Antigua

Antigua is a beautiful town. I spent just under two days here and have a bunch of beautiful pictures and some great memories.

Things that stand out:

The Parc Central in the middle of town in beautiful. A big fountain in the centre, surrounded by treas and flowers and other greenery, and lots of benches for people to just sit and enjoy . . . .and they do. Peddlars come past constantly offering to sell their wares, provide a shoe-shine, juice, whatever. Children tag along behind their parents, often peddling their own stash of wares.

The streets are all cobblestone and there are no traffic signs (no lights, no stop signs), just the occasional one-way marker which is observed unless it´s inconvenient. There are a ton of motorcycles and mopeds here - people ride them double, triple, with children, babies . . . . usually without helmets. The traffic here is a wonder to me. And those intersections provide me with endess fascination. I can stand for quite a while just watching how traffic zips through and I haven't seen any accidents. You can't see around the corners - one only hopes no one else is racing through at the same time - and yet, somehow it seems to work. Somehow words feel like they fail to really illustrate the process.

My favourite moment, however, is clear and I wish I could have caught it on camera. A woman zipped by me on a motorcycle, and as she approached the intersection, without slowing down, she crossed herself and kept going. I stood and laughed for a full 3 minutes.

Later in the afternoon I went to explore the market. What an experience. I rarely get lost, as I have a really good sense of direction, but at some point, I realized I might actually be lost inside the endless corridors of this mammoth market. You can buy ANYTHING here. Shoes, chickens, veggies, tortillas, cds . . . . seriously, ANYTHING. I walked through with an unstoppable grin, just enjoying the show. Once I finally emerged, I found a woman making these amazing tortillas, with cheese inside, guac, cabbage and salsa on top. 5 Q. (That´s about 60 cents) . . . OH MY GODDESS!! SO GOOD.

As I was walking back towards the Parc Central from the market, I met my first traveler-friend in Antigua, Guy. He was wearing a polo shirt with a Canada flag, so I asked him where he was from. Turns out he´s from France, but loves Canada. I laughed. We wandered and chatted and ended up having dinner together . . . it was lovely to have company. I think, mind you, that I improved my french far more than my spanish. We hung out again the next morning and continued to explore Antigua. It was great. We got a tour of the old Cathedral, which was just amazing. It was originally built around 1545 and has been destroyed and rebuilt (at least partially) twice. The front part of the Cathedral has been mostly re-constructed, but the ruins of the former palace, the rest of the Cathedral and the catacombs underneath remain mostly as ruins, with a few reenforcement points. We got the tour from a ´helpful' local, who of course expected a tip at the end (my pleasure!) but had a much larger amount in mind than we expected - and he had neglected to mention that upfront. I was glad to have Guy with me (who speaks spanish quite well) to guide the transaction.

After the Cathedral, we wandered through the streets, stopping in little artisan shops to admire their wares, as we made our way to the big hotel. The name escapes me right now - but it´s the biggest, most expensive and most beautiful hotel in Antigua. It´s not a historical site, but it feels like one, and I think it was built over some ruins - because I think you can tour some inside. The courtyard is full of beautiful vegetation and birds. Wow! The birds!

After that, we headed back towards my hotel, stopping at my favourite little place for lunch, and then hustling back so I could make my shuttle to Panahachel on Lago Atitlan.

And that will be my next post . . . .