Greetings from Guatemala

The flight to Guatemala City was less than five hours and easy. For anyone who has the slightest apprehension about flying to a country in Central America then I can highly recommend coming here to break the ice.

The only downside is that leaving Los Angeles at 11pm gets you into Guatemala City at 4:30am local time. I started on how serene Guatemala seems compared to Mexico and then realized that anyone with any sense was still in bed.

A very nice guard greeted me in Spanish (a lot of it) and (my limited Spanish being extremely rusty) asked me if I was going to Antigua (I heard him say Antigua so nodded). Si, Antigua, por favor. I tried to look bilingual.

I had been nervous about getting a taxi on my own (fear of being abducted and perhaps ending up somewhere in Central America). I needn't have worried, for the bargain price of $10 I shared a shuttle with two other women. One lady must have been about eighty and was living with a family learning Spanish for a year. I think my fears were laid to rest!

Arriving at Casa Capuchinas, the bed and breakfast we stayed at before, my friendly shuttle bus driver Jorge, banged loudly on the solid wooden gate. My concerns about waking everyone at 6am were out of my hands and I was greeted, shown to my room and left to my own devices.

Sleep. Shower... Coffee!

A few hours later, refreshed and revived I wandered out in search of coffee. Guatemalan coffee really is good. I remembered a café in the main square and headed off.

Café Condesa was still there and exactly as I remembered. I love it when that happens. I sat in the courtyard listening to the fountain and ate an excellent breakfast of Huevos Guatemaleros (Guatemalan Eggs) consisting of scrambled eggs with tomato and onion, black beans, fruit and toast (not to be confused with Huevos Mexicana which are scrambled eggs with tomato and onion, beans and ...) Two large cups of strong coffee, all for the bargain price of about $8 and I felt human again.

While I drank my coffee I wrote a list of the things I'd like to do while I'm here. My list includes climb the smallest, easiest, starter volcano which is active (apparently), go to the market at Chichicastenango (and, knowing me, buy some fabric I don't need and won't use), go to Lake Atitlan described by Aldous Huxley as the most beautiful lake in the world, do a class at the Antigua cooking school (probably learn how to make Huevos Guatemaleros) and possibly (if I have the inclination as it's four hours a day and hard work) do Spanish classes next week.

Having written my list I set off to accomplish the first thing and have booked myself on to a bus to go to the artisan market at Chichicastenango on Thursday.

Antigua is just as I remember. There are painted walls and cobblestones streets everywhere you turn. Carved wooden gates and little tuk-tuk taxis causing chaos. Friendly people dressed in traditional, brightly colored woven clothes. And loads of tourists of course.

Being cobbled, the streets here take a bit of getting used to. After wandering around today I think I’m going to be feeling the cobbles tomorrow. I think I might be developing a nasty case of Cobbled Calves as a result of many hours of walking. I hobbled the cobbles back to Casa Capuchinas and called it a day.