Hola!
Left Antigua yesterday via shuttle bus. 3 hours later we came up over the mountains and stopped for our first view of Lake Atitlan. Lago de Atitlan was formed 150,000 years ago in an eruption that sent ash as far as Florida and Panama. The chaldera filled with water and created this amazingly beautiful 128 sq. kilometer lake. It is ringed by three volcanos, Atitlan, San Pedro and Toliman, which is where we are now...on the lake. We navigated our way successfully, after some firece negotiation with boat captains in Panahachel, crossed the lake and landed at Santiago Atitlan where we got a ride in a tuk tuk up the hill to the Posada Santiago. How can we describe the posada? The interior is like the inside of a medieval castle built from volcanic rock overlooking the lake at Volcan San Pedro. It last erupted some 30,000-40,000 years ago so we're either okay or overdue. This is an incredible posad and as luck would have it, a world class chef who normaly plies his trade on world-class yachts is staying here for 3 months...poor us! No dieting here. The food has been simply unbelieveable. We've walked into the village itself a couple of times but went to our first Friday market today. I don't think I've ever seen so many avacados in one place...or handwoven, brightly embroidered fabrics and women and men like exotic birds all around us. Pretty special. Our bungalow is a stone hut with a toasty fireplace...a cross between a hobbit house and the stonecutters cottage in a fairy tale. We'll be here a few days and plan to explore some of the villages on the hills around us. More later...
Feel free to drop a line...the adventure continues.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
La Antigua, Guatemala
We made it and made it safely! Muzzy just had some Guatemalan chocolate (cup of hot chocolate and 2 cookies) and he's going even faster than usual. What can I say...I'm not far behind.
After Seattle to Atlanta, Atlanta to Guatemala City, we walked out of the airport and caught a cab to La Antigua (45 minutes=$30 and a lost fleece vest). Good to get the loosing thing out of the way. Arrived at Posada San Sebastian only to find they had no room for us that night. However, when I signed in Robert Muzzy for the next night, Luis exclaimed "Ohhhh, Robert, yes, I think we have you now." And hola amigos, mi casa su casa! We have a huge room in this crazy posada filled with antiques, oddities and Catholic religious icons of all sizes and shapes (an enire case of plaster babies, eeek!) all to the backbeat of marimba carousel music. Wonderful people. Courtyard with a three level fountain, a big green parrot and plush crawling vines. Charming, charming, charming. Nestled in between 3 volcanos, Antigua is incredibly beautiful laid out in a grid pattern, cobbled streets, countless 16th century churches, some crumpled victims of past volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. Long multi-colored walls with grill covered windows and fortress-like ancient wooden doorways with little peepholes in them giving way to secluded living spaces beyond. The textiles are unbelieveable and the people are friendly, helpful and tolerant of our attempts at Spanish. We are actually getting better! And with no tonal inflections, my brutish attempts at pronunciation seem to work. Of course, I work hard to catch up with Senor Muz, who was brilliant at asking directions to el bano the other morning, a most necessary request.
We leave for Lago Atitlan tomorrow morning, one duffel almost full. You know, embroidered cotton is much heavier than silk...sigh. But as Senor Muzzy states, "Yo soy es burro"
Love you all
Us
After Seattle to Atlanta, Atlanta to Guatemala City, we walked out of the airport and caught a cab to La Antigua (45 minutes=$30 and a lost fleece vest). Good to get the loosing thing out of the way. Arrived at Posada San Sebastian only to find they had no room for us that night. However, when I signed in Robert Muzzy for the next night, Luis exclaimed "Ohhhh, Robert, yes, I think we have you now." And hola amigos, mi casa su casa! We have a huge room in this crazy posada filled with antiques, oddities and Catholic religious icons of all sizes and shapes (an enire case of plaster babies, eeek!) all to the backbeat of marimba carousel music. Wonderful people. Courtyard with a three level fountain, a big green parrot and plush crawling vines. Charming, charming, charming. Nestled in between 3 volcanos, Antigua is incredibly beautiful laid out in a grid pattern, cobbled streets, countless 16th century churches, some crumpled victims of past volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. Long multi-colored walls with grill covered windows and fortress-like ancient wooden doorways with little peepholes in them giving way to secluded living spaces beyond. The textiles are unbelieveable and the people are friendly, helpful and tolerant of our attempts at Spanish. We are actually getting better! And with no tonal inflections, my brutish attempts at pronunciation seem to work. Of course, I work hard to catch up with Senor Muz, who was brilliant at asking directions to el bano the other morning, a most necessary request.
We leave for Lago Atitlan tomorrow morning, one duffel almost full. You know, embroidered cotton is much heavier than silk...sigh. But as Senor Muzzy states, "Yo soy es burro"
Love you all
Us
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