Yesterday we moved into the house we have rented for the month we will be based in Antigua. It is beautiful here. Antigua was the Spanish colonial capital of Central America, founded in the 1500's by Alvarado. It was abandoned in the late 18th century after a series of devastating earthquakes. It has beautiful Spanish architecture and rests in a tropical highland valley surrounded by three volcanoes. The closest volcano, named Agua, dominates the skyline at the south end of the city. The twin sister volcanoes, Fuego and Acatenango, preside over the western end of town. After taking photos of the house and car to post on the blog this morning we noticed that one of the three, aptly named Fuego, had begun erupting. Fuego has been erupting on and off for years, spewing a mix of ash and lava.
In the top left side photo you can see Fuego near the left side of the frame, behind a tree. This is the picture we took before today's eruption began. In the second photo you can certainly see Fuego has begun to erupt. Fuego lies 20 kilometers from Antigua, so that is a pretty impressive column of ash. The last picture is of the boys in front of our temporary home - from which we have the privilege of watching the the mornings fireworks.
down to $5.00. Cenzo and Giancarlo chose Barcelona Jerseys. Cenzo got Ibrahimovic, Giancarlo got Messi. David chose a shirt from here in Antigua: Antigua GFC. See photos.
Here in Guatemala there is a fried chicken restaurant chain called "Pollo Campero." It is so much better than KFC or Popeye's. It is a lot more flavorful and less greasy. We can't wait to go every time we come back to Guatemala. And every time we fly back to the US there are always a bunch of people on the plane carrying buckets of Pollo Campero to go. They are obviously bringing it to family members in the States. Often the whole plane smells like fried chicken. Although we have to admit we have always found it slightly creepy that the restaurant's logo has a picture of a chicken serving up some chicken legs - with a smile no less, yet its own legs cannot be seen... hmmmm. It is also fun to note that even fast food restaurants here have fountains.
It is a beautiful Saturday here in Antigua. On a day like today it is great just to stroll around and take in the sights. Here are two photos of some of Antigua's landmarks. One is the clock tower arch and the other is the Cathedral which borders the east side of the Parque Central (or in english, Central Park). Did we mention it is 80 degrees F here? Our lazy stroll ended with ice cream in the park to cool us off. Cenzo wants to add: "In your face, New England!!!"
