¡Antigua!

So during the medical mission Adam and I were asked to join a small group of people on an independent trip to Antigua.  We, of course, gladly accepted.  Plus, we were allowed to ride with the whole team to Guatemala City without any cost to us.  I was more than ready to see some new scenery and get a break from Esquipulas, although it was sad to see the rest of the doctors and nurses leave.

Antigua Guatemala

Once everyone said their good-byes at the airport, six of us were left to enjoy a few more days together.  One of the organizers of this little excursion, Ron, knew of a place to stay in Guatemala.  He had been preparing us for a gourmet feast because the owner of the place really knows his food.  Ron didn´t disappoint.  I was impressed.  We even got home made tiramisu….Spectacular!

The next day we left for Antigua.  Wow, what a view when we first arrived.  You enter the city with the backdrop being three large volcanoes.  The smallest peak still reaching over 10,000 feet.  And everything looked so green.  I could tell instantly that I would enjoy my time in Antigua, but the best was yet to come.

One of the three main Volcanoes in Antigua (not bad for a 3.1 Mega Pixel camera)

The hostel we stayed at lay in the hills surrounding the city, called Earth Lodge.  Outside our cabin the cliff dropped off at a steep decline all the way to Antigua.  A couple of other people in our group stayed in the Treehouse (literary looked like a scene from Swiss Family Robinson).  They say when the wind blows they Treehouse sways back and forth.

From the front lawn of Earth Lodge

Antigua was the old capital of Guatemala.  A major earthquake that destroyed a large part of the city is the reason Antigua no longer remains the capital.  Walking around Antigua we found old remnants of the great capital.

Ruins in Antigua

Great Architecture

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