Antigua, Guatemala

Our tourist agent in Guatemala couldn't find us a hotel in Antigua so the driver took us to a couple of ones he knew within our budget. The first was in a crappy part of town, over some stores. Ralph said, "We wanted cheap...but not that cheap!!"
We then ended up in this one...also a poor choice as it was across the street from a market and bus depot. I particularly like the paint job on the walls. I'm not even going to say what that colour was nor what it reminded me of!!! We flipped for rooms with Zephyrus...and they won again!!! We had previously flipped in Guat. City and they got the private bathroom. I'm never letting Ralph buy another lottery ticket!! This time they got the upstairs, back room. We had the downstairs room where, I swear, the buses from the depot drove through our room all night!! Any traffic on the street set up such a vibration in the bed it reminded me of when we were young and Ralph would have to try out the vibrator beds in the motels! What can you expect for $25?

Needless to say, we packed up the next morning and moved. We found this one for $45 a night...much nicer. This is the courtyard.

We both had upstairs rooms, on the back side. Great beds and quiet too! This is the view into the courtyard from just outside our room.

This is the outside entrance to our hotel. I just loooove those doors!

Outside entrance to another hotel we visited.

We wandered around town and came upon another tourist market. I took this shot for painting...in fact there are a few on this blog page that were taken for this purpose.

Same market...a family participation occupation.

This lady is using the loom to weave the articles she is selling. She supports the warp threads with the strap around her back-side.

Here is the motley crew across the street from a huge ruined church that we toured. This was the wash-house for the nuns.

Still in use today, as you can see.

Inside the church. We had a guided tour...just a tad too long for my liking. I'm not much of a "ruins" kinda gal. Ralph seems to enjoy it well enough, but he even found this a bit long.

Now, here's something I can get into...a glass of wine with good friends...now you're talking my language! This is taken at the top of the "Sky" bar.

The town, in the Lonely Planet guide, is termed "impossibly cute". And, that about says it all. All shots, all angles are begging to be painted. If I only had the time! They had McDonalds, Subway, etc., but all had to have almost invisible signs so you had to know where to look.

The fact the signs were so subdued made the town much prettier and kept the flavour of an old town.

Of course, the fact that Domino's had all the delivery bikes parked outside was a definite give-away!

These little gals were having so much fun hopping from brick to brick, I just couldn't resist this shot.

And this one too!

The town is an artists dream...if you want to paint people or street scenes. I can hardly wait to paint something...if I ever get this blog finished!

Doors, and more doors, and more doors!!! Oh, and a few windows for good measure!