Antigua
Trip Start
Jan 01, 2007
1
29
141
Trip End
Ongoing
Antigua,
Guatemala
Saturday, February 10, 2007
When you first get to Antigua you notice how clean and colorful the city looks. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and takes pride in this distinction. The town square is flanked by the massive facade of a church built before the 1773 earthquake, a time when Antigua was still the capital of the country, and multiple Government buildings. In the center of the square is a large fountain that is actually running. This is the first fountain with water in it that we have seen. Throughout the city there are at least a dozen different ruins of churches that have been destroyed by earthquakes over the centuries. They are a really neat site to see. Looming off in the distance are three massive volcanos that dwarf the city and cast an imposing shadow. The town has a bit of a cosmopolitan feel to it with many restaurants, hotels, cafes, bars, ice cream shops, bookstores and retails shops.
We wander around looking at many hotels before staying at a lovely little place near the market, called Hospadaje Cafetin. Before meeting up with Luke and Emily for a beer and some food we explore the market next to our hotel.
Arch
It is full of the sounds and smells of dozens and dozens of fruit and vegetable vendors selling everything you can grow in Guatemala. When you get all the way to the back of the market (If you can get there. The place is massive and quite confusing) you hit the clothing vendors. They are selling T-shirts, shorts, shoes etc. When I take a closer look I notice that some of them have American sports teams on them and other State specific items. When I look even closer it looks like the clothes you would see at Goodwill in the States. I believe that all of this clothing was donated somewhere in the USA and is now being sold here in Antigua. Quite intrigued I dive in and find a Philadelphia Phillies shirt with a picture of Veterans Stadium on it, which was torn down 3 years ago (maybe 4). I have to buy it and send it to my brother. Its 10Q or about $1.40, Sold! There are many other shirts from many states that I recognize, including a Dodgers-Phillies World Series T-shirt with Pete Rose´s name. We continue on through the market and end up at the public soccer field where there is a game going on. Kay had been sitting there waiting for me and bought an ice cream for herself and the little boy sitting next to her. We watch the game for a bit and head back to the hotel.
We met up with Luke and Emily the first evening and walked around looking for a place to eat and talk. We end up at an Irish pub named Reilly's that sells Guinness! If you go here ask the price of the Guinness first.
Chicken bus in action
Lucky for me I did and quickly declined the $8 US Guinness, and instead asked for a lovely Moza dark beer at $2 US. Oh well I guess I will have to wait until I get home for a lovely pint of the dark stuff. The pub served an amazing dish of chicken curry chips (french fries). They were really good and I could have eaten the entire thing myself. Later in the town square we watched some local dancing event with live music. It is Cultural Week in Antigua and they will be hosting different events each night. Over the next couple of days we visited multiple church ruins and wandered most of the streets of the city. The people and the relaxed atmosphere make you feel at home and I can see how people stay a long time in Antigua. We also learned a valuable lesson about the mail system in Guatemala. It is extremely expensive to mail anything outside of the country using regular mail or DHL. We had wanted to send home some coffee we bought in San Pedro and a few other items. However, it turns out that it would cost about $30 US PER KILOGRAM to send home. This would be about ten times the cost of the coffee. (Sorry Ted no shirt for you) We met a Dutch guy in the post office who was sending home 19 kilos of stuff he did not want to carry and it was costing him 1800 Quetzales!! Thats about $240 US. I would toss it and buy it again for that same $240. The only funny aspect of this lesson is that the post office does not print one stamp for 1800Q but uses individual stamps for 10Q each. His package was completely wrapped in 180 stamps as if it were christmas wrapping paper. They also put a rubber stamp on top of each individual stamp afterwards -- so you can imagine how long it takes to wait in line!
We stopped one night at a lovely cafe just off the main square, La Cenicienta Pasteles, where we had Tiramisu and brownies with coffee and hot cocoa. The Tiramisu was not bad, and I am a tough critic. After a day of walking around and checking out the Artisans markets we were ready for some adventure. Be forewarned the people in the markets are very tough negotiators.(Do not let size or age fool you they could make millions selling junk bonds on Wall Street if they worked there) Whatever price they say just walk away and it will magically drop and continue to drop. Make the price stop wherever you feel is appropriate for the quality of the item. If you do not want to haggle and want to know what the real value of the item, check out one of the many retail stores that have fixed prices. One large warehouse-sized one is just past the Arch. This market is run similar to a cooperative and there is no haggling and everything has a price on it. It is also a great place to take pictures of the many crafts produced by the Indigenous people.
On Monday night we headed out to hike Volcano Pacaya. Check out the next post for the story.
Cheers, Frank
