New Year's Eve in beautiful Antigua - Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala
Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala
(By Birka Affleck) The bus trip from Leon to Antigua was supposed to take 16 hours, it ended up taking almost 19 (including breaks) - enough said. However, on the plus side we saw 2 new countries along the way, being Honduras and El Salvador which we had to pass through. We went with Gekko Explorer again as we found them very professional and quick (border delays not their fault) during previous tours. As mentioned in the earlier post we got picked up at 2 am, most people slept through the first border crossing through Honduras very early in the morning (we handed the passports to our driver beforehand and he handled everything). The second border crossing to El Salvador we had to get out but it went very quickly and we stopped for breakfast and el bano. After a few more hours we then got to El Tunco in El Salvador where we had a 2 hour break for lunch and a swim. The ocean was warm and the waves were big and it was almost unbearably hot. El Tunco is a little surf town, the one main street to the beach has gates and security guards, so they are obviously trying to make it safe for tourists. Nandi got fish tacos, of course. After yet another few hours and another border crossing to Guatemala, we got police escorted to Antigua (the area around Guatemala City is apparently fairly dangerous, particularly if it's dark). We then finally got to Antigua safe and sound - how good is it to arrive somewhere?! The first impression of the city was that it's freezing but stunning. Nandi mentioned Antigua is much cooler than any other towns we'd been to but I didn't really believe him - mistake. It's never fun to try and find your way around a city at night with a big backpack on, only tiny shorts but 15 degree,but we got to our hotel Quinta de la Flores in the end with only minor complaints. It was one of the more expensive stays we booked throughout our trip but it was absolutely worth it. It's like a little country cottage, reminded us of New Zealand or skiing holiday in Austria. The highlight was our little fire place in the room. After seeing that, I pretty much decided that we were getting room service that night along with a bottle of red, have a hot shower, put some comfy clothes on and light the fire - best decision, we had a great and relaxing night which was needed after the long trip. The next morning after a little sleep in we were ready to explore the city. We dropped of our laundry at the local shop (the Guatemalan mum certainly didn't waste any time sorting through our dirty socks etc.) and then started the day with breakfast at Samsara. It's a little cafe that serves health food, plays some psychedelic music, had a lot of yoga and alternative healing books displayed etc. - you get the picture. How can something this healthy be this tasty?! It was the first place we went to but quickly became one of our favourites for the delicious and healthy food. We probably walked 15 km all up that day but just went exploring the city which was nice. It's also a colonial city but even prettier that Granada and Leon. It's world heritage listed and you can quickly tell why. The buildings are beautiful, the streets are all cobble stone and there are hip little cafes and restaurants around every corner. As we found out through our 3 days stay - it's ALL about the food here and we ate and drank so much! It was New Years Eve so we headed back home to shower and dress up a bit. First we went to a cool rooftop bar called Sky Cafe. The cocktails were fairly average but the sunset was beautiful and as it got dark we could see the Fuego volcano erupting. I couldn't believe it and had no idea that volcanos just erupt like that. Lava came out of the top and was running down the side. We got our cameras out and got very excited, however not many other people in the bar seemed to care. We then met the owner of the bar, a British guy, who explained that this year Fuego erupted pretty much every single day. It used to only happen a few times a year but it's now very frequent (which explained why no one else got as excited as we did). Still incredible to see. After pre-drinks we checked out another couple of bars and then ended up at Hectors bistro - OMG - the food is a-mazing! It was the perfect New Years eve dinner. We had steak with this delicious white wine and blue cheese sauce and delicious red wine stew with a nice bottle of wine, desert, the full program. There was a power outage as someone threw a rocket fire cracker against the power line, which added to the intimate and romantic atmosphere. Everyone in Antigua celebrates New Years on the street, there are parades, kids are selling funny hats, everyone let's fire crackers and rockets off, the streets are full of people and it's a great atmosphere. We got some beers and sat in the Central Park to people watch. It's cool to celebrate New Years in a new city and we're glad we've done it in Antigua. We learned that New Year's Day starts really slow in Antigua and most places are closed until lunchtime. We still managed to get breakfast which didn't satisfy. So literally a couple of hours later we got some tacos from Cactus which were great - fish tacos and scampi and bacon tacos were the best. That afternoon I had, unexpectantly, the best apple tart ever tasted at Epicure (sorry mum I still LOVE your apple tart with apples from our garden!). We then headed back to our great hotel which also has a massive peaceful garden with pool, several lounge areas etc. for a little snooze and relaxing time. We then had dinner at a Texas BBQ place called Pappy's BBQ, which Nandi (like pretty much every other places we ate at) read about on tripadvisor. It didn't disappoint and we had the 3 meats platter with beef brisket, pulled pork and rips - one platter each of course. The third day we tried to go up to Cerro del Tenor which has great views over the valley and volcanos but when we got there with we were told the wait was 1 hour 20 minutes for breakfast so we decided to go for a walk, enjoy the view but then get their free shuttle back to town to go back to old and trusty Samsara and we didn't regret it. We then went for a walk to the local markets, bought some token bracelets and little bits and pieces, ended up on the meat and seafood section by accident (yuk!) but eventually found our way back out. We had a late lunch at Hectors again - we HAD to go back there. We shared a few things including out of this world tomato, mozzarella and balsamic entree and a Kalua creme brûlée for desert. God I love this place! We checked out a few more shops and then Nandi finally got his freshly baked, still hot, banana bread from Dona Luisa Xicotencatl bakery, a lonely planet recommendation. He sadly missed out the first day when someone in front if him in the line bought the last piece. When we showed up the second time, a guy in front of him again bought the last banana bread but this time luckily there was one more batch in the oven which was supposed to be ready in 5 minutes. It was like being at the bakery with a 5 year old. In the end Nandi bought to WHOLE banana bread, not just a piece. Because we hadn't eaten enough that day, he ate half of it on the way home. We bought some wine at the supermarcado earlier so lit the fire again for yet another bottle of red before dinner. We then had dinner at 'Por-que no?' that last night. It's a really edgy little place with super warm and genuine service and amazing food with outstanding vegetarian options. Writing this post we realised Antigua was all about the food and not doing much apart from strolling the beautiful streets. We loved this town and could have definitely spent more time here than 3 days. We wanted to climb the volcano but it was an overnight camping trip and we just enjoyed the town and our accommodation too much to trade it for a 2 day hike and camping, even though that would have been awesome. But, it's our honeymoon after all. Next up - Lanquin and Semoc Champey.