Cobblestones, purple robes and volcanoes in Antigua

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We arrived in Antigua, Guatemala, after leaving Ls Angeles at 2.30am. We were pretty shattered upon arrival so were very happy to catch the shuttle to Antigua, a very pretty UNESCO listed city 45 minutes from the airport. It was much cooler then we had expected - I don’t think we’ll actually wear any of the few summer clothes we packed!
What a gorgeous little city this is…. Every street is cobbled and narrow and lined with low plaster covered brick houses painted in all shades of pinks and yellows. The city is dominated by three volcanoes, one of which is currently active, although we haven‘t noticed the lava glow from it. Though the streets are on a grid pattern we had difficulty finding our way around - maybe tiredness but there is a distinct lack of obvious street and shop signage. All signs seem to be very discreet - check the photo of the McDonalds sign them. We visited the McDonalds the next day and it’s a tourist attraction in itself - has all the usual (children’s play area, menu) but this one has lounge areas, fountains, lovely gardens and view of the volcano!
Lent celebrations are in full swing here and we watched many heavy wooden crosses being taken from the church to one of the nearby villages for a procession there that evening. The closest church to our hotel is bright yellow, covered in a confection of white plaster decorations. Inside is an amazing carpet made of coloured wood shavings - extremely detailed and vibrant in colour. I’m really pleased that we saw one as the streets here are covered in them during the main Easter celebrations. The processions, carrying the crosses (some are 30 metres long) walk over them destroying the carpet in the process. All the men in the processions wear purple hooded robes (think Ku Klux Clan style) and carry incense lanterns. We will se similar processions, minus the carpets, in Ecuador where we’ll be Easter week.
Antigua was very busy today - Saturday - with foreign tourists but predominately local Spanish families. It is only one hour from Guatemala City so most weekends here are very busy. Our little hotel (Casa Christina) has lovely staff, is very sweet with minute rooms and US$37. Hotels here are very expensive. Local currency is Quetzels, 8 to the US dollar, which is widely accepted. We mainly spent the day wandering, checking out a few of the shops and deciding what to do over the next fortnight in this country. In the evening we spent some time at Parque Central, the city square watching some of the traditional musicians and enjoying the ambience. The fountain, in the centre of the square, has a rather interesting feature of four bare breasted ladies squeezing water from their nipples! And this in front of the main church!
On Sunday morning we were woken by the chiming of church bells and roosters. We had a great cloudless view of Pacaya Volcano from our bedroom window - it is really high and dominates the city. A great breakfast of fruit at a café around the corner before we headed off to wander the streets again. The was going to be a procession on that afternoon as part of the Easter Lent celebrations - we had no idea whether the procession would be similar to the purple celebrations we had read about but we hoped so. The market in front of La Merced Church was very busy, with homemade potato crisps, toffee apples, fried sweet dough balls and stalls selling cheap plastic toys being in heavy demand. At lunchtime all the stalls were selling lots of BBQ meat, and tacos made from potato and corn. Avocados are plentiful and mangoes are sliced for sale on all the stalls. The city was very busy and cars just kept streaming into the town. From the La Merced church roads to the main square were closed off to cars. Between both churches the street is lined with upmarket tourist shops and pretty restaurants and cafes. There are also a lot of ‘cigar bars’ though we’ve noticed very few people actually smoking. On each corner are police, though I think they are mainly directing traffic - there seems to be a fee to drive around the area being charged. The streets are very narrow so the city runs a one way system for traffic flow - no traffic lights either.
We spent the afternoon resting (still recovering from the late nights in the US) before we headed back out onto the streets to find the procession. It was easy - it was only a matter of following all the little purple men! The streets that the procession was to follow had been decorated with purple banners and flags. Today was actually the ‘Childrens’ Procession’ - the main procession where 30 metre long crosses are carried around the streets is held on Good Friday. On that day the streets are covered with carpets made from dyed sawdust. Each family makes one and the borders are surrounded by flowers and vegetables. La Merced has two, one on each side of the main altar and they are really lovely and to see the streets covered in them would be a wonderful experience. It’s a major festival on the tourism calendar and rooms are booked out months ahead.
After watching the procession that afternoon I felt that we had certainly being given a good dose of what it must be like to be in Antigua on Good Friday. There were hundreds of men and boys dressed in long hooded purple robes many wearing white gloves. There were also many babies and infants being carried by older family members - even the babies were wearing purple robes. The procession had started early that morning - it was now after 4pm - from a village nearby. A religious icon on a heavy wooden tray about 30 metres long was being carried through the streets on the shoulders of men. It looked very heavy! As it was carried the streets in front were lined with men, hundreds of them, who kept moving ahead of the icon. More and more men joined in from the crowds lining the streets as the icon passed by. In front of the icon were groups of men waving incense lanterns billowing heavy white smoke. The scent was very strong and it was hard to see through the cloud as they walked by. Behind them were brass bands playing at full volume. Following them was a similar icon, shorter, being carried on the shoulders of young women wearing black. After that came all the men carrying balloons, whistles and plastic toys to sell to the bystanders. The procession wound through the town over the next five or six hours. The main square was thronged - lots of bands playing traditional music, dozens of food stalls, kids everywhere - total mayhem! As the procession arrived at the main church near the square there was a man singing opera (probably wasn’t but sounded like it to my ears!) to the accompaniment of a large orchestra. The church was floodlit and with the icon now lit up, the music and the vibe it was quite an experience!
Next morning we went on a tour of surrounding villages - despite requesting not to be taken to any shops - guess where we went? The villages weren’t particularly attractive - rows of cement houses with big metal gates out front. We’ve realised that the houses here are built around central courtyards so unless the gates are open you really have no idea of how pretty they actually are. And of course gates are kept closed to keep prying eyes out. The guide told us that there had been an earth tremor in Antigua at 6am that morning - one of the largest they had felt for a while, though they are very common here. Not really what I wanted to hear in view of recent world events. Also the volcano had started spurting out puffs of smoke - that we did see! As in Antigua the houses are all painted in shades of yellow and pink. The surrounding countryside grew avocadoes, macadamia and coffee and was very parched looking.
Another quite day followed. We’ve been enjoying coffee in very pretty little courtyard restaurants, wandering the local market, checking out the bus station - totally chaotic as all bus stations in developing countries are! The buses here are called ‘Chicken Buses’, are brightly painted (most are ex American school buses), have very worn tyres and no doubt we’ll be on one before we leave Guatemala (though not for any long trips!). The restaurants here are great, very pretty but not cheap. We’ve had a bit of market food but have been having big breakfasts (massive bowls of fruit and strong lattes) and then eating an early dinner. Food serves are enormous! Our little hotel is sweet - a traditional house with tiny rooms painted in bright washed colours - and lovely friendly staff. All the foreigners here seem to be doing Spanish courses and can all speak easily to the locals - we’re struggling but I’m sure we’ll pick up some basic language pretty quickly.
The maximum we can get out of an ATM is US$300 so once again we’ll be paying a small fortune in bank use and conversion fees by the end of the trip. It seems to be a dual currency society - most places accept dollars or Quetzels. It certainly isn’t the cheapest place we’ve travelled in though of course Antigua is a top tourist destination so prices reflect that. Wifi is available in most places but drops in and out fairly frequently. On our last day here we visited the most expensive hotel in the city, set on the grounds of ‘Convent de Santo Dominca’, at US$600 a night. We went to visit the museum on the site which was one of the best I’ve ever visited. The whole area - it was in the hotel grounds - I think that the hotel was part of the newer convent. We explored the many burial crypts - some had museum displays of silver, contempory art, original stucco statues and wall paintings. All set amidst lush gardens, fountains and trees full of brightly coloured parrots. My favourite gallery though was an exhibition of Guatemalan Mayan art from around 400AD and contempory glass art from designers around the world. Check out some of the photos - I absolutely loved the concept!
We left Antigua after 4 nights (two more then originally planned) to catch a shuttle bus down to see some Mayan ruins just over the border in Honduras.. It will take about 6-7 hours to get there, Two nights later from Copan Ruinas we come back to Antigua after dark to sleep before catching an early morning shuttle further west into Central Guatemala.

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Photos

Another sawdust carpet
These carpets were surounded by vegetables

One of the flower and grass carpets laid on the streets during the procession
These carpets are used during the Lent period instead of the vibrant sawdust carpets used only in the Good Friday processions

Women at the local market
They all wear very frilly lacy aprons

Comments

[Gayle Simpson]

Antigua
Hi Linese & Jerry, I am so enjoying the trip with you. I could give you a great reference Linese, if ever you wanted to write for a travel agent. Your blogs are wonderful and I love to see photos of you both among the others. Thank you for your coverage of your experiences. Keep "em coming. Cheers. Gayle.

[Roslyn Amiss]

WOW
What a great experience - nothing like being in the right place at the right time. Love, Ros