The sound of gunshot echoes throughout the city. Actually it is the boom of sky rockets exploding above us that also set off the car alarms with regular monotony.

My memories of Christmas Day 2011 spent in Cuenca won’t be that of:
- the 9am city bus tour that never turned up. I along with the others (Dirk, Peter, John, Tara and Stephanie) who wisely had a sleep in and a later breakfast caught the 11 am one instead. Sitting up top in the open the series of city images that I captured show why Cuenca city centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the architecture with the brown roof tiles and cobble stone streets. This US$5 and 90 minute tour was worthwhile as it took me to parts of Cuenca that I would not have walked to.
- Nor will it be of the hostal slow and erratic internet connection.

But my memories will be of the memories of the children all dressed up, people carrying small mangers, the Christmas Day services with the churches overflowing and standing room only, and even more parades of floats passing through the streets.

While the museums and panama hat shops and factories were closed today, experiencing a local Christmas Day even a tiny bit is priceless. Perhaps I should have stayed awake and gone to a Spanish spoken midnight mass.

After the bus tour, the shops were opening and people exited from the various churches.

Farewell dinner at Café Eucalyptus and the Christmas Dinner was for me the:
- entrée the pork and rice stuffed cabbage leaves with sour cream (Romanian Sarmale)
- mains was rosemary roasted turkey with house made sausage stuffing, turkey gravy, roast potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, baby carrots and pearl onion.
- desert was suppose to Caribbean Christmas Pudding with Brandy Butter but they had none so I had to settle for the English sherry trifle with fresh fruit and cream.

This was US$19.95 plus the 10% tax then add on another 10% for the tip.

Re-ordering and finish titling of the photos still to be done.