Ahh! Cooler climes!

 September 4, 2023

We'll be on the road again this morning!  We entertain ourselves by watching the honey bees that are attracted to our breakfasts and tea!  I have more pancakes and Juan is kind enough to give me his bananas even though the waiter said they were out of bananas!  Juan must have worded some magic.

I'd never heard of Tag Airlines; but it was efficient and a smooth flight.

It's a quick ride to the little airport (two gates) and we don't have to wait very long for our super quick flight back to Guatemala City. There we find a guide who leads us through the throngs to escape the airport and find our here, Georgio!  And it's on to Antigua! 

Once again we are required to use a local guide, so we meet up with ours. hoping for the best.  First he takes us to a restaurant that he says is wonderful.  There is a bakery on the ground floor and we can smell the baking banana bread with chocolate and raisins!  Upstairs there are fascinating paintings on each of the end walls and examples of textiles on another wall.  The food is very American and no one is particularly impressed and the guide spends a lot of time telling us about how wonderful he is and how educated he and his children are.  I have a chicken salad sandwich with stale chips.  Other choices are equally uninspired. (So far he hasn't made any points!)

The main plaza is as beautiful as we've come to expect.  Enormous birds of paradise!

The government building

I believe he sells an icee kind of drink.

And oh the colors!

The 21 Mayan languages, each distinct and unintelligible to other Mayan speakers!

Had the weather been better we would have eaten down there.

We finish up and buy one of the magical loaves from downstairs.  On, now, to the tour. We don't get too far before it begins to rain.  We duck into the cathedral that he was heading for anyway and he continues to "enlighten" us.  We wind up at the jade market...surprise... and no one buys anything, which I'm sure disappoints him immensely. We saw lots of pretty old colonial buildings and learned a bit of the history of colonial Antigua. Good thing Juan had told us so much on the van at various times!  Antigua is actually the third capital of Guatemala, the first two having been destroyed by Mother Nature. When the third earthquake hit Antigua, the capital was moved, again.  This time to Guatemala City.  There are three tectonic plates that meet under Guatemala, the movement of which creates the volcanos and earthquakes.

So many motorcycles! No wonder at the price of gas.

His Nibbs

This is the only part of the cathedral that is still usable.

Yep, just like home, every afternoon.

The back Jesus wasn't originally this color.  It's from the incense.

The priest is preparing to say mass, so we brave the elements to see the ruins that
are the result of the last earthquake that destroyed the majority of the cathedral.

Juan is such an excellent photographer!  I hope I get to see this shot!

Because Antigua is a World Heritage Site, there will be no restoration, just enough work
to stabilize the structure.

Such destruction

It took sixty people to carry this piece in the Holy Week procession.

Notice the pyramid - it has seven layers, which is a perfect number in Christianity,
instead of the nine layers that you find in Mayan sites.  But the churches were all
built by Mayans, so this is a nod to their heritage.

Ceremonies used to be held down there.  WE didn't go see!

Back out on the street!

The colonial arrchitecture can be seen in all the large structures.

It used to be that the first-born girl became a nun and the first-born boy became either
a soldier or a priest.

Ice cream!

I know some wacky people who work in electronics!

This is the Red Queen, buried with so much jade.

The rain didn't last very long, just like at home and after our guide leaves us we make our way to our new hotel, Hotel Genessis.  What a treat!!  The central courtyard is a garden paradise and there is coffee and tea available twenty-four hours a day. Gregorio has deposited all our luggage in one of our rooms and we each claim our own and settle into yet another glorious room!  The window overlooks the courtyard and there are little tables for two scattered all along the perimeter.

There's a little time to relax before Gregorio picks us up for dinner.  Ginger hears our voices and pops her head into our room through the window! We're all enjoying coffee or tea and laughing at everything.  If that guide could hear us, he'd curl up and die!  Soon Suga joins Ginger and it's even more fun!  We decide we want to retire here!  Everyone will have a room and we'll hire a caterer and a gardener and live out our days in style!

Juan had called a restaurant to make reservations and they said it wasn't necessary and that they were open until ten.  They weren't.  They were closed when we arrived at 7:30. After a bit of driving and seeking suggestions we find a marvelous place with ambience and gourmet food.  People have such treats a filet mignon, shrimp in orange sauce, and tortilla soup! I have tomato and avocado soup and it's superb! We're finishing up when Ginny decides she needs a cup of coffee.  I'm fascinated by the free-ranging discussions we have at meals...everything from Burning Man to the origins of life!

Home again and ooh boy is it time for bed!!