In the sure and certain knowledge that my trip will almost certainly descend into chaos and hard work, now is the time to say that these first few days have been a truly wonderful welcome to Guatemala. The hostel, whilst not a patch on the five star one Nancy directed me to yesterday with its free shuttles and exclusive hilltop cultural park, is a friendly communal little house full of simply lovely people. Antigua itself is stunning, ringed with towering volcanoes, a gem of architectural delights.
Today yet more clambering around ruins, so many ruins, the remnants of past glories before natural disasters wiped out the old city. A wander around the atmospheric cloisters of Santa Clara, where gardeners painstakingly maintain glorious gardens amidst the piles of broken pillars and soaring arches now open to the sky. Once a thriving convent this was destroyed in the 18th century earthquakes like the cathedral ruins alongside. Acres of broken brick interspersed with surviving intricate designs, yet today only the crypts survive intact, buried deep underground.
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| Ruins of Santa Clara Convent |
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| Procession of ruined arches... |
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| and embellished pillars |
The colonial arts museum was fascinating, not so much for the art itself, although breathtaking beautiful, but to see these enormous canvases originally grand large scale altar pieces, missing random sections where over the years people have carved out squares for private use with little regard to cultural significance! One Guatemalan told me he believed that his countrymen care little for their own history, wanting only to look to the future. Who knows, but the evidence of such shocking and recent destruction of these precious historic paintings was startling to my eyes.
Lunch, and I took the another tip from Nancy, the Canadian living here for free long term in exchange for giving the owners massages. I suspect my scribble was ramblingly confusing yesterday. Essentially Nancy is sharing the owner’s hostel /commune ideal and passing on hints on how I can see the best bits for free, what a star. Today she directed me to an organic farm high in the hills.
This time the ‘shuttle’ ran from an artists collective in a warren of back alleys, and the ’bus’ was ancient, bench seats on cobbled roads, ouch!! But so worth it. The view was even more splendid than yesterday. Perched high in the sky overlooking the town from the opposite side to yesterday’s sojourn, precariously balanced on terraces on steep barren slopes. This collective works with local people to grow and sell organic produce and run a small cafe, a project designed to help them remain in their hillside villages.
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| View at Lunch... |
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| ... from the cafe |
Revived by two aniseed buns, my new favorite thing, I reluctantly came back down to the bustling city streets. A sunset stroll to finish the day in positive mood as tonight I pack to move on early (very early) tomorrow to Panajachel. I shall miss Chez Daniel, the friendly staff, Nancy and her insider knowledge, and amazing Antigua, a fascinating absorbing place where I have been made so very welcome.
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| Transportation for tomorrow's journey |
Loving your blog - finally catching up today!! Anyone would think i had a job still, the way it seems hard to complete the list of things i want to do and the longer list of things I have to do! You have got a kind of luxury for these 3 months of having almost all the things being in the 'want to' category - although as you said there will be bureaucratic hurdles of the 'have to' kind too! We have had one glorious day of sunshine - and weren't we lucky it was the Thursday as we strode up Itford Hill and over to Glynde, Caburn and home - we all talked fondly of you and for myself I could wish to be on a similar sojourn! The following day was a 'hooly' - very big winds, even in the south and driving rain. fortunately our daughter made it from Bristol after work to share in the last couple of hours of her dad's birthday. Stay safe and well, and do keep writing. Thank you. Sally x
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