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Catherdal At Night...All Lit Up!!!
This is the cathedral in Antigua, but the photo wasn't taken on this day. I just put it on to brighten the page as I didn't take any others!! How considerate of me!! 18th MAY 2009 - A TRAVELLING SET BACK!!
Again I woke up early and could not go back to sleep!! I read my book for half an hour and then went to brave the shower. It was a case of needs must!! The bathroom was filled with mosquitoes and the shower was shocking!! It was colder than Mr Freeze and all the power of a wet lettuce!! I looked in the mirror and reassessed the situation…did I really need a shower?!! The answer was yes but as soon as I put my head under I immediately regretted the decision!! I know I have said it before but this really was the worst shower I had ever encountered. I wouldn’t have minded the cold so much if it had some power as it could have been short and painless. However, as it had no power I had to endure it for ages whilst the trickle of water tried in vain to rinse the shampoo off. I managed to perfect the arch though so that only my head and none of my body felt the cold unless absolutely necessary!! Sometimes it really does pay to be a scruff!! Back in the room, I advised Nat to give it a miss and she wisely listened!! Lucky girl!
Once sorted, we packed up, heaved our backpacks on and headed out for breakfast. We both ordered pancakes which we just like cakes they were so stodgy! Very tasty though but worrying as the pancake breakfast are becoming far more frequent than once or twice a month! Bad news!! Following food, we headed to the bus shop to dump our bags and then each went our own ways to look around the shops. Nat was still on her shopping mission and did manage to get what she wanted after some good bartering. I got a little bag too but it was cheap as chips coming in at about a quid!! Pat on the back for me!!
10am came and we got on the shuttle to Antigua. The first 40 minutes were spent driving around in circles as the driver kept forgetting things and having to go back. The ride was then very bumpy and I had to grip my seat on a few occasions. American guy sat in front of us and I can honestly say I have never been so thankful for my ipod. He talked none stop to the poor girl beside him about recycling for a whole 3 hours!! A sure fire cure for anyone suffering from insomnia!! We were supposed to be getting on another bus at 1pm to head to Honduras, however the driver was running very late. To try and ensure we made it on time, he decided to head down a one way street the wrong way and nip around a few bollards along the way. Crazy driving but he did get us there with 15 minutes to spare…good effort!!
We rushed to the bakery on the corner to grab some food for the long journey and then headed back to jump on our next bus. Bad news…the roads into Honduras were being closed each afternoon due to some sort of protest. That meant that there was no point in travelling that afternoon and we were advised that we would have to set off at 4am the following morning instead. Looked like we would be spending another day in Antigua, which was a bit of a shame because although it was a nice place, we had already done the stuff we wanted to do there. No choice in the matter though and so we headed to The Black Cat Hostel to see if they had 2 beds going!!
Thankfully, the Black cat had room for us and after dumping our stuff we went for a wander around the square. We bumped into a cockney guy along the way who badgered us into going to look in his shop. He was quite a funny guy and a proper Londoner!! He was selling perfumes, oils and natural creams etc. He made us do tests with smells and gave us so many different products to put on different parts of our bodies that we should have been paid some sore of fee for scientific studies!! He was a proper seller too and we had some good banter. I mean he had an oil that should be hailed as the answer to all the worlds’ problems!! It protected from the sun, slowed down the aging process, moisturized, stopped sand fly bites, repelled mosquitoes, worked as an after sun, soothed the skin, added shine, was non-greasy…..I mean what this oil didn’t do wasn’t worth knowing!! Despite all that…we didn’t buy any and used the excuse that we needed to go to the cash point!! We lied!!
Back at the hostel, we wrote some postcards, went to the post office to post them and then went to look for some fodder as Nat was hungry. We wanted to get to the bagel shop but it meant walking on the same street as the cockney laddo. We went into secret agent mode…poking our heads around the corner to check his position, backs to the wall, side shuffles, ducking into doorways and whatever else it took!! We did get there though without being busted!! In the shop, Nat enjoyed a bagel whilst I sipped on a milkshake. We then left the shop in the same style that we entered it in and got back to the hostel without being spotted!! Maybe we had missed out calling as secret agents!!
At the hostel we settled in the tv room to watch shadow boxer. Weirdest film ever and once again it began jumping half way through. Got really bad too but as neither of us had seen it we couldn’t stop it as we needed (not wanted) to see how it ended!! We tried blowing, wiping, pausing, stopping and we even gave it a little rest but we had no success!! It jumped so much we may as well have been watching Skippy!! It was an absolute nightmare but with some perseverance we got there in the end. So maddening when it happens though as they don’t start jumping until you are already into the film!! Film watched we went on the net for half an hour and then went in the bar where I tucked into a burrito. The English guy from our room joined us in the bar and we stayed chatting to him and 2 other randoms for a good while. Some weird conversations too…did you know that if you put a crisp packet in the over or under the grill it will shrink down in perfect proportion. Think about it…you could hole punch it and use it as a mini key ring!! I was amazed anyway and definitely think that is one to try at home!!
As it got later, Nat and I made a move to go to bed as we had a very early start the next morning!! Does 3.30am even exist?!!
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