My visit to Antigua, Guatamala, to attend language school over the New Year was an excellent way to welcome a new decade. The historically-preserved colonial-era town is at the same time cosmopolitan and rich with restaurants and cultural activity.
Antigua is a 45-minute drive from the airport at Guatemala City on a modern thoroughfare that is at first marked by bright signage from the major fast-food franchises. Access from San Jose may not be the easiest, but an evening flight let me take the late afternoon Sansa from Nosara, and arrive at 10 pm at the modern and generic airport where the driver arranged by the language school was waiting, late on Christmas day.
My sister arrived earlier from the U.S. and was waiting at our boutique hotel. We were attending different language schools, with private instruction over the course of the next 9 days. The altitude of approximately 5,000 feet made the morning walk to class brisk, and I wore a long-sleeved shirt that could be removed for the afternoon sun, although it never got out of the 80s F. I had registered for four hours of morning class, and spent part of the afternoon exploring one of the local craft markets, where the famous Guatamalan textiles and clothing were displayed in endless stalls. Street food is in abundance and the volcanic soil ensures a variety of the freshest produce.
The town is fairly small and completely walkable, although abundant tuk-tuks will take you over the rough cobblestone streets if you don’t mind a bumpy ride. When we were told that the tuk-tuks were regulated to charge a flat rate to take you anywhere in the old town, we realized we had been overcharged, but it was still just a couple of bucks.
Gretchen had signed up for 6 hours of conversational Spanish, while I thought I needed more structure. She and her young teacher spent much of their time touring the sights and restaurants. A couple of large earthquakes had toppled some cathedrals and monasteries, and their ruins contributed to the ambience, along with a large inactive volcano to the south.
The schools were closed for the weekend, so we booked a day-long tour of Lake Attitlan, from one of the ubiquitous tour offices. Options included the Mayan ruins at Tikal, which involved a plane-ride, and an overnight trip to an active volcano. The van picked us up at 5 am on Saturday at our hotel for the two-hour ride to the lake. After a hearty Guata breakfast we were packed off to a tight-fitting boat for a ride across the lake to the first of three villages on our itinerary.
At the first village, San Juan del Lago, we trekked up a steep road, lined with craft shops, to visit a women’s cooperative where we were given a demonstration of fabric weaving, starting with the spinning and dying of cotton. These villages are populated by people of Mayan ancestry who still maintain their traditions of craftsmanship. There are also many art galleries with beautiful, coloful depictions reflecting local life.
Antigua is a 45-minute drive from the airport at Guatemala City on a modern thoroughfare that is at first marked by bright signage from the major fast-food franchises. Access from San Jose may not be the easiest, but an evening flight let me take the late afternoon Sansa from Nosara, and arrive at 10 pm at the modern and generic airport where the driver arranged by the language school was waiting, late on Christmas day.
My sister arrived earlier from the U.S. and was waiting at our boutique hotel. We were attending different language schools, with private instruction over the course of the next 9 days. The altitude of approximately 5,000 feet made the morning walk to class brisk, and I wore a long-sleeved shirt that could be removed for the afternoon sun, although it never got out of the 80s F. I had registered for four hours of morning class, and spent part of the afternoon exploring one of the local craft markets, where the famous Guatamalan textiles and clothing were displayed in endless stalls. Street food is in abundance and the volcanic soil ensures a variety of the freshest produce.
The town is fairly small and completely walkable, although abundant tuk-tuks will take you over the rough cobblestone streets if you don’t mind a bumpy ride. When we were told that the tuk-tuks were regulated to charge a flat rate to take you anywhere in the old town, we realized we had been overcharged, but it was still just a couple of bucks.
Gretchen had signed up for 6 hours of conversational Spanish, while I thought I needed more structure. She and her young teacher spent much of their time touring the sights and restaurants. A couple of large earthquakes had toppled some cathedrals and monasteries, and their ruins contributed to the ambience, along with a large inactive volcano to the south.
The schools were closed for the weekend, so we booked a day-long tour of Lake Attitlan, from one of the ubiquitous tour offices. Options included the Mayan ruins at Tikal, which involved a plane-ride, and an overnight trip to an active volcano. The van picked us up at 5 am on Saturday at our hotel for the two-hour ride to the lake. After a hearty Guata breakfast we were packed off to a tight-fitting boat for a ride across the lake to the first of three villages on our itinerary.
At the first village, San Juan del Lago, we trekked up a steep road, lined with craft shops, to visit a women’s cooperative where we were given a demonstration of fabric weaving, starting with the spinning and dying of cotton. These villages are populated by people of Mayan ancestry who still maintain their traditions of craftsmanship. There are also many art galleries with beautiful, coloful depictions reflecting local life.
Back to the boat, where we filed in sardine-like for the trip to the next village, Santiago. Somewhat larger, we toured the town square and where given a history talk by our guide. Of course every town has historic churches or cathedrals and a mix of Mayan and colonial influences, with all manner of shopping and eating experiences. Our third and final village, the largest on the lake, included late lunch and more of the same. The high-altitude lake is surrounded by volcanoes and the streets are accordingly steep.
There are many other traditional villages along the lakeshore, and countless tour groups such as ours. I think we paid $70/pp, a bargain as is everything in Guatemala, and I heard that it is easy to arrange more personalized tours as well. We had about 15 in our group.
Walking the busy holiday-week streets of Antigua one evening, I heard my name called and there was Elizabeth and Vytas and their two girls from Nosara, also visiting for the holidays. They raved about the overnight volcano tour, with a spectacular night-time view of the sparking volcano. Truly a Nosara moment, in another country.
Walking the busy holiday-week streets of Antigua one evening, I heard my name called and there was Elizabeth and Vytas and their two girls from Nosara, also visiting for the holidays. They raved about the overnight volcano tour, with a spectacular night-time view of the sparking volcano. Truly a Nosara moment, in another country.
New Year’s Eve is a big event, as you can imagine, with crowds, street music, firecrackers and fireworks all night.
Nevertheless, we had our choice of restaurants, bars and entertainment all night without the need for reservations. We did pay a cover charge at a nightclub but snagged a windowside table that let us watch the festivities on the street below. Other nights we found a microbrew with a sampler flight and a lovely singer from the US, a restaurant called Samasati with a vegan-yogi style menu, and plenty of international options. One night I ripped it up at a karaoke bar with a local guy on harmonica doing Piano Man.
My sister and I have a long-going tennis rivalry which we fully
indulged at an excellent tennis club there, with a ballboy to
chase after all our strays. We didn’t even get to the dance
lessons at night, but that can be another trip. All in all, we had
an excellent trip and hope to do it again. Now, I just have
to practice those verb tenses.
indulged at an excellent tennis club there, with a ballboy to
chase after all our strays. We didn’t even get to the dance
lessons at night, but that can be another trip. All in all, we had
an excellent trip and hope to do it again. Now, I just have
to practice those verb tenses.
No comments:
Post a Comment