Back to Antigua Again
Trip Start
Jan 01, 2007
1
32
141
Trip End
Ongoing
Antigua,
Guatemala
Saturday, February 17, 2007
The ride itself was quite an adventure. Five minutes into the ride the driver turns around and heads back to town thinking that he forgot someone, but was actually looking at the schedule from the previous day. Off again we go. About two hours later we get pulled over by the cops. You know the ones with M16s in SWAT gear. Yikes. Our driver gets out and immediately reaches for his wallet. He is at the cop truck for no more than 2 minutes and we are able to leave. It appears he just had to pay the fine on the spot, wink wink, for having the wrong paperwork. Read into that what you like.
Not much longer after that, the van just shuts off and we pull off to the side of the road
Aqua Volcan at Sunset
. The van is dead. Ok not really. The driver somehow gets it started again after about 10 minutes. Polly and Ralph tell us that this same van died when it was taking them to Monterrico and they had to wait 45 minutes for another van. We got lucky. We arrive in Antigua, for our second stay, around 5:45pm. Not bad. ( The company we used is Don Quixote and maybe should be avoided until they get some new vans)Back in Antigua it is the end of cultural week and we have a hard time finding a room since it is the weekend (Friday night). We end up having to pay more than we like for not the greatest hotel. The 4 of us (Me, Kay, Polly, and Ralph) headed out to Mono Loco (crazy monkey) for some beers and much needed food. If you are looking for massive quantities this is the place to go. We could not even finish the nachos between the 4 of us. We could finish the beer though. We also worked up the courage to try a Michelado. A Michelado is a bloody mary with beer instead of vodka. It sounds horrible and kind of is until you get used to it. Our only word of advise is use Moza (Guatemalan dark beer) instead of Gallo (light beer) it tastes better. After that one we decide to call it a night and head back to the hotel.
The next day we spent way too many hours updating travelpod and uploading photos
Cathedral de Santiago
. (and are still not caught up) After the exhaustive hours at the internet cafe we ate at a fabulous Indonesian restuarant named Cafe Rocio. The Gadu Gadu and the Ginger Chicken is amazing. It is a very cute place with a little interior garden seating are run by Carlos and his son Carlos. They were incredibly nice and even gave us a free beer. So if you are in town stop by, say hello, and have some great food in a lovely little garden.The next morning we checked into the Black Cat hostel (50Q per person) and went to the local bagel shop for coffee and bagel sandwiches. God Save the Queen is a great concotion of egg, cheese, tomato, bacon, mushrooms and beans on a toasted bagel. Mmmm, I could eat one right now. Later in the day we wandered around town eating ice cream and checking out some other local sights. We happen to bump into a Russian lady from New York City who told us to follow her and she would show us the best part of Antigua. Ok why not. We continue down the street we were on and she takes us to the Hotel Santo Domingo. The hotel is absolutely gorgeous and is rated in Conde Nastes top 100 hotels in the world. It was recently rated #1 in all of Central America. It is built amongst the ruins of a 17th century monestary that had been destroyed in an earthquake. The ground of the hotel is built into and around the ruins for an amazing architectual effect. They have a little art museum, archeological museum and about a dozen parrots in the courtyard
Fountain at Santa Domingo
. There are fountains and beautiful plants everywhere. There was even a wedding going on in the outdoor chapel which is apart of the ruins. The site was just amazing. Hanna, the lady from NY, tells us to act like we are staying here and she will take us to some back gardens that are only open to guests. We do and she does. Apparently she comes here often and just sits in the gardens and reads. All was going well until one guard asked us for our room key. Busted! We had to go back to the public space with the other commoners. Note: If you have to use a public bathroom and want to use the cleanest and nicest in Antigua and probably all of Guatemala use the one here!
We stopped off at the Sky Bar for a final sunset and drink overlooking Antigua. We did not last long though because it was freezing and the wind is blowing. Back at the Black Cat Hostel we signed up for the shuttle to Lanquin in the morning. The shuttle runs direct from Black Cat to El Retiro, another great and highly recommend hostel. At Black Cat we met 4 guys from Colorado who are driving a Subaru Impreza wagon with surfboards through Central America volunteering at Habitiat for Humanity sites along the way. If you get a chance check out their website and see what they are up to. www.behmca.com/habitattrip
The rooms were very dark and we got a good night sleep. We were up early and on the bus to Lanquin. We felt like royalty in the bus because it is built to hold 26 people and Kay and I were the only ones on it. We will miss Antigua it is a wonderful town.
