7:00 AM shuttle to Guatemala City to pick Laura up from the airport. We would be spending the week in Antigua, an old Spanish colonial town located hour away from Guatemala City. There is not much to see in G.C. Located in a valley, it is spread out and full of pollution and crime.
Shuttle brought us right to Hotel Dionisio. Small, cute little place with only 8 rooms, a kitchen, open courtyard and balcony area to hang out. The view from the balcony was really nice. Most mornings were clear and we could view the three volcanoes, Antigua, Acatenango and Fuego surrounding the city. The last, Fuego is an active volcano and regularly shoots up puffs ash and hot rocks.
Antigua used to be the capital during Spanish Colonial times. Many Churches, Monasteries, Convents and other Colonial building were built and subsequently destroyed by earthquakes. Each time they would rebuild, but finally around 1763 a huge earthquake destroyed the city. Antigua was abandoned, Capital moved to G.C and forgotten for many years. Eventually people started moving back, reoccupying the single level buildings that were still standing, but did not rebuild any of the churches. So as you walk around the cobblestone streets of Antigua, there are many churches that are beautiful example Spanish Colonial architecture, gated off, still in ruins with the arches that once held the building together lying in a pile in the center of the church. Antigua has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site for its colonial style and history.
The first couple of days we just walked around Antigua, taking lots of pictures, doing some dry runs through the market (i.e checking out the prices) We did visit a museum that displayed the history of Guatemala’s 30 year civil war, albeit it was all in Spanish so it was tough to get the details, but the pictures spoke volumes about the conflict. We also went through a Franciscan monastery that had been destroyed by an earthquake that was equally interesting. It was founded by Friar Hermano San Pedro who was renowned for his healing powers. Pope John Paul II made him a Saint, a designation the Antiguans are quite proud of. Walking around the monastery was interesting, but unfortunately there were no signs indicating what the different rooms were used for, leaving it to the imagination of what it must have been like. They did have on display Saint Pedro’s robes and underwear. The latter woven together by thick wool cords and looked most uncomfortable. The next couple of days we spent in the mercantile market, bargaining for scarves, jewelry, shirts etc. all of which can be quite exhausting.
We stayed in Antigua a couple of days longer than expected, because we wanted to do an overnight hike to the top of Acatenango and the only guided trip was leaving on Saturday. Detail on the hike coming up in my next post.
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