Tod wanted to visit Cuenca because of the historic architecture and I wanted to see the Panama Hat Factory. Ecuador’s most famous export is called a “Panama” hat. Exporting of the Panama hat began as early as the 1800’s. In the 1800’s Panama was part of what is now Colombia. Ecuador had very little traffic, tourist or otherwise, Panama on the other hand was a very busy corner of South America. Ecuador’s strong, lightweight straw hats were in demand so the exporting to Panama began. When asked where they got their hats people would reply “Panama” however would neglect to mention, “Oh, yes, it was made in Ecuador”. The hats were soon known as the “Panama” hat and now, a few centuries later, are still called Panama hats. And although we toured 2 factories and peeked our noses into the shop of Alberto Pollo – Casa del Sombrero – whose family has been in the hat business since 1900, we took no photos. The few photos we have are from the internet or of our packaged purchases. Touring the factories and trying on the sombreros was a highlight of this trip and I still cannot believe neither of us thought of taking pictures.

Along with the hotels, architecture and beautiful cathedrals, Cuenca is also known for its tourist attraction / night activities. Cuenca seems to have a strong population of expats and there are gathering areas such as specific coffee shops and restaurants which cater to the English speakers. We found Café Eucalyptus which is owned by an expat originally from the US. We really went there because they advertised several vegetarian options. Little did we know we had walked into Gringo trivia night at Café Eucalyptus. We were whisked to an upstairs table as the downstairs was reserved for the trivia teams. What a hoot we stumbled across! The tables filled up one by one with mostly retired expats, everyone seemed to know each other. Apparently Café Eucalyptus hosts trivia one night a week, salsa dance lessons one night, live music on the weekends and so on. Just a place for dinner and socializing in English. The website promises that on cooler nights they offer a blazing fireplace, plenty of sofa space and free marshmallows. What a concept! Real log fireplaces upstairs and down with free marshmallows.

It did not surprise me at one point to see several Gringos standing around this place that advertised “Happy Day” not “Happy Hour” and they specialize in subs and shots.