Comos los que usa el ranchero

Kristi and I took Matt and Addi to Antigua, which is about 45 minutes southwest of Guatemala City. Antigua is the ancient (and colonial) capital of Guatemala. Earthquakes and volcanoes necessitated the need to move the capital to Guatemala City. Antigua was originally called Santo Domingo, but the name changed to litteraly mean "antique" after the capital was moved. Please keep in mind most of the photos were taken while pushing Matt in his stroller across cobblestone streets and cobblestone sidewalks. They both were very good in their strollers the entire day, but these were not the best conditions to take good photos. Also, since I am limited in my time, this is a very long post.
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Through the streets of Guatemala City (and past the first hotel we stayed in August)...
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... and the countryside.
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Arrival in Antigua.
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First stop on the tour. One of the oldest and most important churches in Guatemala. The fusion of Christianity and Mayan tradition is reflected upon the reliefs and stuatuary on the building. The design of west to east facade has something to do with Mayan beliefs with the sun. The tall statue in the archway over the main entrance is the Virgin Mary, the most sacred saint in Central America. Abover her is an etched relief of God. There are other various saints depicted, but please don't expect me to remember them all from this tour.
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The nave of the church.
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All of the churches have some pretty detailed (and gorey) depictions of saints and Christ. This is actually a depiction of Jesus in his tomb. The lighting was difficult in the dark alcove and the bright sunlight from the entrance.
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This is the main square known as Mayan Plaza, or Royal Plaza. It's not so much a tribute to the Mexican superculture, but mayan means royal. The water comes from the women's breasts because they feed the world ...or something like that. I couldn't understand everything the guide explained (maybe Kristi understood what he was talking about).
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Next stop on the tour was the House of Jorge Posada. Actually, it's the Hotel Posada De Don Rodrigo (the Yankees catcher was my mnemonic aid for remembering the name of the hotel). Beautiful spot, and this is where we came back at the end of the tours to eat a late lunch. I had a Chile Rellenos that was outstanding, with Moza cervezas from Guatemala. The food was excellent, and the salsa was just the perfect hot for me. The rooftop patio view could see all over the rest of the city.

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Walking down the street after leaving the Hotel Posada (you can see our guide's head in the lower left corner).

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Apparently, this is the most famous view from Antigua, and it is used in all of their magazine and tourism promos. I've seen some of them and my pic doesn't come anywhere close to looking as nice.

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This is the entrance to the old convent. Once you (that is the nuns) went in, you never came out. When the convent bought the land to the right of this arch, they built the archway as a bridge to the new property.

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Nuestra Senora de la Merced. This is the main church of the convent. It is the most popular church in the country for Guatemalans to get married (Americans go to Casa Santo Domingo). The interesting tidbit I picked up about the elaborate relief on the facade is the use of images of corn. With the Mayan fusion into Christianity, corn replaced the origin of man from dust, because Mayans believed corn to be sacred (but I believe they enjoyed to eat it rather than Hindu belief with cows).

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This is one of the entrances to where the bodies are buried beneath the church. I understand they aren't all that elaborate crypts, so you really are walking across their graves.
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Some street views. A lot of Americans own these homes.
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This is the workshop for the jade factory of Jade, S.A. (the official jade producer of Guatemala). They also have an informational seminar, a museum (with free coffee), and a very nice jewelry boutique. I never knew so much about jade before, but apparently the Chinese are cheaters. Guatemala is where to find the really good stuff.
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Casa Santo Domingo. This place convinced me that I need to come back here to stay and see more of the area and the country... or do nothing. With only 25 guest rooms and a spectacular setting, it is actually quite affordable.

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These are the ruins of the old church at Santo Domingo. The hills beyond were beautiful to see, and our guide told me they are surrounded by coffee plantations. You can rent a horse to ride through the plantations, and tour from the fields through the factory. I'm guessing it's a more thorough tour than a day at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery.
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Everything salvageable from the old church is used in the hotel.
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My favorite part about all of the buildings (villas) in Antigua are the various nooks and passageways. It's amazing how they can fit such variety of atmospheres into these spaces.

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This is the best view of the Volcano of Water (Volcano de Agua) we had for the day. It rests to the south of the city, and the Volcano of Fire (Fuego) is to the west. Fuego is still an active volcano, and you can hike up to touch the lava with a stick. Agua is so named because of the rivers that come down and flood the plantations (it is now dormant). Guatemala has several volcanoes that are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, and Antigua sits in a bowl surrounded by volcanoes and mountains.
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A traditional indian market. We skipped it and went back to Hotel Posada for lunch before we left.

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The weather, in short, was incredible. We got hot walking around (and pushing the strollers), but whenever we stopped to rest the cool Pacific breeze would be refreshing. The weather/temperature stays like that pretty much the year round. I didn't see one air conditioning unit, and I believe I wouldn't even miss it if I stayed.

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Yes, I want to go back. There were so many other places around town that I would like to see, and most of the country is easily accessible from Antigua. I needed to get out of Guatemala City to realize I actually like this country.