Day 17 - Antigua

As stated before, Antigua is a gorgeous town. This picture is from the rooftop of our hotel and frames Volcan de Agua (one of the many "active" volcanoes in Guatemala). The town itself is relatively small and has quite a variety of things to do, places to stay, and types of restaurants. Our breakfast was at the hotel and consisted of a hearty buffet breakfast with panqueques (pancakes), fruit, and some kind of bread pudding which was more cake than pudding.

In the morning, we found out that our hotel was only booked for one night instead of two, so we had to scramble to find another place. Thankfully, the Let's Go guide to Guatemala helped out and we found a small hostel/hotel called Casa Rustica. Once we settle in, we met Soledad and her friend Allessandra and had lunch. Guatemalans LOVE a semi-fast food place called Pollo Campero. The place is more or less like a KFC and has similar entrees. Olfo mentioned a few days ago that the owner of Pollo Campero did a really good job integrating the agriculture of chicken farming with the restaurant business. Apparently they grow all the chickens for the restaurants in Guatemala. Recently the franchise has expanded to the US and China.

After lunch we went to the marketplace. There were tons of interesting things to see including some gorgeous wooden decorations and trinkets. It has rained on and off for most of our stay in Guatemala, but we got a bit of a break this afternoon. Speaking of weather, it is relatively cool here during the day. My guess is that the temperature hasn't broken 75 since we've been in the country. Combine that with the rain and it can be down right chilly!

We came back to the hotel room after leaving the marketplace and said fairwell to Soledad and Allessandra. They have an exam on Wednesday and are starting to study. They must be gunners! Anyway, we hung out watching some Olympics and eventually mustered up the energy to get dinner.

While looking through the dining part of our tour book, Norma (who is from Peru) noticed that there was a Peruvian restaurant here, and so we decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, the restaurant listed in the book had shut down, but there was a different one open a few blocks away. The trek around Antigua in the rain was not fun, but it was well worth the trouble. Our dinner consisted of Ceviche appetizer, a citrus-y cocktail, and a main entree of Lomo Saltado.

The Civiche was awesome. Basically, it's uncooked fish which is soaked in lemon juice and spices for several hours. The acidity of the lemon juice 'cooks' the fish. The Peruvian version had lots of onions, some potatoes, and an interesting type of corn which had been fried into semi-hard single kernals. The main course, Lomo Saltado, was a mixture of beef strips, potatoes, onions, and tomatoes marinated in a wonderful light sauce. I have to give two thumbs up to Peruvian food at this point!

Tomorrow, we are on the move again. Soledad and Bobbi suggested that we hike to the summit of the nearby Volcano Pacaya. It's an active volcano, but is very quiet. The hike up is supposed to be gorgeous and sometimes you're able to see the inner part of the crater where there is flowing lava. Hopefully it won't rain! After the hike, the plan is to take a bus to Panajachel which is on Lake Atitlan. The views are supposed to be incredible.