Today is Father's Day and Ken and I are in Cuenca, far from the children. To make our guys feel better, my neighbor and friend, Robin and I decided to surprise them with a special lunch. Little did I know how special this was going to be!
It was a glorious day, and we decided to take the fifty minute walk to Casa Alonso. Here are some of the sites we passed along the way.
We finally arrived at our destination, and learned our restaurant was located inside the beautiful Mansion Alcazar, or as it's know, "House of Angels".
We literally gasped as we walked through the front door, and experienced the splendor of this beautiful mansion that once belonged to a bishop. The mansion houses a restaurant, coffee bar and boutique hotel. It has eleven rooms and three suites, each one individually decorated with antiques.
We were led outside to the breathtaking garden and seated at our table.
After placing our orders, we were served three small specialty breads. That was soon followed by what was called a palate stimulator. It consisted of what looked like yellow cherry tomatoes covered in a balsamic dressing. It was both sweet and tart at the same time. That was followed by a palate cleanser. It was an edible rose petal lightly sprinkled with powdered sugar topped with a tiny dollop of passion fruit sorbet. Yummy and totally unique! As we chatted, we spotted beautiful hummingbirds! They were larger than we see in the States, and a vivid blue-green color. Joe told us there are 150 different species of hummingbirds in Ecuador.
The main course was served on pewter platters with a large cover topped with an angel. While eating we noticed the sky getting darker and the wind picking up. We ordered dessert for this special occasion, and raindrops started to fall. We hurried inside, when for the first time since we've been here, we heard thunder rumbling then torrential rain and hail. It was sudden, and lasted only about fifteen minutes.
We also enjoyed our time inside, and couldn't believe once the rain stopped, how much ice collected in the outdoor flower pots. After dessert we headed back outside to further explore the garden, and just look at what we saw!
The general manager offered to give us a tour of the hotel. Sandra was charming and friendly as were our servers at lunch. Sandra shared that when the hotel first opened a few years ago, there were a lot of reproductions. Today, the majority of the rooms are furnished with real antiques. Just take a look.
I 'm the antique standing in front of the fountain located in the center of the hotel lobby. It is filled with fresh flowers daily. The cape I'm wearing was purchased last year in Cotaccachi Ecuador, a beautiful rural Andes town that specializes in leather goods. The cape has pieces of leather stitched together.
The rain stopped, and despite the drop in temperature of at least five degrees, we decided to walk back home. Along the way, the sun peeked out
out and we were again overcome by the beautiful views and snapped some more photos as we headed home.
We had a memorable day, spent with good friends. All of us agreed on one thing; not everyone is cut out to live in a third world country!
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