Enjoy my new poster of Ecuador!

VIVA Travel guide review. Thank you, Lorraine.

A copy of Tyler Burgess’ Quito, Ecuador Townscape Walks landed in V!VA Travel Guide‘s office. The small, paperback guide has instructions of 12 routes in the Old Town, Mariscal and New Town, with hints on what cafés, plazas, museums, churches and other sites to knowin Quito. Leafing through the hand-illustrated booklet, I became intrigued. In all of my years of visiting Quito, Ms Burgess proposes places I’d never explored.

Quito, Ecuador Townscape Walks by Tyler Burgess
I decide to undertake the three walks in the Centro Histórico. The first, from Plaza Grande to La Basílica (4 kilometers / 2.5 miles), which will visit not only the Basílica, but also the Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, Museo Sucre and the Catedral de Quito.

The Old Town walks begin from Plaza Grande.
The second route will take me from the Plaza Grande, to the Centro Cultural Metropolitano and the Compañía church, up to Iglesia de San Francisco and its museum, and finally down to La Ronda (2.75 kil

ometers / 1.7 miles).
Another trek, again beginning at Plaza Grande, has the goal of Iglesia de San Diego

and its cemetery, and the top of El Panecillo (7.7 kilometers / 4.8 miles).Next week I shall share one of the adventures here in this space.
Quito, Ecuador Townscape Walks is not a guide with descriptions of each site. It is only a collection of a dozen circuit maps, with suggestions of places to visit. Throughout, Tyler Burgess weaves in several handy features, like where to stop for a fresh fruit juice or where there are bathrooms. The booklet is illustrated with sketches of things you’ll see along the way. She takes her fellow walkers into the back streets of Quito, where few tourists ever venture, to see the daily life of Quiteños behind the façade.
Some of the routes are through neighborhoods that, after dark, do have some security

problems; but as long as you hoof around during day

light hours and use common-sense security measures (keep valuables back at the hotel, don’t flash your camera, take only the money you’ll need and go with another person), you should do okay. An additional map of the city is also handy. The walks, none of which are more than 8.5 kilometers (5.2 miles), can be quite aerobic, taking on Quito’s many hills.

And this is not a surprise, considering Burgess’ life. Born in 1950 in Wyoming, she spent her adult years in Montana and Oregon. She has always been an outdoors enthusiast. In her 40s, she played soccer, performed triathlons and undertook solo backpacking trips. She coaches marathon and fitness classes. Burgess also organizes walking tours across Ireland, England, Italy and Morocco, as well as in several US cities. A few

years ago, she was a Santiago de Compostela Pilgrim, walking the 880-kilometer (550-mile) route alone.

Ms Burgess has written Townscape Walks for Seattle, Oregon, Eugene and Portland. This is is her first one in a foreign land. If you are interested in learning more about the books, visit www.walk-with-me.com.
Review by Lorraine Caputo of Quito, Ecuador

Quito, Ecuador, walk around Plaza Grande

Enjoy my video of Quito, Ecuador walks.

Germany, May 8 to May 18, 2011

This pilgrim statute about 500 years old, well preserved in a little church.

Start at the pilgrim statute in front of the cathedral in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany.



I walked 165 miles of the medieval pilgrim's path through Germany; headed toward Santiago, Spain. Carrying a small back pack, I found a bed in a private home or small hotel every 11 to 20 miles. No reservations, no worries. The countryside, with yellow blossoms of grape seed, green wheat fields, and enticing forests, was well marked with the shell of the pilgrim. Slightly rolling with lots of flat, paved paths along the Rhine River.

Beautiful weather, chocolate ice cream every afternoon in yet another charming village.

Cuckoo birds in the forests. One is fine, more, well it was enough to drive me cuckoo.

Siena, Italy

What a great luxury to spend eight days in this little medieval town. Mostly walking, drawing and sampling lemon gelato. Did a wine tasting tour into the Chianti Hills yesterday, with an hour to roam San Gimignano. I am working on making a book of walks for Siena. It really deserves one, guiding people off the touristy streets and into the fascinating neighborhoods. Ciao.

Bulldog News and Espresso, Seattle: Seattle Townscape Walks

Bulldog News and Espresso, Seattle: Seattle Townscape Walks: "Hey you! It's a beautiful day outside. What are you doing looking at the computer? Walk over to the counter, buy this book, and go for a..."

Italy

While on a late afternoon saunter around the tiny, well-preserved village of Spadola, in the mountains of Calabria, I experienced one of those strange moments where I knew what I was seeing, have seen it before, but just could not believe my eyes. There was a giraffe. It was standing in an open field along the creek all by itself. I stared. Was I really seeing a giraffe. My reason for being here is my friend on my next tour, whom I will meet at the Naples airport on Sunday, asked to come here. Her father, Dominico Tucci, immigrated from this village that time forgot, in 1913. The village has not ever been painted or gussied up for tourists. It is spotless. I saw a very old women dressed in traditional black, as opposed to chic black, picking up bits of trash as she crept along the street.
As I stared, assuring myself it was truly a giraffe, I noticed a few small trucks and some people surrounding the area. Then I recalled posters advertising a traveling circus. Here they were, camped out for the afternoon. The giraffe looked quite content, staring across the creek at me. Who knows what it was thinking!

Germany

I just finished a walk on the medieval pilgrim path for about 150 miles through Germany.
Started in Rothenburg, walked to Speyer, 116 miles. From there I turned south along the Rhine River and went to the French border, to Wissembourg.
Everyday I just walked, carrying a small backpack with a change of clothes, camera, jacket, and a lunch. The countryside was very green, with rolling hills. Charming villages with guesthouses and nice folks. Love the lace curtains, the many forests full of birds and the easy paths.
Now I am in Italy. Spent the day wandering through the Greek temples in Paestun. WOW:

Marathon walking group

Today was our last hilly, long walk before the Eugene Marathon May 1, 2011. As you can see, we had a great time. Everyone did great on the big hill!