Life has been crazy as it has for everyone. Since we got back from Antigua, we have had a hard time catching our breath.
The first thing we seemed to battle was the weather…it has been freezing…and yard work was put off for a good long bit.
We first celebrated Easter, which was a beautiful day!
I had one night of clowning which I misplaced all my balloon pumps and balloons so I had to improvise 🥴
We then got ready for Ellie’s first prom. When you are a homeschooler you can go to prom in 9th grade…
Then we had violin recital….
Then we had a rather large party where I worked my birthday off to get the back patio beautiful…to which we had a wind advisory the hour everyone got to the party…so that was awesome.
Then we went to visit my Dad for his 89th birthday….
After that it was time to celebrate with Ellie’s friends that she is turning 16….this coming Monday…the day after Mothers Day…
And now we go through lots more adventures which I hope to do better with keeping everyone up to speed!
So we had to leave extra early today, due to all the processions around town. Since we left so early we were able to be at the airport from our hotel in 45 minutes. When we got here last Sunday they had processions and it took us over two hours to get to the hotel…so that’s why we left so early. Even though spending this many hours at the airport is a bummer it is better than missing our flight completely.
In Guatemala City, they will not even let you in the airport without showing your passport first. We are flying American and they have been very sweet and kind thus far.
When you leave Guatemala you must fill out another form to exit…they stamp your passport again…and their security is not as strict as US…not as much yelling. For now…we wait. We sleep, we eat.
I will offer this word of warning….don’t think that cutesy sandals are a good idea. Antigua has cobblestone streets and they can be difficult to walk in. My favorite pair of shoes to wear were my new ones called Hey Dudes, which I sware is my absolute favorite shoe to travel in. I also brought my hiking boots. I also had a pair of my running shoes. I at first thought that perhaps I should have brought my Teva Sandals but there is a lot of dirt around…and I just don’t like to be that dirty.
We are headed to Miami first before we head home…with a four hour layover…but with going through customs this provides a bit of a cushion because you never i kw what you are going to get….
Guatemala has the most uncomfortable chairs in their airport. Most of the people here speak English…they are very used to us non speaking Spanish people.
I hope you visit Antigua it is a beautiful city, one we are sad to leave…which says something about us for sure. Yesterday we just went and got souvenirs and tried to take in as much as we could of the city….
Well folks….last day is here..:how that happened, I do not know!
We had room service again this morning…doesn’t cost more and before we fly we like to be cautious. This is the reason I booked this hotel…because of the safety concerns, and this hotel is very careful.
Today we went to get things to take back home…and it was a lovely time…
One of our favorite things we like to do is collect art. Since our daughter is an artist..we know how much work goes into these paintings.
Unwanted a nice painting of the arch….
Mark never let’s himself buy much…but this painting spoke to him….
Tomorrow we begin our journey back….then back to reality….but Guatemala has a special place in my heart…love you Antigua♥️♥️♥️😘
Today, we started off the day with Room Service…and it was lovely…
Then we headed to a coffee farm…which in the beginning, I admit…I thought we had been kidnapped…because that’s what my mind always jumps to…kidnapping and killings.
We took a short van ride with another family that was from Austria and their son had moved here to teach English…they were lovely people.
We were introduced and thankfully our interpreter came😬 yeah!!!!
Flower of a coffee bean He is explaining the different types of trees They dry out the old coffee shells . The locals actually drink this…it’s a type of tea they drinkCoffee beans We then seperated them with a machineThen we cooked them and they seperated the shell from them…Then we ground them…they taught us how to properly do it
It was an exceptional visit…and we enjoyed our lunch together. We were so happy to have wonderful coffee to bring home!
We got up very early on this morning to begin a hike. We were picked up in front of our hotel around 6:16.
The day started with a breakfast bar and a fabulous cup of coffee.
I had requested an English speaking tour…but for the first time on this trip …I did not get that. Thankfully there were two English speaking interpreter on this trip and they explained things to us….obviously I will have a conversation with the company…all of our other tours were in English as I had requested.
The hike up to Pacaya is not easy…but you can rent a horse if you like for about 250 Q for up and back down. The hardest part for us was back down. I am 48 and work out about twice a week…and an in decent shape…my husband is 10 years older and works out about four times a week…we were in the middle of our group and sos not slow anyone down…
The climb was moderate….but worth it! Our guide stopped several times along the way.
Our guide let us eat these…a little like a blueberry Our guide is roaring marshmallows over the vapors There was steam coming out…soo cool
It is an hour drive up and an hour drive back and the entire van was snoring on our way home…the van dropped us off at our hotel.
We then showered and took a long nap…/‘s then we enjoyed a nice dinner at our hotel…we were wanting some vegetables and our hotel is very safe to have these things.
I also wanted to remind you that in Guatemala most of their sewers cannot take what ours do in the US. On our hike to Pacaya you cannot flush toilet paper…our hotel you can. It will be posted clearly what you can and can’t do.
As all beautiful days begin in Antigua….a beautiful nod to coffee….
There is a cafe next to our hotel where they have Spanish lessons and beautiful people and amazing coffee.
Today we had a tour guide named Moses who took us around the city….if I had to do it over I would have booked him for Tuesday…we would have gotten around better. Antigua is perfectly safe…armed police everywhere. I felt safer here than in my own home town.
We went to several different churches, learned the history of the city. Visited a jade market…looked a little bit at coffee trees…and went to a Mayan Market….
Moses, our guide. Then introduced us to Eric, who drove us up to the Hill of the Cross. He waited for us and then brought us back down. This used to be unsafe to go to without a guide. Lots of petty crime. Now there is a police presence there and lots of vendors if you fancy some snacks….or pretty much anything you can imagine.
It was a beautiful day!
Word of warning: do NOT drink the water…we have only drank the water at our hotel because it is purified. Do NOT eat the lettuce or any fruit or vegetable..that would be washed in their water. Avocados are fine. When you order a hamburger tell them no tomato or no onion, except when you beat at Wendy’s (which we did one day) also do NOT get ice in any drink. You can have hot tea, or lemonade… I have personally had lots of lattes and Cocoa-Cola. We also have bought a lot of bottled water.
Every vacation has a few bumps in the road…and we considered Day 3 our bump.
When we were in Cozumel we just cancelled all reservations we had made previously and made better tour trips with our hotel…we kind of thought this would be the same thing we could do here….We were Soooo wrong.
Lots of tourists places but no one could speak any English at all…hotel gave us a number and that was a disaster….so I got online myself..:and just took care of the reservations myself….
So Day 3 was frustrating but we learned how to use google translate…and figure out what we wanted to do the other three days….
That cinnamon coffee was sooo good!
I love all the old doors around Antigua…We found a restaurant that we just loved the owner.And a yummy Mexican restaurant And ice cream
Today was a day I will not forget….for three years O have dreamed of standing right here….
We wanted to jump right in and just see a few things…experience the city….
All these photos taken are mine….with just my simple IPhone. I do use Lightroom as well and that makes ordinary photos so much better…especially when you are in a city like this.
I can’t say enough great things about this resort.
Fiesta we started off with a latte….if you are a coffee drinker….welcome to coffee heaven….
I was unsure wearing a sun hat…this one I got from Amazon…perfect for travel…can be squished in a bag…no worries That night we ate Chinese food…quite good!
I decided to kind of work on this while we are actually still on the trip in bits and pieces…hoping this will help those of you interested in visiting Antigua Guatemala.
The first thing you need to make sure of is that you are flying into Guatemala City during the day. Do not fly in or out….at night.
Second thing you need to do is call your hotel where you will be staying and arrange transportation to your hotel ahead of time. We had a young man with a sign meet us n Guatemala City and drive us back to Antigua. This is well worth it given your safety is most important.
It is supposed to be an hour from the airport to Antigua….but things don’t work here like they do at home…and traffic signals are not followed….hardly at all.
Our first day consisted of getting up at 3 am…and every single flight we took (2 out of 2) took forever to take off..:second flight caused some running in the airport in Houston….me crying and running….I was sure we would not get to go…again.
Entry into Guatemala was relatively painless…we found Mexico to be harder…we had no issues at all entering into Guatemala.
My husband and I speak hardly any Spanish…but they know that…and for the most part with google translate being your bestie…you can make it…not ideal…but you can make it.
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I cannot say enough good things about our hotel. Extremely clean, bed is a dream and there is very tight security. On check in we were greeted with champagne glasses of green tea and jasmine…water is purified here but we still only drink bottled. We can still flush toilet paper as well.
The first night we are on the rooftop of a nearby restaurant. There are restaurants everywhere….amazing coffee. Our hotel coffee is to die for as well….
Also, most menus are in English….so it’s pretty easy!
Today I went to visit my parents….they live over an hour away…and today I dreaded it with all my being.
It gets very hard when your Dad does not remember your name…today he actually did which was nice…I noticed he called me her and my Mother said..”You mean Jamie?” And he said yes…”Jamie” so I guess that counts.
Today, he thought Christmas was the next holiday and asked my daughter Ellie no less than five times what she wanted for Christmas. He asked if he could get a shot for his disease. Wanted to know if he could get his drivers license back…told me that being able to see well was not important when driving 🤦🏼♀️. There were more stories…but I will just leave it at that.
We drove home exhausted…I had answered the same questions….repeated myself a million times and explained where my son was (who hasn’t lived with us in five years). And just for fun, today they had to ask about my dead dog about four times….so yep…I was exhausted mentally.
On the way home…I just listened to praise music and dreamed of the day when we will all be made new….when there will be no more pain and no more tears…..
Tomorrow is the first day of spring. I’m grateful for warmer weather….
I’m grateful for trips that have been put off for four years that finally get to be taken. I’m grateful for my two dogs…my amazing children. I’m grateful for my house, my business, new staff members, and my amazing husband. I’m grateful for customers, and our church and our church family and friends. I’m grateful for sunshine, fresh bread, homemade soap. I’m grateful for decorating for spring and gold bunnies and chocolate…
I’m grateful for all the amazing opportunities that life gives us…I’m grateful for coffee in the morning…umbrellas, warm blankets…hot showers and warm blow dryers. I’m grateful for music and being able to know how to play the piano…I’m grateful for all the amazing people I have met through clowning and so thankful I get to spend a week with these people this summer…..
But today…..today I’m sad….I’m scared this genetic disease will grab me to…and that I will also be a burden to my children…and I really don’t want that.
For today….I’m grateful he knew me…even though he needed a reminder…I’m grateful that he knew my daughter. I’m grateful he likes fried chicken and chocolate cake….and no matter what…he always wants to talk about fishing…for now….that will have to be enough…
The Reluctant Red Nose 