In the week leading up to Easter, we had the opportunity to travel a little bit. My mom, Jayn Stewart, had the week off and was able to come down and join us! It was great to see her, and the kids were in heaven hanging out with their grandmother.
Our first stop was a mid-size city called Riobamba, which is about 3-4 hours south of Quito by bus. It is at high altitude like Quito (roughly 9,000 ft), and has some beautiful Spanish colonial architecture.
The old colonial Cathedral in Riobamba
Closer up view of the Cathedral's facade
Government building on the Cathedral's central plaza
The Catherdral plaza park
We also wandered into the Museum of Religious Art, which I believe is an old convent -- beautifully preserved and restored. It was a really nice little oasis of quiet within the city.
Central courtyard of the museum
Annalise (with her cool new poncho) and "Amma"
We were also lucky enough to see a religious parade that came by about a block away from our hotel. Ecuador is a very Catholic country, there is really no sense of the American ideal of "separation of Church and State," and Holy Week is a big deal here. This was an incredibly long parade, with people dressed up as religious personages and carrying figures of Jesus and a very sad looking Mary. It was pretty graphic -- it definitely takes the Peeps and Easter Bunny out of the Easter celebration. This is just a small sample of the parade -- it went on and on. It was really interesting to see, and the kind of thing you would NEVER see in the US because religion is so relegated to the margins.
One of many people dressed up as Jesus carrying the cross
The Jesus figure in the hot pink skirt is a real person, not a statue
There were lots of marching brass bands playing somber music
This float is carrying a statue of Mary holding Jesus' body
These masked figures were everywhere in the parade -- I'm not sure exactly what they are supposed to signify (death maybe?), but I have seen pictures of them in other Holy Week parades in Ecuador
Jesus and the two sinners being marched along by Roman soldiers
Roman soldiers
More real guys with hands tied to crosses, and Jesus lying down on the cross in the middle
The military also got in on the action and had their own float... and the police too
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