Bill was seasick for most of the afternoon yesterday. We had some rougher seas for a few hours and it set him off. So, he took some meclizine. Last night he didn’t sleep well. Today, he had a headache so it was not his best day.
We went off with our new Cruise Critic friends to see Antigua. They are great. We enjoy them all. As usual, there are teachers in the group and teachers are the best. Holland America attracts former teachers because of the interesting itineraries.
Our guide was Juan Pablo. He was born and raised here. He got married at 15 against his parent’s advice but he has made it work. He learned English from a friend and got involved in the tourist industry. Now, he owns several Toyota minivans and runs his own tour business. The group that we signed up with is called Happy Fish Tours but it turned out that they hired Juan to do the actual work in this case.
He told us that Guatemala has over 30 volcanoes and four or five are active. We saw three volcanoes just driving to Antigua. They were venting smoke, too. One was venting out the side as well as the top. We saw vents in the valley floor, too. It seems to me like a dangerous place to live. Volcanoes are much easier to avoid than earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes. Just don’t live next door to one (or three).
If you look carefully at the volcano on the right, you can see that it's venting out the side.
The capital city was moved to Antigua in 1547 because of a volcano eruption. Since then, it has moved to Guatemala City. They laid down the cobblestone streets before building the city so the streets are even older than the cathedral.
I bought three necklaces for my granddaughters from a street vendor and after that we were hounded mercilessly.
The vendors followed us and constantly asked us to buy. I also bought a woven runner for my table. I hid it under my T-shirt but my fate was sealed then. Bill took away all the cash I had left so I stopped buying at that point. We have to think about how we are going to get home with what we bought.
We stopped first at the Cathedral de San Francisco which was built in 1547. The Pope visited in 2003 and named Brother Peter a saint. He was not a priest but did many miracles and good works. He helped to build the cathedral and is buried in it. Our guide, Juan Pablo, said he practices a local religion that combines Mayan beliefs with Catholicism. He told us the name but I don’t remember. It was something like Synchrisity. I got the idea that it combined Catholic beliefs with Mayan beliefs. We couldn’t take pictures inside the Cathedral.
Our next stop was a restored convent which was in ruins. It has been partially rebuilt and turned into restaurants, bars and museums. It is an absolutely stunning development. I probably took a hundred pictures. We also made a short stop at a jade factory for the requisite sales pitch. I took some pictures of jade.
Bill says he wants a day off tomorrow. We were going to the city of Leon in Nicaragua. It sounds like too much walking for him and he really doesn’t feel up to it.
We stopped first at the Cathedral de San Francisco which was built in 1547. The Pope visited in 2003 and named Brother Peter a saint. He was not a priest but did many miracles and good works. He helped to build the cathedral and is buried in it. Our guide, Juan Pablo, said he practices a local religion that combines Mayan beliefs with Catholicism. He told us the name but I don’t remember. It was something like Synchrisity. I got the idea that it combined Catholic beliefs with Mayan beliefs. We couldn’t take pictures inside the Cathedral.
Our next stop was a restored convent which was in ruins. It has been partially rebuilt and turned into restaurants, bars and museums. It is an absolutely stunning development. I probably took a hundred pictures. We also made a short stop at a jade factory for the requisite sales pitch. I took some pictures of jade.
Bill says he wants a day off tomorrow. We were going to the city of Leon in Nicaragua. It sounds like too much walking for him and he really doesn’t feel up to it.
We have had three fantastic musical programs in a row. George Solomon put on a great 50’s/60’s music show. Last night, we heard a classical pianist from China. Tonight was Live Wire, a husband and wife who play foot-tapping Celtic music on a fiddle and a guitar. They also played “Molly Malone”, “Danny Boy”, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” and “Dueling Banjos”. They were all really good. Tomorrow night, they will all appear again in a variety show.
We saw some wonderful buses in Antigua.
We saw families walking on the side of the road and women carrying things on their heads.
We saw horses transporting logs.
I'm not sure where I took this picture of an arbor but it could have been outside the restaurant where we ate lunch.
Here is a close up of the flowers in that arbor.
We saw a woman selling flowers on the street in Antigua.
Here is the restaurant.
I would eat this delicious food now if I could get it.
We had music during lunch. Very beautiful town. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Center.
