our day with a walk around checking out the town center, a cathedral and then the local Panama Hat factory. I was lucky to survive the church I wasn't stuck by lightning or stricken with the plague for walking in. I didn't press my luck and made my visit short. At the hat factory we were given a full tour and taught how the hats were made. A very labor intensive process in making one little hat. fortunately with the use of a few machines the process is only streamlined just a little bit but every bit helps. I didn't know you could buy a straw hat that could cost as much as 500 dollars. That same hat would probably cost you a 1000 dollars in the US. A standard hat takes about 2 days to make goes for about 15 dollars and the one that takes 6 weeks to make is 500 dollars. I was very impressed with the quality of the hats and the weaving yet I decided to not buy one. I don't blink an eye on spending 2000 for a camera but 500 for a hat. No thanks. I did enjoy learning how the hats were made. Really a cool process of turning a local plant in to a fine article of clothing. With weary legs and high temps outside I have decided to just be a vegetable for the rest of the afternoon. I am going to try to work on sorting out my photos. I am anxious to look at all the ones I have taken. That lasted a little while and the need for sleep overcame me. After a couple of hours nap it was time for dinner. Ok, so I partied some more after dinner what the heck. We all stayed up late enjoying a few six packs of Club beer and a other bottle of rum.
