Fun Times with Visiting Friends

Arriving in San Marcos

Last week our good friends and former neighbors, the Kirklands, came to see us along with their two new friends, Phil and Rel, from San Diego. We had a blast traveling around Guatemala and showing them some of our favorite spots.

We started off the trip with two days at Lago Atitlán. We spent the first day in our favorite spot, San Marcos, at our favorite hotel, Aaculaax. Thankfully they liked it as much as we did and were equally impressed by the unique and creative rooms! Likewise, they seemed to enjoy all the
food!

Breakfast at Aaculaax

Lunch at Moonfish Cafe

The view from Phil and Rel's room

Matt & Erika just hanging out...

The second day we boated it over to Panajachel for an afternoon of zip-lining, swimming and sun-bathing, and then some shopping. More photos from Matt HERE.

The fearless crew

Walking around Pana

Looks rough, doesn't it?

We came back to Guatemala City Tuesday afternoon and had a nice pasta dinner together that evening. On Wednesday, I took our guests to Volcan Pacaya for a hike and an upclose look at some lava! (Unfortunately, Beth had to work that day, so she couldn't join us.) Everyone was pretty excited by the active volcano, and we were all pretty worn out after the tough hike. Check out Matt's photos of the hike HERE! And definitely don't miss the short video HERE!

On the way back to the city, we dropped off Phil and Rel in Antigua as they were planning to spend the next two days volunteering at an orphanage run by one of their friends.

Thursday was our down day, so we had a later morning and then joined Beth at school for a tour of the campus and lunch together outside. I spent the afternoon working while the Kirklands took it easy. That evening, we all enjoyed another dinner at home and watched LOST, The Office, and 30 Rock.

Friday I took Matt and Erika down to the historic Zone 1 for a view of the central plaza and a bit of shopping in the market. We finished with a true Guatemalan lunch down in the market at one of the restaurant stalls. In the afternoon, we picked up Beth from school and headed over to Antigua for our final night together.

After checking in to our hotel, we strolled over to a restaurant for happy hour snacks and drinks to watch the sun set amongst the volcanos. Then we met back up with Phil and Rel and had dinner at a small rooftop restaurant. Afterwards, we went to the nicest place in Antigua, Casa Santo Domingo, for dessert. By then we were all pretty stuffed and sleepy and called it a night around 10 p.m.

The next day we had a delicious breakfast at our favorite place, Rainbown Cafe. Then we spent the rest of the morning sight-seeing and shopping. Throughout the day, Volcan Fugeo was extremely active. At one point, while the Kirklands were exploring some ruins, Beth and sat in the shade and watched the volcano erupt and spout out large streams of smoke four times in a half hour.


At noon we headed back to the city to go to airport. It was sad to say goodbye, but we're planning to visit Matt and Erika in San Diego this July. We had such a fun time with Matt, Erika, Phil, and Rel. Thank you for visiting us!