Antigua August 16- 20

Now guide books say that you can see Antigua in a week but a lot less time if you really work at it.  We were coming from over a week in the highlands of Lake Atitlan.  We felt that we just wanted time to relax and possible be pampered a bit. 

We left San Pedro by van at 1PM.  It started out very well for there were only 7 of us in a 12 person van so that meant there was plenty of room to stretch out.  But as we listened to the driver talk on his cell phone we heard that he would be picking up several other passengers.  So we went up the mountain road and got a single woman at one on the towns, we continued on and picked up three more guys before really headed out.  Now the van was packed and we were sitting very close together.  Our driver was good so we slowly moved along the road.  When we got to the main highway our trip went faster.  At the top of the mountain range we stopped at Restaurant Chicoy for a short break.  We looked out to the valley and saw that there were big black clouds coming our way.  By the time we all were back in the van it had started to rain.  When the driver pulled onto the main road the front windshield had started to fog up.  The defroster was not working yet, so Hank sitting in the front seat was using a shirt to wipe the driver’s side of the window as he drove along the road.  Suddenly we realized it was hailing and that the clouds were making it into white out conditions. Thankfully the driver pulled to the side of the road and turned on the flashers.  Just then a chicken bus went whizzing by us, gosh I am sure that he couldn’t see but I guess that didn’t matter.  As the weather cleared we continued on and finally reach the city of Antigua.  The driver stopped right by the Santa Catalina Arch and that is where our Bed and Breakfast Inn was so we piled out and took the luggage to the iron gate and rang the bell.

The Cloister is a private home owned by Barbara Leaver; the 9 rooms surround the patio with access to the kitchen, living room and dining room.  It is very lovely. 

Our room was number 5; it was roomy with a beautiful fireplace that we used every night.  It was such a treat to stand under the shower and just let the hot water flow on your body.  On the boat we are always aware that we have to make the water before we can use it, so we try to conserve.  It was also a treat to sleep on sheets that had been ironed; oh they were ever so soft. 

Coffee was ready at 6:30AM, so you could go get your coffee and bring it back to the room.  We did that a lot.  You had a choice of several different breakfasts, but I want to say that the French toast was great.  We always had fruit and fresh squeezed orange juice.  After breakfast that first day, we went directly to the Main Square or park to meet with Elizabeth Bell from Antigua Tours.  Elizabeth came to Antigua 40 years ago with her family.  She gives a walking tour 4 days a week.  You can tell from her presentation that she loves the city and has worked very hard on conservation committees to preserve the ruins of the city.  Many of them they have just added some structural strength, leaving the gaping holes and fallen columns.

Our tour began in the park and then we moved to the Palacio del Ayuntamiento (City Hall) where we sat in the city council hall and Elizabeth explained the workings of this city and part the mayor played in it.  From the porch of the city hall each way you looked you could see a volcano.  To the right was Agua Volcano and the other way was Volcano Fuego. 

Next we moved on to the Cathedral of Santiago.  This has been the site of a church since about 1545.  It has been built, destroyed and rebuilt many times.  The current church is not really a cathedral in the strict sense of the word.  It is really two restored chambers and several sculptures of Christ.  One of them is black and they all seem to track with their eyes. 

Behind the restored or reconstructed part of the Cathedral is the part of the Cathedral that is still in ruins and will remain as it is now.  Elizabeth explained how they were giving strength to the structures without changing the appearance of them.  We went over to the crypt area of the cathedral and went down the stairs two by two.  Our guide said that many times when using a digital camera white spots will appear in the picture.  When it was our turn to go down the stairs we took a picture and saw no white spots.  Before taking a second picture, Betsy said, “Venga espiritus.”  That next picture taken in the dark has several white spots showing. 

After the Cathedral we heading toward the Hotel Santo Domingo for it has Antigua’s finest museums.  The site was once the city’s largest and wealthiest monastery, with a church completed in 1666, but it was damaged and eventually destroyed by the 18 century earthquakes.  The family that owes the hotel has built it around the ruins.  They use wooden walkways to preserve some of the old ruins and sacred sites.  This picture shows us walking by the old kitchen area which is to the right of the walkway.  

Several museums are housed within the same complex and there is also a gorgeous monastery church which was cleared of rubble and restored in the early 1990.  When we first saw the church the altar area was draped for protection.  When Betsy went back the next day, the string ensemble that would be playing at the night performance was practicing and the drapes had been removed.  The altar area was beautiful! 

There is a small archaeological museum, but Betsy found the exhibit of glass and colonial artifacts the most interesting.  The exhibit was called, Museo Vigua de Arte Precolombino y Vidrio Moderno.  This matches a pre-Colombian artifact with similar glass art.  Much of the glass was from Sweden and many pieces were from famous glass artists. There was so much written information about the artifact and the background that it was fascinating. 

As you walk around at night you cannot help but stare at the beauty of the Cathedral with its lights aglow. If we left the Cloisters and headed to the left we would come to the Central Park, likewise if went to the right we would walk two blocks north and reach the Church and Convent of Our Lady of Merced.  This is one of Antigua’s most beautiful churches, painted in a bright yellow and adorned with white lily motifs on its columns.  The design reminded us of churches that we had seen in Oaxaca, Mexico.  The fountain is said to b the largest in Latin America and in the shape of a water lily. 

We had some wonderful food in Antigua, it is a perfect town to share dinners for then you get to taste more than just one thing.  We highly recommend the following restaurants, Fusión, La Esquina, The Rum Bar, Sangré, and Café Condesa.  We were going to splurge and have a really special dinner but somehow we never got around to it.  If you want to know more about food, go to that section of our website for we have included pictures and descriptions of some entrées.

On our last day we checked out the Textile Museum; which was cheap and somewhat interesting.  Betsy also went to the central market and was amazed by the large collection of venders.  She also found a couple more pillow covers.  We saw a great hanging piñata as we were walking to a pharmacy  We had seen streets of piñata venders in Guatemala City but there were very few her in Antigua.  This one reminded us of Tony the Tiger. 

Everywhere you go in Guatemala you will be people carrying things on their head or their backs.  When the roads needed to be repaired, it was not machines that moved most of the dirt and rocks but the strength of men.  Men usually carry loads on their back using a strap across their forehead or the top of resist the urge to get a quick photo.  One of the guys realized he was getting his picture taken and even smiled for her.

Our trip back to the Rio Dulce started at 7:30AM when a van picked us up at The Cloisters to drive us to Guatemala City.  Our bus would not be leaving until 10AM but there is always a lot of morning traffic and there was also major construction on the road, so it is best to go early.  Our driver got us to the Linea Dorado bus terminal in plenty of time.  We had reservations but we still needed to buy our ticket for this first class bus.  We didn’t leave right on time for a family group of about 6 passengers were late in arriving so although the bus started to leave right on time, we pulled back into the terminal and waited for these passengers.  This terminal was somewhat like an airport, for when we went to the door to board the bus, there was a metal detector to walk through and they inspected our carryon luggage.  I was a little concerned when I saw this process because I had a cheese knife in my backpack along with a loaf of banana bread.  I am not sure if they missed seeing it, or if it was no big thing because they handed me my backpack and let me on the bus. 

The bus got us to our stop of Rio Dulce about 3:45PM or so; we had called the marina to please send the launch and so after a short wait, we were again heading back to Equinox to see how she had been in our absence. We also knew that we would be returning to Antigua for there were places that we had not gotten to see and we have yet to do the climb up the Pacaya Volcano.