From the roof of our apartment building:
We found out yesterday that we have access to the roof of our apartment building. The building super does a great job keeping everything clean. Even the roof is spotless. Here are some pictures around the neighborhood from the top of our building.
East
Looking to the East. Most of Cuenca run down the valley from here. The Tan and Concrete building at the right of the picture is an apartment building under construction. Even though this is a busy street, there are some very nice single family homes along the street as you can see in the lower part of the picture.
Northwest
Here you can see the mountains to the West of Cuenca along with more urbanizations (neighborhoods). In the lower middle part of the picture is a corner house that has been turned into a Jazz club. Many tiendas (stores) face the street with apartments in the remaining part of the house.
Southwest.
The Rio Tomebamba (River) is one of four rivers that start in the mountains above Cuenca and run through town. They are all marked by tall trees with grass parks on both sides for most of their lengths. It is one block walk for us to get to the river. Because the rivers start so close up in the mountains, the water in Cuenca is very soft. It is treated and has a good taste out of the tap. There is no need to boil or drink bottled water at home here, it can be drunk from the tap.
North
Northeast