It’s a long bus day from Rio Dulce to Antigua, but it starts well on good quality public transport. There’s no aircon but the through draft is good and there’s a good movie on the screen. Fortunately you don’t need to understand the dialogue to get The Hunger Games. The scenery changes as we head to the Highlands and we see lots of agriculture. There’s a marked reduction in the temperature and we all appreciate the cooler, fresher air until we get to Guatemala City.
Dirty but dramatic, with its shanty towns hanging off the river cliffs and its own Suicide Bridge, it’s clear that gun law rules here and many of the men are carrying guns of one sort or another clearly visible. I am grateful that we only have a bus change here before heading out to the old capital of Antigua.
Antigua itself is a World Heritage Site and most of the authentic and quaint Spanish facades have been retained or restored. Indeed, in some cases, only the facade has been retained and a glance through non existent windows reveal there is no building behind. Even MacDonalds has not been allowed to impose their familiar landmark logo, even if they have been allowed to establish an outlet there.
Our hotel is hidden down a back street with no indication that a hotel lurks behind the double garage doors in the wall. Casa Familia is exactly that and it feels wonderfully at home, with small staircases leading to an upstairs loggia, a sort of inside/outside style of living with rooms around it. We head out for dinner near the main square. Tienda La Canche (The Blonde Shop), is a tiny shop where you disappear behind the shop counter into a little back room with two tables surrounded by shop stock – nappies, water, toilet tissue, etc. The ‘Blonde’ is now about 160yrs old but she’s as sharp as a knife and in few minutes we are all tucking into her specialty, ‘Pepian de pollo’, a delicious and substantial chicken soup.
After that, some head for home as we have another long day ahead but a few of us move on to the Rainbow Cafe where it’s ‘Open Mic Night’. The music is great, with interesting covers of some old & new favourites, from Pink Floyd to Ed Sheeran. It occurs to me that wherever we have heard live music on this trip someone has tried to cover Pink Floyd, not always recogniseably. Those poor goldfish must be quite dizzy by now. When the Rainbow Cafe finally closes at 1am we are leaving with the staff who invite us to join them on a bar tour. But Antigua is not the most lively place on a Wednesday night and at 3am we find ourselves sharing street tacos and a beer with locals before hitting the sack.
Dirty but dramatic, with its shanty towns hanging off the river cliffs and its own Suicide Bridge, it’s clear that gun law rules here and many of the men are carrying guns of one sort or another clearly visible. I am grateful that we only have a bus change here before heading out to the old capital of Antigua.
Antigua itself is a World Heritage Site and most of the authentic and quaint Spanish facades have been retained or restored. Indeed, in some cases, only the facade has been retained and a glance through non existent windows reveal there is no building behind. Even MacDonalds has not been allowed to impose their familiar landmark logo, even if they have been allowed to establish an outlet there.
Our hotel is hidden down a back street with no indication that a hotel lurks behind the double garage doors in the wall. Casa Familia is exactly that and it feels wonderfully at home, with small staircases leading to an upstairs loggia, a sort of inside/outside style of living with rooms around it. We head out for dinner near the main square. Tienda La Canche (The Blonde Shop), is a tiny shop where you disappear behind the shop counter into a little back room with two tables surrounded by shop stock – nappies, water, toilet tissue, etc. The ‘Blonde’ is now about 160yrs old but she’s as sharp as a knife and in few minutes we are all tucking into her specialty, ‘Pepian de pollo’, a delicious and substantial chicken soup.
After that, some head for home as we have another long day ahead but a few of us move on to the Rainbow Cafe where it’s ‘Open Mic Night’. The music is great, with interesting covers of some old & new favourites, from Pink Floyd to Ed Sheeran. It occurs to me that wherever we have heard live music on this trip someone has tried to cover Pink Floyd, not always recogniseably. Those poor goldfish must be quite dizzy by now. When the Rainbow Cafe finally closes at 1am we are leaving with the staff who invite us to join them on a bar tour. But Antigua is not the most lively place on a Wednesday night and at 3am we find ourselves sharing street tacos and a beer with locals before hitting the sack.
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