Traveling with the madre

Pics of the Spanish colonial architecture in Antigua

I met up with my mom early Monday morning in Guatemala City and we headed to the city of Antigua, about 45 minutes southwest of the capital. Gringos either love or hate Antigua because it is very European feeling with Spanish colonial atmosphere and architecture, is full of gringos and ex pats, clean, safe, and mysteriously lacks stray dogs or unsightly things. Plus it has great restuarants and coffee. It does not feel like Guatemala and after 2 months in this country, I loved Antigua! We took a historic walking tour of the city on Tuesday, then had lunch at a beautiful colonial hotel and museum with Alexandria, a girl I met at school in Xela and her mother, who is also visiting her here. On Wednesday, we took a tour to climb Volcan Pacaya, which is a constantly active volcano about 1 1/2 hours from Antigua. We hiked about 1 1/2 hours to the top of the lava fields where we got within about 10 feet of the lava. We were even able to roast marshmellows up there! We had a fantastic lunch of fresh veggie sandwhiches -the guide even made fresh guacemole up there! It was a great experience with beautiful views of the vocano. Mom handled it like a champ, even with a few bumps and bruises.

This morning, we took a shuttle to the town of Panajachel on Lake Atitlan, Guatemala largest tourist atraction. We walked to a nature reserve in the morning, then had lunch at a cafe overlooking the lake. Tomorrow we will visit a local market near the lake, then take a lancha to the small town of Jabalito and our hotel for the next few nights. So far, Bar and I are doing great together and she is practicing her new daily Spanish words with gusto.

On the left, Bar enjoying the mallows roasted by her loving daughter. And the beautiful duo trying not to fall in the lava....