So, we hiked up Volcano Acatenango on Thursday. Climbing up a hill made of dirt and gravel it was most akin to. Each step was always accompanied by the fear of a slip. 26 footfalls raised a cloud of powder in our line of 13 tourists from around the world. We hiked up for 6 hours starting in farm fields going through forests into the clouds.… Read the rest
2/3/2015 Antigua
We went to the market this morning and picked up a few things. Then we went to find a baguette and walked up to the Cerro de la Cruz and had lunch. It was a beautiful day and we looked at view for a while. We looked in on the Candelaria ruin on our walk. It’s closed to the public and looks like it is someone’s driveway.… Read the rest
2/3/2015 Antigua
Yesterday we walked through the ruins of the San Francisco convent. The place was almost empty. The scale of it all is amazing. Completely different from the reformed ruin of Santo Domingo. Most of San Francisco has not been rebuilt. Huge columns support lonely walls reaching into a blue sky. There are smudges of original designs in plaster on the bricks.… Read the rest
2/1/2015 Antigua
Today we sat around all morning talking to our new roommate Jasmine from Germany. We walked up Cerro de la Cruz at noon and took some pictures. Then we caught a shuttle to Cerro Santo Domingo it has a sculpture garden and a restaurant. We went for the most important thing first, the canopy zip lines. We soared through the trees on a bunch of different cables.… Read the rest
1/31/2015 Antigua
Yesterday, Jill got some new blog cards printed. We also visited Dyslexia bookstore. A tiny place with lots of Antigua connections. I asked about the book Kabloona but he didn’t have it. It’s about a gentleman that lives with the Inuit in Canada for about a year in 1920 or thereabouts. Kabloona means white man in Inuit. Jim, the proprietor of Dyslexia, wrote an article about it in La Cuadra.… Read the rest
1/29/2015 Antigua, Guatemala
We’ve been having tons of fun here since our first day. I can’t remember what day we arrived on. The day after we arrived we found a lovely place for the right price. Since then we’re enjoying our practically private rooftop patio and finding delicious restaurants. On Tuesday we went on a walking tour. We learned, really just confirmed, that Antigua has little in common with the rest of Guatemala.… Read the rest
1/28/2015 Antigua, Guatemala
We had a bit of a plan when we arrived in Antigua. We were going to look for a place to rent for a week. We figured it would be cheaper than paying a daily price for a week. We had lunch of Fish & Chips to try to recover from the bus ride. The fish wasn’t even breaded, I’m not sure if that is proper.
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1/25/2015 Antigua, Guatemala
Hey look at us! We made it to Antigua. Yesterday was interesting, to say the least. We awoke at 6 and packed our bags. 7:30 found us outside the hostel restaurant waiting for the owner to get the front door open. He lost his keys. The unlocking somehow involved a rope and was successful. The owner appeared to be an Aussie who didn’t speak a lot of Spanish.… Read the rest
1/23/2015 San Marcos La Laguna, Lake Atitlan
I took care of the laundry today. It involves walking down the path to the Holistic Center and Laundromat and paying a woman 50Q/$6.54. Magically, 8 hours later I had a bag of clean, folded laundry. The whole process was transcendental. I was utterly calm. I found myself in another realm and was able to eat an entire pizza for lunch.… Read the rest
1/22/2015 San Marcos La Laguna, Guatemala
We made it to San Marcos La Laguna! We even have a place to stay. The ride was by mini bus and involved a lot of curves, rocks, speed bumps, holes, etc. We arrived at dusk and made our way to the hostel. A pedestrian walk way leads everyone through an odd assortment of shops, holistic clinics, hotels, and restaurants. English is the easy language here.… Read the rest