Walking around Guayaquil, Ecuador

Since our rooms were not ready at 6AM, we had breakfast and went on an early morning walk around town. We walked towards Malecon 2000 - the beautifully reconstructed boardwalk.  It was pretty overcast all morning but I think that was good for our walk as the humidity already made our walk much more difficult than it would be otherwise.

Fisherman

We saw a number of feral cats and dogs about.

Our destination at the end of the boardwalk was the stairs up to the light house and the Santa Ana church.

The colorful houses of las Penas

Sunburn monitor

lovely houses of Las Penas

444 steps to the top

We had to take several stops and lots of water breaks to get to the top. 444 steps doesn't sound like much but with 100% humidity in the tropics it's another animal all together.

light house at the end of the climb

sun dial at the ruins of the old Fort

panorama from the top

After the walk up and down, we walked around town a bit more to the Iguana Park.

These iguanas are fearless. They were also very docile and allowed children to pet them and feed them without scurrying or biting.

There are many churches around town, and many water sculptures.

Arrived in Ecuador

I am really impressed by the immigration process in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The process was swift and easy. There was a digital screen telling you which line to take (like at whole foods). Of course, arriving at 4 am may have also helped the process.

I am staying at the Hampton Inn downtown. There's a Wendy's across the street. I sure hope I won't have to eat there.

The world cup this year is in Brazil. I guess all of South America is taking a piece of that pie...

More pics from Vienna

I went to so many cafes in Vienna. They were all charming in their own way.

This was at Cafe Sperl. There were many negative reviews about this place being stuffy and having rude waitstaff but I didn't find this to be true at all. I thought it was great and relaxing. I stayed for almost 2 hours just slow eating/drinking and reading my book.

Cheesecake strudel and cappuccino with cream

 Walking through stadtpark...

statue of Strauss

Meierei am Stadtpark/Steirereck overlooking the river

 I had dinner at Meierei am Stadtpark - the sister restaurant of 2 Michelin star restaurant Steirereck. The service was rude but the meal was excellent.

Beef goulash with leek roulade

selection of Austrian cheeses

 For my final dinner in Vienna, I went to a bistro/pub called Brezl "pretzel".  It was built on the site of a Roman building and the place has a lot of history.

small dumpling in beercheese and fried onions

 I loved running into random street markets, especially if they included music:

Around the corner was Cafe Central - very touristy but amazing cakes!!

Cafe central cake and coffee

Hofburg

 I love the beauty of the random places in Vienna.  Here is a random passageway:

Prater at night

A couple nights ago I went to the Prater amusement park to ride the giant ferris wheel (oldest in Europe).  The view was nice but not great (not a super lit up city like NYC) but I definitely remembered my fear of heights as the wooden car creaked and swayed.  The ride was maybe 10min but cost 9 euros. I think it might be nicer during the day.  Here are some pics from my late night in the amusement park.  There were a surprising number of people there despite being a Monday evening.