I didn’t know much about Guatemala before we arrived, and now that we are here it’s impossible for me to share how this city has captured my heart. But, I’ll try to share with you the things I love here in Antigua.
- Ruins as an integrated part of the city
For over 200 years, Antigua was the capital of Guatemala (then much larger than current-day Guatemala). However, in the 1700’s there was a succession of tragic earthquakes which caused everyone to throw up their hands, pack up and relocate to a new location (now Guatemala City). Over the course of many years, people have moved back and have focused on preserving, restoring and doing adaptive re-use of the Baroque style buildings people left behind. Because the city was abandoned by the wealthy for so long, it became like a small time-capsule that is now on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Now it is hard to go more than 2 blocks without seeing an ornate relic of a church or convent situated perfectly next to a café.
- Hidden Courtyards
The layout of the city includes a huge number of inner courtyards. These are largely all filled with lush gardens that likely belonged in the center of one hacienda at the time, but now may be shared by multiple smaller businesses. You don’t know they are there from the street, so you need to spend time exploring to find these magical treasures. (I’m sitting in one now while I write this!) While there is a little information on these online, mostly you just find them by chatting with others and seeking them out. It’s a fun quirk that forces you to slow down and investigate the places in front of you.
- Food
The food here is very good. While its confusing that so many words in Mexico are used here for food, but for a completely different item (Enchilada in Mexico is a soft corn tortilla wrapped around a filling, baked and doused with sauce. Enchilada in Guatemala is crispy fried, flat tortilla topped with meat, beets, and topped with a hardboiled eggs!) everything has been super delicious. Guatemalans are not into spicy food too much—which is fine for me (lacking for Mr Snacks), so things are savory but without too much heat.
Additionally, it’s an area known for both coffee and chocolate—so how can you go wrong?!? The coffee is dynamite and every place has hot chocolate on the menu. Hot chocolate is not drunk by children here, so it’s a dark, creamy, spiced drink without too much sugar. I order it all the time.
However, where Guatemala stands well above Mexico is their desserts! They have so many interesting desserts that I’m considering a blog post just about them (and I’m sure I have so much still to learn). However, it’s nice to be able to pop out to a dulcería and pick up some desserts made from coconut, sweet potatoes, or guava—and of course all latin countries’ favorite—dulce de leche.
- Weather
So, the one thing I did know is that this is one of the eternal springtime places. While we’ve been here it has ranges between 69-77F for a high, and most nights overnight in the high 50s. Pretty much perfect. It’s like Colorado that if you are in the sun you feel like you might die of heat, and stepping into the shade makes the temp perfect. (Or vice versa in the morning where you need a partly sunny table to keep you toasty while you have your first cup of coffee.) Either because of the weather or the courtyards the entire life is focused around being outside for just about everything. Just my style.
- Volcanos
If all of that isn’t enough to be a 5-star location, it’s surrounded by volcanos. Many extinct, but some still active. Which means while you sit at a rooftop patio or on a bench in the central park you can see the Volcano Fuego erupting right from town. At night, you can even see the red, molten lava eruptions. When we have coffee at Café Estudio and watch the volcano erupt, we often ponder how long you have to be here before it loses its novelty. So far, it’s been a month and we are still amazed by it.
- (Negative) Trash
So this report doesn’t seem completely out of balance, I’ll comment on one thing that’s a bummer here—trash. There is no trash on the street, so that’s not the issue. However, since there is no public trash service, some of the poorer people just opt to burn their trash rather than pay a private company to come take it away. It’s not always, and not even all that often while we’ve been here. But when it happens the smoke irritates your eyes and throat and you smell the tell-tale signs of burning garbage.
- People
Lastly, let’s talk about the people. They are super friendly, and I love learning how the Mayan women’s outfits are different from region to region.
I’m 5’2” and in all my years, there’s one thing I never dreamed I would be: tall. Here in Guatemala I’m a giant!! I can see over people in a crowd, I’m easy for Mr Snacks to find in the mercado and I tower over Mayan ladies wearing platform sandals. For the first time ever, I’m not guaranteed to stand in the front row of a gathering—now women who I stand a head taller than gather in front of me. If I need a wardrobe refresh, I may have to shop and a Big & Tall shop…and maybe I’ll start a basketball team.
This town is about 50,000 people, a small footprint of stone streets, well preserved ruins mixed with livable buildings surrounding a central park area that seems to have a constant rotation of marimba bands playing. The food, the weather, and the views all combine to make it pretty special. A slower pace of life here is a given—as everyone spends at least an hour each day talking about how perfect the weather is.