Or was it the ice in my lemon ice tea? Morning guided tour of Antigua. Quatemala means place of many trees. Their currency the Quetzal was named after the country's bird. Antigua was an old capital but was moved away after the floods when Volcán de Agua erupted. Old antigua was the original capital. Present Antigua was the new city. It's stunningly set between 3 volcanoes, Agua, Fuego and Acatenango. A city with many churches (abc tours, another bloody church). But what blew me away were the colorful buildings lining the cobblestone lanes. So picturesque. A woman washing clothes at the open lavandaria, the old fashion way. Bernal Diaz house on the street named after him. At the jade shop, I've learned of white and purple jadeites, jade stones. Never knew jade can be other than green. Wondering around after lunch, we came upon the Collegio de la Compania de Jesus where Bernal Diaz lived and wrote. Inside totally renovated and very pretty with cloisters. The façade still remained and we thought it was a church.
We had lunch at the cafe Condesa right on the central square. It's owned by a friend of A. We had chicken pate and I had ice tea that came with ice. The pate came in a big portion and with bread and tortillas and was excellent. Later that evening I felt sick with tummy aches so I skipped dinner. Another night without dinner in Antigua. But was able to catch up on 'Verses for the Dead', the most recent Pendergast book.
Antigua photos:
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