2013 Guatemala Trip Day Two - Antigua

Unlike many tourists to Guatemala, I did not stay in Antigua, so my tour there was the first time I saw the colonial city.  While Guatemalan Adventures did accomodate me as a single traveler and gave me all English-speaking guides, on this particular day the rest of the tour was Spanish-speaking.  Fortunately I speak quite a bit of Spanish, so instead of having the tour guide repeat everything, I just had him clarify when I didn't understand.  Focusing on translating what was said meant I missed some photo ops though . . . like the apparently famous arch in town!

Typical colorful Antigua buildings with the Cerro de la Cruz in the background:

One of my favorite stories in the city was about this fountain that was put in, but was so shocking that the native people hid their eyes when they passed it!  

Antigua was a fascinating city with a mix of buildings still in use and many ruins from the numerous earthquakes that destroyed parts of the city.  In fact, Antigua was the third capital before Guatemala City, but most of the city was destroyed by earthquakes in 1773.  While there were famous sites, like "La Merced" in good condition . . . 

there were many that were still in ruins.  The ruins of Convento Santa Clara was one of my favorites - the purple flowers growing in the ruins around the fountain was very peaceful and the contrast of the new growing out of the old was symbolic to me.  There were virtually no other people here outside of our group, which added to the tranquil feeling.

The Cathedral de Santiago was also fascinating.  There is an area in good repair that is still in use, which is attached to sprawling ruins that were part of the original cathedral built in 1543!  While I didn't feel comfortable taking my DSLR with me to Guatemala, the ruins here made me wish I had - my old camera didn't really do them justice.

What a view!

 The eye in the sky!

The plants here are HUGE!

The rest of the day was spent seeing the Ciudad Vieja (literally, "old city") and another local market.  A few highlights:

It's very common here to see barbwire along the tops of homes, the top of gates, etc - in case you needed any reminders that the country isn't the safest place in the world.  Having said that, I again felt very safe on my tour.  At one point we were free to walk around a handicrafts market and I left to walk to a small market for an item I needed without feeling in any danger at all.  You do need to watch out for cars though - the cars do not yield to pedestrians.

Yellow is popular cathedral color - the cathedral in Ciudad Vieja.  I liked how the fountain, cross & church lined up visually.

I absolutely LOVE the beautiful, bright colors of the local Mayan clothing!