The night movement in Calderón Park is activated by the intense traffic and dozens of people who walk around or through this place. / XCA
Walking through the central streets of Cuenca when night falls is to discover its hidden side. The lights, the music, the noise of conversations and the laughter lead to a single destination: Calderón Park.
This place, which during the presidency of Eloy Alfaro was named Plaza Luis Vargas Torres, has two ways of experiencing it. One, during the day with hundreds of executives and public officials who hurry between the different government buildings.
The other, when the city lights come on and the park leaves behind that formal image and becomes a boulevard that brings together hundreds of citizens who enjoy a walk through its corridors or just share a moment on the recently restored benches. of wood.
The intense cold felt in the city is not an impediment for tourists like Marcela Párraga to rest in front of the Cathedral of La Inmaculada. She came from Portoviejo and brought gloves, scarves, and caps to “confront” the climate of the Athens of Ecuador.
She commented that together with her two children, husband and cousins, she toured the entire park. She walked through the portals of the cathedral where she tasted the foams of Janeth Paucar, who remains seated with her patent leather on the corner of Benigno Malo and Sucre streets.
He also took the opportunity to capture pleasant memories in spaces such as Santa Ana street and the San Luis Seminary, places where locals and strangers seek the best angles to take a picture with the mythical environment or with the illuminated domes of the cathedral.
Like Párraga and his family, dozens of citizens from different latitudes of the world enjoy all the spaces that make the Historic Center an unforgettable destination.
spaces
Although, during the day, the social, cultural and economic development of the city moves around Parque Calderón, there are other economic spaces that remain active beyond office hours.
Places like the portals, located on three of the four sidewalks that surround the park, bring together more than 20 places that offer all kinds of cuisine. Here you can find everything from ice cream in a cone, through typical food to international gastronomy.
Things as simple as a patent leather, or one made of chifles, potatoes and canguil also coexist; as well as craft stalls that are displayed on the ground or on improvised tables.
Janeth Paucar, for example, has been offering the traditional foam for 18 years. With a wide smile, she receives those who for just 50 cents get a sweet sandwich accompanied by jam and colored sprinkles.
While selling his products, he assures that the corner where he is located became his second home. Now that it is the holiday season, her children accompany her throughout the day.
He assures that there is a lot of movement on weekends and that this is “good for business”.
Like her, more than 15 artisans are also located on the sidewalk of Benigno Malo and Bolívar streets. They are people from Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile, and Uruguay who have made Cuenca their home over the years.
Jesus Carvajal is one of them. It exhibits necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings and other accessories made by him. He arrived from Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas ten years ago and since then he has dedicated himself to this trade and is located on the same corner.
“Come on, what are you looking for? art or accessory? We have everything! ”, She says to those who pass through the place. Some stop and observe, few are the ones who buy, but this does not disappoint him. He says that “that’s the job.”
The artisans arrive at this space from 18:00; Before, during the day this space is occupied by the traditional boot shiners, and they leave around midnight “when the ice cream parlor closes and they no longer have light in the passage,” according to Carvajal.
They say that they are already an active part of the place and that their work also contributes to this nocturnal transformation of Calderón Park. (PC)-(I)
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Public spaces are the most visited: Santa Ana street, San Luis Seminary, La Inmaculada Cathedral and the Old Cathedral Museum.