HOUSEWARMING, CUENCA STYLE....

It was great that Carlos and Ximena Cabrera (neighbors) had their "CASA DE CAMPO"  housewarming while Deborah and Cristina were here.....they were invited along with us to experience this celebration......

We drove outside of Cuenca for about 30 minutes to an area called Descanso.....the "weekend getaway" house is very impressive and very lovely.....

It's built of stone & rocks found on the property,  and big timbers.  It sits high up on a hill and has the most fabulous view,  but then there are really no bad views in Ecuador...  This area is rather remote which is good because no one will ever built and block their view.....they have already planted a lot of fruit trees and the landscaping is lovely....

The celebration started with Mass in the Pavilion....the same priest Eduardo had when he "baptized" his new house...

Ximena is reading an epistle.....

 There are even two outside toilets....they thought of everything...

After Mass a wonderful sit down meal was served to over 100 people,  then the tables were cleared away and the dancing began....

Ecuadorians LOVE to dance, and no celebration is complete without a dance.....they had a terrific band and the music was lively, and good!

Carlos and Ximena, our hosts, put on a fabulous party.....tons of wonderful food,  lots to drink,  and fun people....even ran into Rita and Henry, old friends, whom we hadn't seen in ages!

This house is built for entertaining!!!   It's very roomy and spacious, and with a separate party pavilion it's quite unique!

 The floor plan is  very open and the centerpiece of the main living area is the specially hand made wrought iron stairway to the Master Bedroom suite....

The dining area is open to the kitchen -- note the table which unfolds to be twice the size....

A large comfortable "sala" can seat a big group in soft sofas and chairs....

It is very important to Cuencanos to have have a Casa de Campo  -- they range from small and charming to huge like this one....Susana talks all the time about building a country house.....Flavio and Eugenia have a darling small house that Flavio built himself ( I just love it,  and again it has a gorgeous view)

As the day wore on the stove was loaded with huge pots of tamales and humitas and everyone was fed again.....when they say "coffee" here it means coffee with something yummy to eat...never just coffee like the states!

Rita and Henry gave us a ride back to Cuenca....we really weren't up to dancing the night away with the Cabrera family...

but we had a grand time!!