Misc notes on Antigua and Guatemala City

Here are a few notes about Antigua and Guatemala City....

The main part of Antigua has cobblestone streets, making a bumpy ride in a car or a bit tough on feet while walking unless one is wearing shoes with thicker soles.

A mime on Sunday entertaining the crowds for over an hour.  This main street--5th--was closed on Sunday to cars.

You would think that the cobblestones would be tough on motorcycle riding, but there were an abundance of motorcycles in town.  The Guatemalan rule is that all riders on motorcycles must wear helmets, but if there is only one helmet and a driver and passenger are riding, the passenger gets the helmet.  In the case below, the driver is alone and without a helmet--a common site.

Across from our small "residence," was one of the nicer hotels in Antigua, the Panza Verde.  The name means "green tummy," and is what people from Antigua are called because they eat a lot of delicious avocados.  We went there to see the documentary movie, A  Voice Among the Silent: The Legacy of James McDonald.    I love the plant with the huge leaves at the entrance of the hotel, of course behind the street walls.

Before the movie began, we climbed to the roof to get a view of the surrounding area.

Birds on nearby trees serenading us

 The views were spectacular!

This picture looked like a painting!

Below, Betsy with Ann, a Canadian who was also at the pension where we stayed. Ann is a weaver and is planning on bringing a group of weavers to Guatemala in the fall.  She is planning to taking the participants to a weaving workshop in San Pedro I believe and also a color dying workshop too.

A toothbrush holder made from old skirts/ cortes

Zoola is an upscale restaurant run by Israelis, who have a special Shabbat dinner on Friday nights.  Betsy, Deet and I tried to eat there on Friday night but found out that the Shabbat dinner began at 8, a bit too late for us!

A huge cactus inside of Zoola.  That's Betsy at the bottom of it!

Whenever we road on a local bus to San Antonio Aguas Calientes, a fireman would get on the bus to collect money for the department. We always gave something.

We went into the Spanish Embassy's Center of Formation, a cultural center with four exhibition areas.

One room had a collection of Pre-Columbian art.

I was enchanted by the wild animal paintings done by children

The building itself was lovely--and over 400 years old:

The place also has a small cafe that is quite popular:

I was delighted to see this fruit being sold by a woman sitting on the street by the wooden toy store.  It was one of several fruits in her basket for sale.  Do you recognize it?

I think it may be called custard apple in English but I know it as chirimoya or anona.  It has a lot of medium sized black seeds inside surrounded by a white fruit and a very mild but pleasant taste.  Betsy and I feasted on it at Deet's.

Some more pretty flowers in the Antigua area:

Beautiful, large flower. Does anyone recognize it?

Flowers that greeted me in my room on arrival in Antigua!

A variant of a plant in the US.  Here the yellow centers stand out.

 Betsy and I adored the flowers below.  Does anyone know what it is called?

Shoes that Betsy tried on and decided not to get and convinced me to try them on.  They fit!
and I bought them!!  So few shoes fit me. I was excited.

Betsy and I had a last dinner in Antigua at Sabe Rico, a simple but beautiful place with greenery all around us.

Betsy tried on these shoes in a local store and decided not to get them.  On a whim, I tried them on and they fit!  So I got them with Betsy's encouragement.

We went to Guatemala City on Friday afternoon and stayed in the Baltimore Hilton with the Fair Trade Judaica group for two nights. The room was quite an upgrade from our room in Antigua, but we still had to put the toilet paper in a basket and not in the toilet, and I missed the sounds of birds chirping in the morning!

 We went to the Centro Hebreo for Shabbat services and a delicious dinner and then to Adat Israel for Shabbat morning services and a lovely Tu B'shvat seder led by Ilana Shatz.  

We joined the group for Havdalah outside the hotel on Saturday evening.

Old US school buses are used throughout Guatemala, especially outside the capital.  Many are still the original yellow color and sometimes with the names of the original school district.  Others are painted bright colors.

Betsy and I also went to the Guatemala Zoo near our hotel at Deet's and Trip Advisor's recommendation.  They had some amazing birds and many animals from Africa as well as Latin America.  Unfortunately, the zoo did not have enough space for many of them.  My camera battery died soon after we got there but I did get a cute picture of  a hippo family.

Before heading to the airport on Sunday, Betsy and I walked around the hotel neighborhood.  We were pleased to see the main road devoid of cars and used by bicyclists and walkers on a sunny morning.

Art by the street

Eggs in the supermarket, sold like they used to be 40 years ago in Israel

A lovely bilingual book about a young Mayan girl who learns to weave with discarded plastic bags, making beautiful objects and cleaning up the village where she lives.  The book was inspired by Brenda Rosenbaum, the founder of Mayan Hands.   I just bought a copy to share with grandchildren.