Harry Potter Landia (aka Cuenca, Ecuador)
As we passed by Cafe Austria for the 7th time on our slightly mixed-up/backtracky self-guided walking tour of Cuenca we decided to stop in for a coffee and dessert.
Little did I know that behind the doors of the European cafe I would actually find a portal into HarryPotterLandia. A very small portal. Just big enough for a chocolate frog to squeeze through!
Fortunately I was able to get it in my mouth before it hopped away! Unfortunately it did not come with a Famous Wizard / Witches Card… I think that they were worried that the muggles would get suspicious if they saw the moving pictures…
oh man. Such a nerd.
Cuenca is a beautiful city, very clean, colonial and all that jazz. There is also a picturesque river rushing by the city surrounded by pretty trees and plants. It makes for good walking tours, self-guided or otherwise 🙂
There is also somebody here who is doing a very good job with wheat-paste.
As Ecuadorians will vehemently remind anyone who asks Panama hats are thus named because the ECUADORIANS who make them used to sell them at the Panama canal. They are quite proud of their hats here. And rightly so, they are admittedly pretty sweet!
We have a new found appreciation for them after visiting the hat factory/museum and seeing just how much work goes into each one. There is even a metal head mannequin with inter-changeable different sized dome pieces- complete with heated coils inside to warm said dome piece and then let the hat relax on it to get just the right shape and size!
(see featured pic)
We also have a new found appreciation of super sweet Latin American Churches. The incense-filled, candle-lit rooms with light filtering in through lovely stained glass over the statues of Jesus and his friends are enough to make even us feel holy. And that’s sayin’ something!
