Antigua Guatemala Hotels
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Enjoying the eye candy in Chapinlandia
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ARRIVING IN CHAPINLANDIA
After a short 1 ½ hour flight, we landed with excitement in Guatemala. As soon as we stepped off the plane and into the airport, the eye candy began! Good looking Guatemalan men everywhere: stamping our passports, getting our luggage, securing the airport - welcome to, as I like to call it, the land of the Guattie Hotties!
We were quickly welcomed by Andres, our driver sent by the hotel. He would be driving us to the colonial town of La Antigua Guatemala, which is where we were staying for 2 days. Andres was friendly and welcomed us with a huge smile. We boarded the comfortable van and were amazed at what we saw along the way: excellent highway systems that could have easily been plucked from the U.S. and a well-signed and organized city that reminded us a lot of Santo Domingo, there was even Bachata and Merengue music being blasted in the streets - we felt so at home!!
In South America, I fell in love with Chile (though I don't believe in long distance relationships, so we've broken up since then!). In Central America, I fell in love with Guatemala, though it will have to be a fling, since I'm on a plane back to Costa Rica in two days!
LA CIUDAD DE PANZA VERDE
La Antigua Guatemala was a colonial city dream, with cobblestone roads, colorful 16th Century architecture and so much charm packed in every corner, park, and craft store! The people of La Antigua were also spectacular. They were warm, open, friendly and extremely engaging. The men of La Antigua, in addition to being easy on the eyes, were also full of "sazón" and loose with the beautiful compliments.
We enjoyed walking around the city, browsing in the many shops specializing in hand-made local crafts, and sitting in "Parque Central" and people watching. The city was so vibrant and we felt at home immediately.
We also enjoyed local cuisine. I tried the most typical dish of the region, "Pepian de Pollo" and Carolina had grilled vegetables. Very delicious. Caro also asked for a freshly made glass of "jugo de Rosa de Jamaica," which is made from the hibiscus flower. I never knew that flower was edible, much less a key ingredient for the local juice! I became addicted to this juice and requested it with every meal.
After lunch, we could not resist the urge to go native and each of us bought a hand-woven purse at very good prices and sported the beautifully textured fabric for the rest of our trip. We continued to walk and take in all the sites, churches, colonial ruins, and all of the charm La Antigua had to offer. The city felt very safe and there were tourism police officers everywhere. It was nice to finally be somewhere we could walk around at night. All tourists and locals kept the city alive at night, with music and local folklore. We felt very safe walking around at night and really took advantage of it, since we knew that walking around in Costa Rica at night is a no-no.
At dinner, that night, we were even approached by vendors selling bootleg CDs and movies. He was going table to table without batting an eyelash! We love Guatemala!
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