Our wonderful driver picked us up at the Guate City airport Sunday night to take us to Antigua. I was so happy to finally meet him, after sending 60 emails back and forth coming up to this trip- I could not have planned it all without his help and patience in answering all my questions. If anyone decides to go to Guatemala, try and hire Alfredo Garcia for transportation.
We made it to our hotel, about a 10 minute walk from the city center, after 10:00 that night. The owner was there to greet us and show us up to our room which is absolutely beautiful. We were especially excited to have hot water at any time of day (I know, we’re spoiled).
We went to bed and woke up early since this was our only full day in Antigua. When I walked outside the room, I got to really notice all we had missed out on in the dark the night before. Everywhere you looked, there were plants and flowers.
We had a beautiful terrace with a hammock surrounded by greenery, looking down at the courtyard.
There were steps that went further up as well, leading to a rooftop terrace with great views of the volcanoes. While we were up looking around, one of the volcanoes started erupting, sending ash up into the sky. This was our first time witnessing something like that.
Once we were done watching, we went on down to the courtyard to eat breakfast and do some blogging. The owner of the hotel came over to talk with us for awhile, her adorable Shih Tsu “Mimosa” coming to greet us as well. The owner gave us a map of Antigua, pointing out some places she thought we should check out. Realizing there was a lot to see that day, we went and grabbed our go bag and started walking to the central plaza.
The park was really enjoyable in itself. We would sit on a bench and people watch for quite awhile. You do get a little bit used to saying “No gracias” non-stop with all the little kids wanting to shine shoes (we weren’t wearing shoes that were shine-able, though), the beautiful Mayan women coming around trying to sell their gorgeously made scarves and shawls, and different men wanting to sell musical instruments, necklaces, or cigarettes…but you can’t blame them for trying, and it was interesting seeing the different aspects of the culture. I figure I will buy a scarf or two at some point before the trip is over.
We went walking around town, checking out the different cathedrals and ruins. They were absolutely beautiful, each in their different way.
We also stopped at some markets, amazed by all the color everywhere.
We walked down different streets, and eventually came across the beautiful arch, which I had to get a picture of at every angle.
We stopped and drank some local coffee and some local beer and hung out for a bit, and then decided it was time to find a restaurant for lunch. We searched for awhile, but we found Cafe Sky on the outskirts of town which had a fantastic terrace with views of Antigua and the surrounding volcanoes.
We found another cathedral, ruin, and market all in the same area, so we walked around there for awhile before heading back to the park.
Giving our feet a rest, we sat there enjoying all the goings-on around us. Dogs were happily running around, parents were setting their little children up on horses for pictures, a man was trying to teach a kid to juggle, and a teenage boy next to us- who had been anxiously waiting while holding flowers and an adorable love letter glued to some colorful paper- finally found his girl, making her blush and smile real big.
We got some more coffee and waited for a friend of Anthony’s from high school to come meet up with us for dinner. She is currently living in Guatemala City, teaching English to different age groups, so it was great hearing a little about her time here. She was also the one who had previously reassured me that we would be perfectly safe coming to Guatemala, so we appreciated that she had saved us from ditching our plans of coming here. So if you’re reading this, Kristen, thank you!
After dinner, we stopped by a store on our way back to the hotel, and spent the rest of the evening on our terrace, looking forward to our upcoming stay at the lake.
