La Antigua, Guatemala – May 7-14, 2011

We left Flamingo Beach at 9:45 a.m. and arrived at the hotel in La Antigua around 9 p.m.  We spent a fair amount of time waiting in airports in Liberia and San Jose and doing transfers between hotels and airports and even between airports in San Jose.  We were also in the air for a while as well.  For the flight from San Jose to Guatemala City we were in Business Class so it was very nice.  Too bad the flight wasn’t even longer!  Anyway we arrived at Soleil at La Antigua and it was much larger than I was expecting.  I just about got lost trying to follow the bellman to the room.

The first evening was mainly spent trying to get organized and looking at brochures for the area.  The tourist information at the Guatemala City airport was open so we got some travel information for this area and for Guatemala overall.  There is a lot to see in this country and I have no idea how we are going to fit it all in. 

Antigua sits at just over 5,000 feet above sea level and was once the capital of the captaincy general.  It was founded in the early 16^th century and was originally called Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala.  There is a strong Spanish influence in the city as evidenced in the architecture of the buildings.  The city suffered major damage from volcanoes and a 1773 earthquake but many buildings have been restored authentically.  After 1773 the capital was moved to Guatemala City and the name of this city was shortened to La Antigua or old city.  In 1979 it was declared a “Heritage of Humanity” site by UNESCO and it is quite authentic and well preserved right down to the cobble stone streets.  

On the 8^th we got up and had breakfast at the hotel and then spent some time familiarizing ourselves with the resort.  There are two pools.  The one for laps was not too busy but the other one was packed with kids.  The grounds are quite large and very green with lots of beautiful flowers and even an herb garden.  There are parrots around the grounds.  I saw a couple of smaller green parrots and a really large red one as well today.  When they want to be, they are all quite noisy.  When you want them to talk, of course they won’t.  I met them more formally later on and the small green ones were George and Rachel.  The big red one is Pancha.

We wandered down town which is about five blocks away and started by going to the market area, which I thought would be very quiet as it was a Sunday.  However, it was very busy and very big.  We wondered around for over an hour and probably didn’t see even half of what was there.  There was one very large area that was mainly for artisans and the merchandise was beautiful.  The colours in Guatemala are so bright and colourful that the entire market seems to be awash in magnificent colour.  There was also a section of the market devoted to food and that included fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, beans and grains mainly but there were some canned and boxed goods and also a lot of bakeries and small convenience stores.  Other parts of the market had clothes, shoes and small household items.  The market area was at least a block wide and probably three or four blocks long and everything was packed into tiny little stalls so it all looked very busy.  Oh yes, and there is also a large area that is like a food court with lots of vendors all cooking wonderful dishes to be taken away or eaten in a small section with seating.

From there we walked down to the Plaza Mayor or the main square.  The cathedral is on the main square and it is quite beautiful with a white façade with curved edges and many pillars and statues.  To me it looked baroque but I’m not sure that really means anything.  Church was just getting out when we got to the park and after that the doors were closed so we did not get to go in.  There are two really large buildings along two of the sides of the square.  One flies the national flag and says something about the place of captains so I assume it is something to do with the government.  Okay, I just figured out what it is.  It is the Palace of the Captains General which was the Governor’s Quarters in old days.  That building has a sign on it saying 1574 so I assume that is the year it was built.  It is white and also has curved façade designs and carvings on the front.  The other large building now seems to be a lot of little shops and stores.  That is the same as on the fourth side of the square but in that case there are also several buildings involved instead of just one big one.

The park itself is quite nice with lovely sculptured trees on one side and other more natural trees on the other sides.  There are pathways crisscrossing the park and a large centre fountain.  There are lots of benches and they always seemed to be busy, especially those in the shade.  It was probably in the 80’s today and definitely hot in the noon to 3 p.m. time frame so shade was appreciated.  There were lots of vendors trying to sell everything from ice cream to jewelry to wooden flutes to table runners.  There is a cruise ship in some local harbour (about two hours away!) as I met someone who was just in town for a few hours before they had to head back to the ship.  I’m not sure if the park is always full of vendors or if they were just there for today because of the cruise ship people.  I guess I’ll find out when I go back later in the week.

From the park we walked up to the arched gateway down one of the streets.  It is simply an arch which I believe used to be part of a convent or church but now stands pretty much alone but spanning a street which today was closed to traffic and only open to pedestrians.  I guess the week will also tell if that is normally the case or if vehicular traffic is allowed.   When you look from the park through the gate you see La Merced, the first church in the town.  When you look the opposite way through the gate towards the park you see the nearby volcano and it makes a great picture peaking just below the arch.   The volcano is called the Volcan de Aqua or water volcano but I have no idea how water relates to it.

We continued on to La Merced and there were some outdoor vendors there selling food.  There were a number of people enjoying the food and the nice weather.   La Merced is a beautiful church whose exterior is a yellow colour and has bright white intricate designs all over it.  Some of the designs almost looked like vines with pineapples hanging from them but I’m sure it was something a bit more logical than that.  There were also white pillars and statues and other decorations that finished the entire design.  The interior was quite plain with white walls and pillars and only side altars and pictures for adornment.  The main altar was gold in colour (not sure of material) and it was certainly the main centerpiece.  I don’t actually remember a window at all so they must have been small and up high.

Beside the church are the ruins of the convent and we went in for a look around.  The sign at the door said that construction began in 1548.  In 1717 an earthquake destroyed the building and it was rebuilt over the next 50 years.  In 1773 it was destroyed again by an earthquake and the church was rebuilt from 1950 to 1955.   The cloister of the convent is still intact and there is a large fountain that just about fills the centre square.  There was obviously a second floor at one time but now it is gone and just some pillar bases remain.  You could walk round the top and look at the view but it really wasn’t high enough to see much.  The cloister archways were interesting.  The whole building was of course brick but the hall ways had high arches that had more of a three sided affect at the top than a smooth curve.  It was obvious that at one time the walls and ceilings had been painted and that there were large paintings or sculptures on some of the walls.  Nothing remains of these now.

From there we decided to walk over and up to a cross that overlooks the city, the Cerro de Santa Cruz.  We finally found the starting point and then started climbing stairs.  It wasn’t too bad but I did have to stop a couple times to catch my breath and have a sip of water.  The path, which was mostly stairs, wound up the side of the hill and through a forest so at least it was cool and shady.  At the top there was a wooden cross and a cleared area with some benches.  There were quite a few people up there and everyone was just relaxing and enjoying the view.  The water volcano was prominent in the view and on each side of it were smaller hills, all of which were green.  There was a bit of a haze in the distance so it wasn’t a really clear picture.  The city was below and in front of the volcano and it seemed quite lovely with a lot of white buildings and a lot of ruins.  It was actually amazing to see just how many huge empty ruins there were in the city.  You could easily pick out the cathedral and main square and La Merced and the arch but I couldn’t identify anything else.

We walked back down into the town and went to see what the crowds were doing down one of the streets.  We’d seen them gathered from our view on the hill.  In our search we came across another old church and there was a concert in progress.  It was good music to listen to from the outside and it was fun to look in and see what was happening.  The event was a fund raiser for some charity and there were people dancing and people selling things at various tables.  There were not too many people present that I could see but there might have been another group off to the side somewhere.  It was interesting also to note that the inside of the church was literally just a ruin.  We probably would have closed it down in Canada but they were making good use of the building, raising money for a good cause and having a great time doing so.

Speaking of music, I should also mention that on our walk from the square to La Merced we probably saw three different marimba bands playing and they were all really good.  In each case there was a drummer, a bass player, and then four guys on what looked like two big wooden xylophones called marimbas.  The one person had one xylophone to himself while three played the other one.  I thought the one single one was probably the bass one but then discovered that the other one had the bigger blocks and tone so I’m still not sure why there were three people on one and only one person on the other but it was the same in all cases.  The musicians were all males and they were all dressed neatly in black suits with white shirts and matching ties or white shirts and matching ties and vests so they looked quite dignified.  Their ages varied from perhaps twenties to seventies and they all seemed to be having a great time. 

There were several other stages set up around the town but on some we weren’t there when the performance occurred.  In one case it was a free concert on Andean music and it was happening at both 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.  There were lots of seats set up in anticipation of the concert but I don’t know whether people filled the seats or not.  In all the other settings there were no seats and people would just have been standing.  Even the cathedral had a sound system set up when we were back later in the evening so I’m not sure if they had an afternoon concert there as well.

Okay, back to finding the crowds of people on the street.  We did find them and they were in front of yet another old church building which was now mainly in ruins.  The front looked like it would have been quite ornate and lovely.  The shell of the building is still there but nothing is finished on the inside and I heard a guide say that they ran out of money before getting any further with the restoration.  Anyway, in front of this church there were many vendors selling their wonderfully colourful textiles and jewelry and paintings and musical instruments.  And, it turns out, there is another huge artisans market in the building behind which appears to have been part of the church at one time.  I wandered in and just went up one aisle and back down another.  It is almost too overwhelming with everyone trying to sell you something.

I should note that when you walk along the streets you seem to be walking along brick walls a lot of the time and this is really boring.  However, when you look through the archways or entrances you find wonderful open courtyards with restaurants and gardens or stores and shops.  The old city seemed to fence everything in but have huge arched gateways into the buildings.  Today you can find wonderful things behind the doorways and you always need to keep peeking even if you feel you might be intruding.

Now, where was I in my walking?  Oh yes, we left the latest market area and walked back toward the main square.  As we were getting hungry (no lunch except for some delicious goodies from one of the bakeries) we decided to stop and get some dinner at a local chicken place.  We were early when we went in so there weren’t many people there. However, by the time we left the place was packed and there were large family groups.  We thought perhaps this might be part of their Sunday tradition or perhaps even part of their Mother’s Day tradition as they celebrate Mother’s Day this Tuesday. 

We walked back to the main square and some of the buildings were now lit.  The large government building looked like it had candles around it and the white of the building looked very stunning.  The cathedral was open so I went over and took a look on the inside.  There was a service going on and I didn’t want to intrude too much but I really did want to see inside because the place appeared to be packed.  When was the last time you saw a church in Canada packed for a regular Sunday service?  And a lot of the people appeared to be young people, which is something else I don’t often see in Canada.  I didn’t recognize the song they were singing while I was there but they all seemed to be singing it – another thing that doesn’t always happen in Canada.  As it was a Catholic service they were also kneeling for prayers and there were no cushions or benches for that purpose.  They were either kneeling on a wooden floor or on the stone around the edges of the church.  My knees would definitely not take that!  From the main square we walked back to the hotel and did some more travel planning and computer work before turning in for the evening. 

On the 9^th I had an easy day doing mainly internet work and making skype calls to Air Canada re a return flight that was supposed to be on May 15^th and had to be rescheduled and insurance that ran out on May 15^th and had to be extended.  I also had to contact World Vision Guatemala about my Thursday visit to see my other sponsored child.  It was after 2 p.m. before I finished all that so I had lunch and just spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and reading.  It got cloudier and cooler in the afternoon and we had a real thunderstorm and downpour later on.  We decided to have dinner at the hotel and that was it for another day.

On the 10^th in the morning we went on a tour of some local villages.  This was a half day tour and went very quickly.  There were only two people plus the guide on the tour so one would think I could remember a whole lot about it because it was such personalized service.  Unfortunately that is not the case.  I know we went up into the hills and saw some more remote villages.  We stopped to visit their churches and markets and even went to one laundry area.   The laundry facilities in town are quite neat.  There are washing areas for each person and the clean water is in the middle.  The ladies are facing each other so they can talk as they work and the ones we talked to seemed to be very busy and having a great time even though they were working hard and had lots of laundry to do and lots of clean wet clothes to carry home.   The towns I think we visited were San Antonio Aguas Calientes, Santa Catarina Barahona, San Miguel Escobar and Ciudad Vieja, all founded in the early 16^th century and all within ten miles of Antigua.  The last two are the older capital city for the country.  There seems to be some debate as to which one is really the original location.

All of the towns had big churches and squares which were the central points of activity for the town.  San Antonio Aguas Calientes had a zero illiteracy rate and had recognized by UNESCO.  I saw the reward but didn’t quite understand how or why it was awarded, given that only six years of schooling is compulsory in Guatemala and many students don’t take even that.  Perhaps it was to recognize that everyone in the town could at least read and write to an elementary level.  Who knows?

Textiles and weaving are an important part of the heritage in these communities.  We went to a small museum that displayed the costumes of the various regions around the country.  Apparently the Spanish found it easier to recognize the people from various regions if they all wore the same colour of clothes so they assigned specific colours to specific areas and the tradition has continued to this day.  Most females wear the wrap around skirt of blue or pink or various shades along with a colourful blouse or a white blouse with embroidery.   The men’s clothing was much less identifiable and was mainly black and white.  Below the museum there were of course many craftspeople there to show us their wares and the weaving really was beautiful.  That was a close as I’ve come to buying anything but I have no place to put it so I have to control myself. 

We also visited the Museo de San Juan Obispo.  It appeared to be a huge monastery with large garden cloister and beautiful walls.  This place was still in use and very well cared for, as opposed to others we had seen that were basically just ruins.  It had some very nice period pieces in some rooms that were purely for museum purposes.  Other parts of the building were not available to us and were still used by the nuns. 

 

The whole area is an agricultural area and we stopped at a coffee plantation on our way to the towns.  It was the wrong season to be harvesting coffee but we did a quick tour anyway to see how it is processed.  I’m not sure how many people work in the areas we saw but it sure seemed like cramped working quarters to me.  The washing and sorting and bagging areas were very cramped but the drying area was simply a big huge cement area outside so things could be sun dried.  The few people we did see seemed to be quite happy and friendly.  Workers have living quarters on the plantation.  The quarters are not large but they didn’t look too bad from what I could see. 

In the afternoon, back in Antigua, we visited the Casa Santo Domingo and the Paseo de los Museos.  I just don’t remember on which day it was so I’ll just put it here near the end of this blog.  Casa Santo Domingo is a hotel on the site of the former church and convent of Santo Domingo and Santo Tomas de Aquino.  The Museums Promenade is a cultural route created by a local university through the hotel and the ruins and includes several museums.  The hotel itself is very interesting as it incorporates the walls and gardens and many historical sculptures and pictures from the original period.  It is virtually a museum itself and seemed like a great place to stay.  Throughout the hotel grounds there are archeological ruins and in some areas are small museums showing period pieces.  The main cloister and garden area, complete with fountain, was very relaxing.  The chapel area was covered and ready for use for some large gathering.  There were crypts in different locations, workshops where they still make candles and pottery, kitchen and domestic areas, halls, etc.  Some were in complete shape and others were just walls or even just foundations in the ground labeled for identification.  Specific museums showcased pharmacy, handicrafts, religious artifacts (paintings, chalices, gold and silver, etc.), Mayan artifacts, ceramics, etc.  Some museums were above ground and some were below ground.  It was a very interesting and large complex but sometimes rather confusing as the dates were so varied from Mayan 200-900 AD right up to the pharmacy from the late 19^th century and a whole lot in between.       

On the 11^th I finally did laundry in the morning.  It was long overdue!  Then I went for a little lunch at a local restaurant that could only hold 16 people at most at four tables.  No one else seemed to be eating and we waited at least 45 minutes for our lunch.  We ordered a meat grill for two and it turned out to be huge.   We had chicken, ribs, steak and sausage to eat along with potatoes, salad and tortillas.  It was delicious but way more than what anyone should eat as a quick lunch.  Dinner was many hours later and consisted of just some chips and pop because I had to eat something but wasn’t hungry enough to walk downtown to get something to eat. 

In the afternoon I went shopping for something for my sponsored child in Guatemala as that visit was the next day.  It is her birthday so it was fun wandering around the market trying to buy gifts for the family and things for a birthday party like a piñata and candy to go in it.   On the 12^th I had my visit with my sponsored World Vision child.   That is covered in another blog so for now I’ll just say that it was a great day.  

On the 13^th we walked downtown in the morning and made some travel arrangements.  After that I wandered off to visit more of Antigua.   No matter where you go in this town there is another church just around the corner.  I visited many of them in the south east corner of the city including the San Francisco Church.  Like almost every other church in town, this one was from the 17^th century during the Spanish control.  Smaller churches I also passed were the Escuela de Cristo, Beatas de Belen, Santa Lucia, San Jose and San Pedro.  For some reason I missed Santa Clara, which is supposed to be another interesting one.  Some of the churches were closed.  Some were open just for a quick look inside and some were open for the church and the grounds surrounding them. 

I had a late lunch at a lovely little garden café.  I was the only one there sitting in the shade of the garden and listening to the birds and enjoying the lovely flowers and the beautiful shade and breeze.  It was very relaxing and the food was great.   I finished the day by searching for rechargeable batteries, which were impossible to find, and going to the post office to send another small package home.  It was a very relaxing way to spend my last day in La Antigua.

We did have one more night in La Antigua following a trip to Lake Atitlan.  However, we arrived back in Antigua late and left early the next day so not much to report on.  There was a lot to see in the city and we certainly didn’t see it all.  However, I think we did pretty well at wandering the streets.