Antigua is just gorgeous

Where are the travelers at SFO??
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Leaving SFO

It was probably one of the quietest days at SFO. Nobody was traveling except us and maybe 5 other people (all agnostics or atheists :-)).

Such a beautiful city was worth the crazy ride

Landing in Guatemala City

A whole family in the front seat!
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We finally land in Guatemala City and of course, our shuttle driver never showed up to take us to Antigua. After an hour of waiting and trying to have our hotel (who booked the shuttle for us) call the shuttle driver, we never got on the shuttle.  The next idea is a taxi.

Crazy taxi ride to Antigua

It was Christmas day but there were still a few taxis around. We got one that was a 1983 Sentra station wagon. I know the year because I drove one (but in 1994 in college). It looked barely drive-able and was held together by duck tape. But we got in anyways. To our surprise, some other people go into the taxi. The family of the taxi cab driver did too! The two little daughters and the wife came for the ride. Hmm.. I guess it's ok since you are suppose to spend Christmas with the family? I think we were in too much shock to say anything to the taxi driver. So we had 6 people in a taxi. Hmm.

Landing in G.C.
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But then the taxi driver pulled over to a gas station and asked his wife and us for Quetzals and none of us had any. I was pretty sure we were going to get dropped off there or risk getting stuck somewhere in Guatemala but somehow miraculously, they let him put in some gas.

The ride was suppose to take 1 hour but somehow we got there in 30 minutes. Therefore, we didn't even know that we got to Antigua until the driver said well we are in Antigua and you owe me $56. The taxi station at the airport said it should only be $28 so the taxi driver was trying to scam us for more money. He said it is $28 a person but we knew it wasn't true. We negotiated to $50 and just left... it was Christmas and the extra money would have helped his family out.

Guatemalan Santa at Antigua Central Park
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Antigua is absolutely gorgeous

Antigua is very cool with its bright color colonial Spanish style houses and its cobble stone streets. The houses are very well maintained. The cobble stone streets are in pretty bad shape so they cause a lot of car 'bumping'.

The entire city is within walking distance and we walked most of it. The most impressive thing is how clean the streets are. But in this case, clean doesn't mean virginal; the city definitely has character. Its central park is very cool during the day and in the evening. There is an old government building by the central park, which is a reminder of when Antigua was the original capital of Central America before the earthquake in the 18th century.

Antigua's narrow cobble stone streets
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During meal time, we tried our hardest to find authentic Guatemalan food but it was really hard to find. I finally realized that Guatemalan cuisine is pretty basic -- beans (frijoles), fried bananas, tortilla, and sometimes some nicely seasoned meat. Also, Guatemala doesn't really have many traditional desserts so that's great for our waistlines. There are also a lot of good restaurants and bars in various price ranges.

Our hotel was great but it was close to a church with a bell that rang every 15 minutes. Poor Ken had a pretty hard time sleeping with that stupid bell! ;-)

Volcano in background of beautiful Antigua
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My written description of Antigua doesn't do it justice.  Check out the photos under View More Photos to see more of the city.