Guatemala, Day 1: Antigua

Dave and I went to Guatemala recently, and I'll be posting our activities as usual.

We had a very early flight from O'Hare in the morning (American connecting through Miami to Guatemala City) - don't those always seem like a better idea when you're booking it than it does on the morning of? 

We were traveling with a group of friends for our friend Kyle's 40th birthday. We gathered at the airport and I started getting to know people, most of whom I hadn't met much before.

We arrived in Guatemala and got a couple of vans out to Antigua, about 45 minutes. There is an ATM at the airport, but we made sure to get some quetzales at Chase before we left town. The Guatemalan currency is about 6.5 or 7.5 to one, depending on the day.

Our hotel in Antigua was Lo de Bernal, which was adorable, comfortable, and very cute. They even gave us a bottle of water for free, which was nice because Guatemalan water is typically not potable for visitors.

We put our stuff down in the hotel and went around town to hit some items on the walking tour in my book (rented from the library! holla cheapskates...). 

Antigua is a broad-avenued town that has experienced tons of earthquakes and was abandoned for some time. The entire place is now a UNESCO World Heritage site and is peopled with beautiful ruins and brightly colored homes.

Antigua street

Our first stop was the Iglesia Merced, a lovely yellow church with white filigree across the front - it called to mind a beautiful iced cake.

Iglesia Merced

The interior of the church is free, but if you want to see the big fountain (allegedly the biggest in Latin America) and go up on the ramparts to get views of the city, you need to pay a buck or two.

Large fountain in Iglesia Merced complex

The church complex was beautiful and I'm sure it was worth the 10Q we paid, but the fountain was like one fountain surrounded by a moat - if you want to count as a full fountain, I want to see some waterfalls from level to level! Oh well.

Then we went down a street to arts and crafts shop Nim Po't, a taste of some chocolates from a boutique shop, and for a look at the famous but somewhat underwhelming Arco de Santa Catalina, an arch over a street. I guess the nuns used to use the arch to move back and forth across the street without being seen. It's pretty, but eh.

We walked down to Parque Central, which reminded me a bit of Panama City and a bit of Cusco. These old Spanish towns do love their squares.

Parque Central colonnade

After wandering around, we went for beers with the group to Antigua Brewing Co., pretty much the only brewery and tap room we visited on the whole trip. 

Antigua Brewing rooftop & flight

The beers were overall decent - the IPAs were tasty and the imperial stout was probably my favorite, even if it wasn't as thick as we're used to in the U.S. The real star was the rooftop locale.

Beautiful mountains, ruins, & Guatemalan flag

The group had joined us for beers but dispersed for dinner, and we got delicious pupusas at El Papaturro, a Salvadorian spot. Pupusas are like stuffed, handmade tortillas - we have had them at some spots in Chicago, but you can tell Guatemala loves their neighbor's delicacies because they're everywhere.