Putting the "A La!" in Guatemala!

On Saturday we ventured to Antigua, Guatemala! The weather has been so terrifically gorgeous of late that we just had to leave the city and spend a day in the fresh air of the small colonial town that used to be the capital of the country, Antigua! Our friends Matt & Amy joined us for the excursion, too. This was actually our first full day to just bum around with no goal or mission ahead of us...just to relax and enjoy the security of the town and comfort of its weather.

When we arrived, we decided to climb the Cerro de la Cruz ("The Hill of the Cross"), a small hill just above Antigua, looking over the entire town, dwarfed by Volcán Agua (no, we haven't climbed this one yet!). The view was spectacular and the climb only took about 10 minutes.




After that, we walked right past where my friend Brandi Martin and I did a summer homestay/Spanish immersion study in 2003. It was really neat to be back to a place I knew so well!




Then we had lunch at a recommended restaurant, Palacio de la India (our next best thing to India Palace from Lawrence!). It was a super small yet tastefully decorated restaurant that served, you guessed it -- our favorite-- Indian food! James and I were the only customers while we were there, so the service was obviously excellent, as was the food quality. It is a hidden gem that we hope will stay in business for quite awhile, even thought it's a ways from the Parque Central.



After a delicious and filling lunch, we decided to find a good place for local coffee, and Fernando's Kaffee did not disappoint! The Guatemalteca woman who served us was animated and friendly (and corrected me that she was a Señorita, NOT a Señora!), and we bought whole bean coffee that had been brewed the very same morning for about $5/lb. After sipping down an espresso, we went walking around, looking in boutiques and also found and checked out the posada (small hotel) we'll be staying in with my parents when they come in March, Posada Don Valentino. Everything looked great, so we decided to relax some in the Parque Central.


The Parque Central in Antigua is the focal point of the city for tourists and Guatemaltecos alike, which also attracts people trying to sell you things, too. It's not that annoying though....sometimes it's nice to have the sellers come directly to you!

Finally, we checked out a nice art store with interesting paintings that we want to buy one day. We rounded out the afternoon at the Casa de Jade (Jade is pronounced "Ha-day" in Spanish), a premier place in Antigua for buying quality handmade jade items, ranging from expensive jewelry to masks, chess sets, mirrors, and other decorative items. We couldn't afford anything in this store, but it was beautiful stuff, and also cool to see the people making the items on site!


According to La Casa del Jade's website, Jade was considered a stone more valuable than gold to the Maya, a symbol of eternal love, eternity, or the sky. When a noble-class person died, they were buried with masks or necklaces of jade. When someone of lower-class died, a piece of jade was placed in their mouth because the Maya thought that the spirit would always leave the body through the mouth, and when leaving, take the piece of jade with them as a passport into heaven. Interesting!

WOW! It is days like this that we love living abroad, and living in Guatemala! We can't wait to have family and friends visit this beautiful country.