Day Three/Four/Five: Antigua

Unfortunately our Tikal trip had a scheduling miscommunication, so it's been moved to Wednesday. We instead spent the day getting to know Antigua a bit more, and I have lots of photos to share. We arrived in the city on Friday afternoon and checked in to Hotel Casa Santo Domingo, which is a very famous and fancy hotel located in the ruins of an old monastery. The hotel was amazing, especially for someone who loves old things, which I very much do. This was our room:

An old fountain:

The pool area:

The hotel grounds were huge- we spent so much time just walking around and checking out all the random ruins and artifacts scattered about. At night we had a fire kindled in our room (don't worry, Mom- it was safe) and everything smelled pleasantly smoky.

After a lazy Saturday afternoon in the pool and jacuzzi, we packed up and moved into the house that Paul's parents jointly own with other family members. The place is stunning, with a flowery courtyard in the middle and great views from the roof:

That's Volcan de Agua there, looming over the city. It supposedly has this name from the water and mud that comes flowing down the volcano after big storms, most notably in 1541 when it destroyed a city at its base. Paul and I spent lots of time walking around the city these past two days, and we took a walking tour today to learn lots about the history. Picture time!

The fountain at Central Park:

 

The cathedral, which has mostly been restored after being destroyed many times, though it still has lots of cool ruins inside:

 

This is the oft-pictured Arco de Santa Catarina. In nicer weather, Volcan de Agua can be seen behind it. It's surrounded by lots of nice cafes, restaurants, and bars, and the street is pedestrian-only on weekends. Our tour guide told us that the arch was constructed to allow nuns in the convent on one side of the street to cross over to the other, since they weren't allowed to leave the convent once they entered. 

 

There are countless other pictures of old churches and beautiful courtyards, but I'll make a Facebook album for all the random photos that I don't highlight on this blog. Tomorrow we're waking up bright and early to climb Pacaya, a volcano that is technically active but hasn't had any activity in the past year. While I was hoping to see some lava like Paul did when he went, I'll at least get to brag about having climbed an active volcano.