More on Antigua

Finding stuff is so much fun! Antigua is not a large city.  It is fairly new in the grand scheme of things, especially if you consider that the city still standing today was built after 1773 when the devasting earthquake leveled the town.  This Spanish town first established in the 1600s has been rebuilt over and over again amid and around the ruins.  While housing is more contemporary in Guatemala City, Antigua has chosen to retain its heritage. In so many examples, the fabulous facades of churches were all that was left standing.  Broken columns litter the floors of the formerly lavish churches while only portions of their walls remain.  Smaller homes and businesses were reduced to gravel and rocks and had to be made anew . . . all since 1773.  Since then, Guatemala has suffered other disastrous earthquakes in other parts of the country but because Antigua still sits atop two seismically active faults, the 1773 destruction was catastrophic.  Moreover, another horrific destructive earthquake in Antigua is always a possibility.  Someday there will be a shift of the faults’ positions, and the walls not made earthquake-resistant will come tumbling down again. 

There are so many ruins here, they run together.  I cannot begin to name the churches where fascinating skeleton facades remain; there are just so many.  

So how have we spent our time besides discovering more and more ruins?  Eating and walking!  There is one hotel here in Antigua that is the premier place to stay.  Its property is the where elaborate, 16^th century, 2-towered Dominican convent, Casa Santa Domingo, once the most important convent in the Americas.  Like most of Antigua, this grand religious place was destroyed by the 1773 earthquake.  Gone were its kitchens, dormitories, chapels, crypts, and cemeteries.  The rubble lay dormant for 200 years.  But in 1989, the place became a breathtaking five-star, park-like, hotel showcasing remaining ruins and housing a wonderful museum. Its owners did nothing to remove the relics, instead, they built a luxurious hotel around them.  It is wonderful and is a must see place in Antigua — you can tour the grounds and museum for a fee, or better yet, book a room there or have a meal there. 

One of the most sought-after destinations in Antigua is the Mercado Central.  We have traversed its maze several times, so many times now that we have become comfortable walking through the skinny aisles of foodstuffs, colorful Guatemalan clothing you’d wonder why you bought once you got home, pots and pans, spices, beans, bags full of grains and nuts, and a world of wonderful things.  Our first walk through this place was a little intimidating. We felt the need to get in and out as soon as possible.  But now we know where to find the best papayas, pineapple, onions, and lettuces, and where to find good peanuts to which my man is addicted.  Oh my, what a place. 

At the rear of the Mercado is the “bus station” for the chicken buses — the only way to get from city to city without a contracted shuttle, UBER, or a rental car. Surely there is a method to the madness but those buses are some crazy machines. We’re going to try them on our own someday as a new adventure. Just a few blocks away is the Cementerio General. We are not morbid in the slightest, but we are fascinated with the art and stories that lie in cemeteries. Because the Day of the Dead was a recent celebration, this beautiful cemetery was filled with flowers and many of the graves had just received a fresh coat of plaster and paint.

A few days ago, we decided to walk to the Finca de Pilar where there is a beautiful lookout over the valley.  We got a good walk that day down a lane through a small village and between farms of avocado trees, coffee plants, and vegetable rows.  By the time we arrived at the hike’s entrance, we felt we didn’t have time to hike to the top of the hill.  A few days later, we started earlier in the day and did that hike.  Once in the privately owned park, we began the ascent.  It reminded us of the Cambodian jungle.  It was dark and dense. Vines climbed the trees and wove thick green scarves; strange flowers bloomed here and there in the dark.  Thick roots descending from trees down the side of a dirt cliff were so formidable they created a woven wall no earthquake could destroy.  The amazing thing to us was that we heard no creatures in the brush; we heard no birds.  It was silent.  We trekked upwards.  Onward and upward; the trail was nicely maintained and the wooden steps, my God, so many steps, were in solid shape . . . much better hewn and maintained than those on the hike we did a few weeks ago at Semuc Champey. 

We met people along the way . . . two young men, brothers from Israel.  It is a peculiar moment to meet people on vacation while their country is at war.  What do you say??   It is just strange.  Still, we liked each other.  Why not?  We didn’t talk much about the war but expressed our hopes and prayers for an end to it soon.    Those young men are optimistic that our new president can make a difference.  I hope so.  I pray so. They think a show of strength is necessary in dealing with the Middle East.  As for me, I’m not sure how a lasting peace will ever be a reality there. 

As we continued our hike up the hill, we passed each other several times as one pair moved ahead while the other rested and caught their breath, and then we changed places.  They gave us tips for our trip to Acatenango coming up and we shared information with them about Lake Atitlan and Semuc Champey.   

Near the top, Stan and I read a sign with arrows indicating go to the left to reach the mirador and to the right to continue the path.  We went to the mirador. . .  that’s what we came for, the view.  Another sign warned us, but we didn’t fully understand that four cuadras meant four city blocks worth of steps.  Ouch! I can attest, that’s a lot of painful steps!  The air at the top was cool and fresh, and the view was worth the huffing and puffing.  We had our lunch there and took turns taking photos of each other and of a group of colleagues on an outing for their work, oh yes, team building. 

As we started our descent, we reached the sign with the arrows and opted to take the path this time, thinking it might offer a different view on the downhill path.  Uh-oh!  Nope!  The path took us on a continued uphill way.  We climbed another 8 cuadras of steps and hills.  After each section of steps, we asked each other if we should turn around.  Us turnaround?  We just kept walking.   Finally, we reached a road.  There was no mirador, no special view, no nada, just the option of continuing another 16 cuadras to the next and highest post to the left and the road to the exit to the right. We headed right, down the road, and the hill toward home.

When we reached our apartment, our watches indicated we walked a total of 8.5 miles round trip that day but more significantly and our butts felt it, we climbed the equivalent of 51 floors. 

One of these days we are going to stop this crazy hiking stuff! But probably not.

Heading to Acatenango tomorrow.  It’s a 5-hour strenuous hike to base camp but after reminding ourselves of our ever-advancing ages, we are passing on the hike and will ride up the volcano in a 4 x 4 and hike the remaining 2 km to our camp.  They tell us to prepare for windy and very cold temperatures.  Stan and I will sleep in a tent.  But if we can see red magma, sparks, and lava, we don’t care. 

This promises to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience!