An early morning departure had us being picked up at 5:00 (thanks Kevin!) and fighting security lines with spring breakers -- just kidding. Thanks to a Global Entry Xmas gift (courtesy M&D) we bypassed the easily hour plus line and walked through TSA pre-check...already worth the five year investment after one flight! Our flights to ATL and GUA were uneventful and our hostel was there to pick us up at the airport. Guatemala City is notoriously dangerous so we made a beeline to Antigua and checked in to "Casa de Don Ismael", a quaint seven bedroom inn a few blocks off the Parque Central.
We started with lunch on a rooftop terrace and had delicious chorizo tacos with a guacamole to rival all guacamole. We spent the afternoon visiting some beautiful colonial churches, some in better shape than others. At its height Antigua boasted 38 churches but has since been ravaged by earthquakes and volcano eruptions over the centuries. As you can imagine the rebuilding process has been slow but I'm sure the 5-8x markup on "extranjeros" entry fees is helpful. :-)
We people watched in the Parque Central, marveled at the colorful facades of every building, and successfully strolled the cobblestone streets with no ankle injuries. We even found a bar with March Madness on and relaxed with a few Gallos, Victorias, and game of darts.
All in all a very successful first day to our trip. The people are friendly and helpful, the food delicious, and my Spanish has still proven enough to get by.
¡Ciao!
No comments:
Post a Comment