Guatemala 2010-Tourist Post

While we were in Guatemala, we also had the chance to take in the beautiful surroundings on our days off. Brett and I went earlier than the rest of the church group to celebrate our anniversary.

Leaving on a jet plane were some very anxious parents,

who originally planned on taking Jameston with us (and going on a child-free cruise later on in the summer/early fall) but decided instead to make the mission trip to Guatemala also a mini-vacation

We landed in Guatemala City, drove to Antigua, and arrived at our hotel late that night on Thursday, July 1st. So we had two full days to rest and relax before the mission work began on the 4th. That Friday we relaxed at our BEAUTIFUL hotel Casa Santo Domingo:

One of the main outdoor wings taking you to the concierge/front desk

A great BIG tree we spotted as workers were setting up for a banquet that Friday

A view from the top of the hotel

Our quaint and quiet room...it gets cool at night in Guatemala (in the upper 50's to low 60's), so they had the fireplace ready to go if you wanted

View outside from our patio: it rained several nights while we were there, so there was nothing like opening our patio door to hear rain falling on the roof and plants outside. SOOOO relaxing!

Parrots!

Oh, and I can't forget, we also did some relaxing that Friday by the picturesque pool...

The hotel is a restored monastery from the 1700's and has ornate structures all throughout the hotel grounds.

The central fountain

The furniture and doors are amazing at the hotel and also throughout the rest of Antigua

Picture of a Catholic church near the central park in Antigua one night on a stroll after dinner

And a nine-piece band playing right outside the main city building that night

(It's a little grainy and hard to make out, and I wish I would have captured the old woman dancing to the music in the street :-)

We also had the chance to see what remains of the nuns' convent (also from the 1700's) right outside of Antigua in a town called Santa Ines, where we held our fourth day of clinic

For our second day of R&R, Brett and I booked a tour to Lake Atitlan, about two hours from Antigua. The lake, which is the deepest in Central America, is surrounded by three volcanoes. Needless to say , it was BEAUTIFUL!!

A driver dropped us off in Panajachel, and we boated across the lake

to the towns of Santiago

and San Pedro

In San Pedro (also known by the locals as "Hippy Town," because of all the backpackers and hostel-dwellers), we grabbed a bite to eat and took in the views.

Ah, my favorite touristy picture...

Notice the workers on the scaffolding behind Brett! On our way back to the main dock, it started to rain some. We could see remnants of the mudslides that occurred after Hurricane Agatha

A;so, after three days of clinic, we had Wednesday off and opted for a more low-key outing (as opposed to our trek up Volcano Pacaya two years ago :-) to a coffee farm. As admitted coffee-fanatics, we had a great time and learned a lot about the coffee process.

Yummy cup of FRESH coffee!

Also, that day we met a girl traveling by herself from Germany, and took her up on her offer to visit a Bavarian restaurant after the coffee tour. Our lunch there just so happened to coincide with the World Cup semi-final match between Germany and Spain. It was fun to watch the last half of the game with people from Germany:

One night we went to one of the most popular local restaurants called Frieda's (after Kahlo) with our friends, the Hammets. Great company and great food (and great painting of her and the famous unibrow, I might add :-)!

Also, we were able to check out some local and very modern art at the event center where we met members from the churches of Antigua, Solala, and Chimaltenango. So cool!

After some busy (but very relaxing) couple of days of vacation in the midst of mission work, Brett and I were so, so ready to get back to Jameston at home in Dallas!