Antigua

Communal pila where the ladies wash their laundry.

Arriving in Antigua on a Sunday afternoon was a weird feeling. The streets were packed with so many tourists from Guatemala city that it was hard to move and the brightly painted house walls reflected the yellow sunlight to a really beautiful effect. It felt like we had stepped into onto a movie set, or into a Guatemalan Disney Land. I was really excited to be back because it meant that I got to see my mom who was coming to visit for a week and a half. We met her in a coffee shop off of the plaza and spent the next few hours catching up and drinking Guatemalan coffee, the reason she flew all the way down here in the first place.

Visiting with Mom.

The next few days passed in a blur of shopping, walking, coffee, and wine. Even Andy managed to buy a souvenir; a $25 silver wedding ring to replace the one he lost.

The arch.

In the main square.

Eventually we forced ourselves to wake up early and take a tour to Pacaya volcano. For all three of us it was an easy hike up and we had a lot of fun watching the independent horse guides following the older more out of shape Americans calling out, “Taxi”. One particularly entertaining woman yelled at a young guy that no she didn’t want to ride a horse and then turn to her husband and yell at him that she couldn’t possible walk any further so he had better figure something out. Ten minutes later she passed us on horse back being led by the young guy holding the reins. All in all it was kind of a cheesy tour and, although people used to see lava on this hike, since it erupted in 2010 there isn’t anymore left to see.

Pretty colors.

We did get to climb into a steam hole, maybe not the safest thing ever, and warm up marshmallows over a lukewarm steam vent. Overall it was a fun, if touristy, trip and we enjoyed seeing the country side around Antigua.

These dogs follow tourists up and down Volcan Pacaya waiting for fallen snacks.

In the volcanic steam vent.

Antigua

From Miami we flew to Guatemala City, the jumping off point for our five months in Latin America.  Guate has a pretty bad reputation so we decided to skip exploring this sprawling capital city and head straight for nearby Antigua; apparently a near-universal decision for arriving tourists.

Volcanos abound

Antigua was one of the original colonial capitals of Guatemala, but it was semi-abandoned after a bad earthquake in the 1700’s and the capital shifted to it’s present day location.  These days it’s the hub of Guatemala’s tourism.  An easy one hour taxi ride straight from the airport (about $20 us) dropped us off at Antigua’s central park, a pretty plaza filled with trees, flowers, strolling Guatemaltecos and teenagers making out on park benches.  Not to mention more than a few tourists fending off shoeshine boys and textile vendors.

Arroz con leche, delicious sugary gloppy rice milk for about 35 cents US.

We walked around a while trying to find a cheap hotel, but ended up settling for an overpriced but decent place near the market for about $20 us a night.  Next it was time to explore a bit and check out the city. Antigua feels small.  Most of the streets are cobblestone (it was here that I saw the world’s most determined and vibration resistant roller-blader; tip of the hat to your sir)  and the place oozes so much colonial charm you have to wash it off your shirt afterwards.

It’s a place filled with “Artist’s light,” wafting woodsmoke, a perfect climate, friendly colorfully dressed locals and beautiful old architecture, with a soundtrack of roosters and churchbells.  A little Disney.  Still lots of fun, although a bit expensive and filled with classy restaurants and bars that we couldn’t afford; the town is definitely gentrified in the tourist zone.  We only stayed a couple nights and are looking forward to going back to explore more.

Our ride out of town; took me right back to being 10 years old on the way to school but the seats aren't so roomy these days