A Changing of The Guard in Quito

The Presidential Palace in Quito prior
to the ceremonial changing of the guard

Although elections were recently held in Ecuador, this post isn't about a new administration in our capitol city.  It's about a ceremony that occurs on most Monday mornings at 11:30 am.  It is a formal presentation and changing of the guard at the Presidential Palace.   This stately residence and office of the President of the Republic is located on the north side of the beautiful Plaza de la Independencia in the heart of the historico centro in Quito, Ecuador's capital city.

The Yazells being touristas in Quito!

When our son Stephen scheduled travel through Quito on his first visit to our new home, we decided to spend a couple of days showing him our capitol before his flight back to the US. (since we know someone will ask, we will be blogging later about the new international airport in Quito!).  Suzanne and I also stayed over a couple of more days to visit some of the of the areas we hadn't seen yet.  Other than Roger's birthday celebration, one of the highlights of our stay was the aforementioned guard changing ceremony at the Presidential Palace.

  Due to Presidente Correa being enroute to the Pope's coronation, the ceremony was overseen by Ecuador's current Vice President,  Lenin Moreno.   He is from our home city of Cuenca and we Cuencanos are proud of the fact that he was a nominee for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize!

Vice Presidente Moreno is in the center of this photo.  

In any case, we hope you enjoy the photos we took during the ceremony and hope you get a chance to enjoy this simple but elegant ceremony for yourself when you visit:

Here comes the guards!

No patriotic ceremony is complete without a good military band!

Some high step marching was called for as the guards assembled!

Students provided vocal accompaniment for the National Anthem.

The Ecuadorian flag is raised on the center tower of the palace during the National Anthem.

Colorful uniforms on units throughout the plaza made an impressive sight!

Quito was the very first city ever named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It's historico centro has beautiful churches, government buildings, museums, wonderful plazas and a mixture of great architecture that includes old European , gothic and even a little art deco in addition to the classic colonial.
This is a must stop for any visitor to Ecuador, especially if you plan to spend a day or two in Quito in transition to the coast, the Amazonia, the Galapagos or even the rest of the Andean Sierra.

We thoroughly enjoy each and every time we visit this city but are always happy to return to Cuenca, our home and first love in Ecuador.  We feel fortunate to live in a country with so much to explore and enjoy as we continue our journey "juntos en el camino de la vida".