A Quiet Sunday Afternoon

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Breakfast at Antigua McDonalds, with a lovely garden in the back. And then...

Another day of wandering (no map)

We rested in a number of lovely parks. Sitting under a park palm leaf in midday heat, I picked up a cell phone from the grass. We called one person but the audio was too low. We could hardly hear them, could they hear us? Maureen texted two of other friends, but no answer. Later in the day we gave it to a policeman. Young sweethearts strolled deliberately, several paces ahead of the senorita's parents, who attempted to look disinterested. Smaller children played with their Christmas toys. A quiet and charming scene, if a bit old fashioned to me.

Sitting in another park we were approached by a beggar, hobbling slowly, pathetically and convincingly with what looked like cerebral palsy or some kind of scoliosis. He had just launched into his friendly pitch when he was interrupted by a friend (or relative?) about some family matter. Then a teenager approached them both, obviously acquaintances, with a donation can. From what I could hear, he was collecting for a church school. Without hesitation beggar

forks over a handful of coins and crumpled bills. I know beggars can sometimes make a pretty good living, but still. Surprise and humbled, I gave the teen a little something and received an indelible lesson.

Back to wandering, I was feeling pretty bored when I passed a nice doorway. And there was a little sign saying "museums." Maureen said OK, and we entered a truly beautiful and fantastic complex of fancy hotel and seven museums, all on grounds of a massive set of ruins. I will only mention here a fantastic artist, Efrain Recinos. He is famous in Guatemala, but I found nothing on the web that matched what I saw in one museum. My one regret in C.A. is that I did not by the catalogue which had a photo of a mural that I liked better than Guernica. Help me find more.

Our experience of Antigua was A Tale of Four Cities, seemingly a new city for each day we were there. Halloween+Fourth of July+Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, It’s Saturday Night, and A quiet Sunday afternoon. “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…”

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Photos

McCafe
To relax we played gin rummy, exactly 200 hands on this trip. I was the overall winner in 2009. She made me promise never to tell anyone by how many points. Maureen was the winner in 2010.

Hotel pool at the museums
Pool is in the background and parrots are in the foreground. Well, at least you could see this if you were there.

Steak Dinner
A flower fell from the arbor into her glass. And this is how she looked before she drank the beer.

Comments

[Marcia Billings]

Wandering is the best, isn't it?