Day 30 09.08.15
After our early night in, we also got to sleep in or explore Antigua ourselves. At 11:30 most of us met up to take a stroll around town, guided by or fellow trip leader who lives in Antigua.
Like I already said I really really like Antigua. We passed the colonial buildings, the central plaza, where they had a book market going on. It was definitely bustling there.
We walked on towards a hotel that had once been a convent. It was a really lovely place, many hanging plants, lovely walkways right through the ruins, water flowing in different parts of the areal, and it was just a very serene place to be.
We carried on walking to a different convent, which had not been converted into a hotel but into a museum. Here we could observe how the nuns used to live, where they would get punished, where funerals were being held, where their kitchen was and just taking a stroll around the convent.
We were treated with some lovely courtyards and fountains, as well as the lovely colonial architecture.
We even entered a place where the nuns would come to sing and chant. That room or hall, however you might want to call it, had the most amazing acoustics one can imagine. We all started singing and chanting and it was a very eerie feeling, seeing as the convent was built several centuries ago. Of course the obligatory “the lion sleeps tonight” song had to be sung down there – ahweeeeee……
At the top of the convent there was a walkway, where we could see the flower of Antigua – the Buganvilea. Ranging from yellow to red to pink to purple, these flowers are just so beautiful!
As we were tapping into lunchtime, we headed off to a fantastic place for Guatemalan stews. At the entrance to the restaurant several stews were set up and after a quick explanation of what was cooking in each stew we chose which one we wanted, and which sides should go with our meal.
The stew (pork and beans) was absolutely great and what was even more special was that we could sit on the roof terrace overlooking the entire Antigua. The also had different and more exotic stews such as cows tongue or one with kidneys and liver.
After lunch we moved on to check out some little markets along the way. Some of the markets were enhanced by beautiful churches, that were just about falling apart, which at some point will have made great buildings!
We stopped at one market and when we exited (with having bought a couple of postcards), I managed to take a picture of the old entrance gate to Antigua coupled with the Volcano in the background.
We also walked to a plaza that sported a wonderful cathedral. Apparently this cathedral has been exactly replicated and has been built in San Cristobal de las Casas in Mexico. I then realised that I hadn’t been walking around a lot when I had been to San Cristobal, and had therefore not seen it. But the original is normally better than the replica :).
We went to a little garden / bar / restaurant that was very idyllic. You pretty much sat in a garden, slurping away on lovely smoothies and juices, and overall could relax really well. Birds were your company, as everywhere around the garden there were little cages with birds in them, chirping away.
We headed off for the skybar, the place everyone was meeting up for drinks for, and enjoyed the great view of Antigua. After a quick glass of wine I headed back to the hotel to pack and get ready for meeting the new group, as we had been told that instead of leaving at 7 or 8 in the morning we would be leaving by 4 in the morning. A harsh realisation when you are looking forward to a great farewell dinner and a great night out.
We got back and met the new group. I am really excited now. They are all our age range and seem ready to have a great time. I also met my new roomie and she seems like a total blast!
Looking back at our early departure I am really lucky for having worked out my laundry in a different fashion. I was going to put it in on a Saturday (before the volcano hike) and then collect it on Monday at like 7 or 8 in the morning. Thankfully, I didn’t and managed to clean it at the hotel on the Sunday. It got back only late at night but at least it was clean and I could take it onto the van at 4 o’clock in the morning.
We went for dinner again at the same place – Las Palmas, where both groups got together to enjoy a farewell and a welcome dinner together. It was really good and we all had an amazing time, enjoying some very emotional speeches and reminiscing over what we had experienced. Again, we laughed a lot and were a noisy bunch, and decided to move the party to an actual bar. Here the music was loud and the salsa music was flaring up. Everybody was dancing and it was just a fantastic end to a great 2 weeks. We all said our very emotional goodbyes, with tear flowing, and headed back to the hotel, fearing the 4 o’clock awakening.
