Archive for June, 2007

Walter William Road Monument in Antigua Guatemala

Friday, June 15th, 2007

Walter William Road Monument in Antigua

He just happened to be there for the inauguration of the road; that is the short answer for yesterday’s question.

Believe or not, the monument plaque says that this monument was erected in the memory of Walter Williams who happens to be present on the date of inauguration for the the road. I guess that back in 1925, Guatemala was still a jungle and foreign visitors were scarce, so they needed to erect a monument to celebrate such an important event.

Now, does anybody out there really know why Walter Williams got a piece road in La Antigua Guatemala named after him? I would like to know.

Walter Williams Road in La Antigua Guatemala

Thursday, June 14th, 2007

Walter Williams Road in La Antigua Guatemala

The strip of road that goes from El Calvario church to San Marí­a de Jesús has an interesting name: Walter William Road. I know English and Europeans names are very popular and used extensively throughtout Guatemala as first names, but the William part as last name is not as easy to get, you have to have a father with the William last name.

So, how did Walter Williams, the founder of the Missouri School of Journalism, managed to get a piece of road of La Antigua Guatemala named after him? Come back tomorrow for the answer. Also make sure you read up on Walter Williams.

Very Strong and Long Earthquake Hits Guatemala

Wednesday, June 13th, 2007

Bomberos Voluntarios from Antigua Guatemala in Action

First of all, I want to thank all the people who got in touch just to make sure I was not under a ruin.

Guatemala was hit today at 13:29 local time (GMT -6) by an earthquake of magnitude of 6.8 (or 6.6, 5.9, 5.4 depends who you read) and duration of 49 seconds. Boy oh boy the land shook, the old houses roared for what seemed forever. Less than two minutes after the land finally stopped moving I checked Automatic Geofon Global Seismic Monitor which registered the earthquake’s epicenter just offshore, on the Pacific Ocean, with a magnitude for 5.9 (it was later updated to 6.6). In the news, they talked about numbers as high as 7.6; but one thing everyone got right it was extremely long: over 40 seconds and down here it felt even longer. According to the backlog, there have been three earthquakes in Guatemala in the last week.

I went to pick my wife at home for lunch and in my way there and back I did not see any damages. So I believe there are no casualties around the area. I haven’t got the chance to see the news for reports around the country.

The emergency services were in full alert and many people suffered panic attacks. Fortunately, no casualties have been listed around La Antigua or in Guatemala. So far so good.

VII Summit of First Ladies of Central America, Panama and Dominican Republic

Tuesday, June 12th, 2007

Woman, axis of development in the family and community

La Antigua Guatemala is the preferred location for summits, international conferences, high-level political official meetings, visits of presidents and kings and queens. So it is no surprise to see the VII Summit of First Ladies of Central America, Panama and Dominican Republic being hosted in La Antigua Guatemala. The slogan for the summit is: Woman, axis of development in the family and community.

For some unknown reason to me, this summits hasn’t generated any press coverage. Checking the web sites of the two Guatemalan newspaper that I read, neither elPeriódico nor Prensa Libre had any news-bits about the agenda or anything related to the summit. It was through the old trusted google that found an article in the Guatemalan government official newspaper, Diario de Centro America, and another column in the Spanish news portal of Yahoo.

Basically, the first ladies want to promote strategies in favor of the women of the region. If you ask me, this sounds to generic and broad to be taken seriously as a plan to better the situation of women in Central America. They could’ve taken a look at my entry of Guatemalan Women & Killer’s Paradise for two concrete campaigns for their agenda: The elimination of violence against women and solid plans to end the femicides and to bring the killers to justice. But then again, this would not be a suitable agenda to discuss for some fine first ladies while drinking the best coffee of world while staying at the only five stars hotel in La Antigua Guatemala, right?

What do you think about of this sort of summit?

Niche at Posada del Ángel

Monday, June 11th, 2007

Posada del Ángel Niche

Okay, not much time today and you need something light every once in a while. Here is a little niche, nicho in Spanish, found at Posada del Ángel, which is a small luxury hotel in La Antigua Guatemala. I have shown other photos of this gorgeous bed and breakfast.

Here are the other photos:
» Guatemala Sells Light and Color
» Really Green Garden at Posada del Ángel
» Rusted Plant Pot
» Plant Pot at Posada del Ángel

Flor de Izote or Yucca tree flower

Sunday, June 10th, 2007

Flor de Izote or Yucca tree flower

I don’t know why I have a fascination with the Izote tree, a member of the yucca tree family, also known as the Yoshua tree. Maybe its many arms and hands. Anyhow, I like it and its used often in the hedgerows around Antigua Guatemala. Its white flowers are edible and they are considered a delicacy. The izote tree flower is also the national flower for the neighboring country of El Salvador. You can see the white flowers right above the center of the photograph; you may need to see the larger version to actually see it. So far I have posted several photos of the palo de izote tree, but this one is my favorite.

What do you think of this weird-looking tree?

Not All the Roads in Antigua are Cobble-stoned

Saturday, June 9th, 2007

Side dirt Road between Santa Ana & San Cristobal El Bajo

Not all the roads in La Antigua Guatemala are cobble-stoned, some side roads that travel the distance between villages or coffee plantations could be simple dirt path like the one shown above. But even this dirt road can sometimes lead you to jewels like that one I found the other day tucked, as Suzanne pointed out, between Santa Ana village and San Cristobal El Bajo. Thanks to Suzanne, now I know that the name of the ruins is Santa Isabel. The view you see in the photograph above is looking towards Santa Ana village from the Santa Isabel Ruins.

Best wishes to El Canche in his ‘official’ launch of elcanche.com version 2.0! Boy, you were missed greatly.

San Cristobal El Bajo Church in La Antigua Guatemala

Friday, June 8th, 2007

San Cristobal El Bajo Church

Thanks to Juan, who asked me to go and take some photo of the San Cristobal El Bajo Church and its plaza which had been recently remodeled and restored, we have, yet another, picture of a church. Boy oh boy, how many churches are there really around La Antigua Guatemala?

Church Ruins in San Cristobal El Bajo

Thursday, June 7th, 2007

Ruins in San Cristobal el Bajo

Around Antigua Guatemala you’ll never know what may find if you take a side road or dirt road. For instance, today while taking a shortcut dirt road between El Calvario and San Cristobal El Bajo, I found this church ruins at the cross roads in the middle of some coffee plantations. Now I have some homework to do, learn the name and background information of these ruins.

Through the contact the author form, Juan asked me to cover the the new restoration works done at the San Cristobal El Bajo Church and that is the reason why I took a side dirt road. I will be posting some of my finding in the next few days. Stay tune!

Are there lost historic jewels nearby where you live?

Inside a House from Antigua Guatemala

Wednesday, June 6th, 2007

Inside a House from Antigua Guatemala

Normally I have only shown the façade of many houses and building in La Antigua Guatemala for an obvious reason: I do not have access to the inside. Well, some of you may ask, what is on the other side of the wall? For sure there is no easy answer, but there are some common aspects of the archiitecture of Antigua Guatemala. Most of the time Antiguan architecture dictates to have a simple façade to the outside with only doors and windows showing, but this simplicity shown on the outside is completely ignore for the inside where you can have gardens, patios, fountains, half fountain, búcaro fountains, pergolas, cobblestone patios or ceramic tiles, metal and/or wooden doors and crates, forged-metal railings, copulas for air, light or as chimney for the kitchens or living rooms. The real beauty of house in Antigua Guatemala is in the inside. Too bad I can not show you the inside of many houses around Antigua. Nonetheless, I will show as many aspects of house when I am given permission. For now enjoy a peek at the other side of the wall.

Coffee and Gravileas Trees Along with Bougainvillea Bushes

Tuesday, June 5th, 2007

Bugainvilleas, Gravileas and Coffee Trees

This photo is needed to clarify a confusion about the coffee trees and their height. Nathalie from Sydney DP asked if coffee trees grow very tall in La Antigua Guatemala, while referring to this photograph which showed coffee trees and their shadow makers the gravilea trees around Antigua, San Pedro Las Huertas to be precise. I posted a Close-up photo of coffee plantation before to show the coffee bushes (tree could be considered an exaggeration) and the shadow trees known here a gravileas. So, to answer Nathalie’s questions, coffee trees (ed. bushes) do not grow very high; they can be harvest by Guatemalan farm workers on foot.

I believe the photo above can show better the difference between the coffee plants (short bushes) the shadow-making gravileas (tall trees). As a bonus you get some bougainvillea bushes which are used as live fences. I am sure Pamela from Tenerife DP would love this hedgerow.

Clamping the Automobiles on the No-parking Zone

Monday, June 4th, 2007

No-Parking Zone Clamp

Just about all the streets in La Antigua Guatemala are one-way venues and you can only park on one side of the street; the other side is marked on the side of the sidewalk with red paint. If you park on the no-parking zone you may have your vehicle immobilized by the cepo police (cepo are the big orange clamps that are put on the tires). If I am not mistaken, I believe a big orange clamp, or cepo as they call it here, will set you back about Q250 (US$1 equals 7.67 Quetzales, the Guatemalan currency name).

I feel for this poor fellow who was just cashing his check; he parked right across the bank. I know where his cash is going. :-(

Dramatic Illumination of Ruins and Historic Buildings

Sunday, June 3rd, 2007

dramatic illumination of ruins

Even though I have shown a few photos of La Antigua Guatemala taken at twilight or at night such as Tree Branches on Fire, Lit Branches at Parque Central, or Captains’ Palace at night, I had not talked about the spot lights that are placed at strategic points in ruins and historic buildings at night. It is a good idea to walk (or drive) around Antigua at night with your camera and a tripod to catch the dramatic illumination of ruins and historic building which you may have overlooked during the day. By the way, I know this is not a very good example of dramatic illumination of a ruin, but I decided to post the photo anyway just to give you an idea of how they place the spot light to highlight and add drama to an old building. I took this photo with without a tripod, on my way home the other night. I took a couple of shots, but I was not completely satisfied with either; here is the other shot.

I will come back to this subject in June with a series of photos of Antigua by night; I will follow my own advice as stated above and use a tripod while looking for the best perspective. Stay tune!

Inside the Safety Zone

Saturday, June 2nd, 2007

Inside the Safety Zone

Ever since I took a snapshot of a Electrified barb wire fence I wanted to come back to the subject to get an inside view. I imagine that you will see many concentric circles getting smaller as the approach the vanishing point. The question is can one find beauty in these type of subjects? I believe it is only in the constant search of the right angle and/or perspective.

What do you think?

Theme Day: The View from the Bedroom Window

Friday, June 1st, 2007

Window View of Volcán de Agua

The house where my wife (Esperanza), our three cats (Lolita, Camilo and Tito) and I live has windows facing south and west. We prefer the view from the windows on the west side of the house because we can only see Gravilea and Coffee trees and birds, lots of them, But I thought you might find this vista a bit boring since you can not hear the singing of the birds or smell the sweet scent of the coffee trees. So, I decided to show the window and balcony view of Volcán de Agua, Water Volcano for you. Volcán de Agua appears in many of the photographs with a south view of town. Check the Volcanoes category for more photos or the entry Fire and Acatenango Volcanoes Wallpaper where you can consult a Google satellite map of Southern Guatemala and look at the relationship of La Antigua Guatemala and its volcanoes. I know this view could also be considered uninteresting since there are not many things going on, unlike Volcán de Fuego (Fire Volcano), but we prefer it that way. Wouldn’t you?

Over 85 Daily Photo City sites are participating in the June 1st Theme Day: The View from the Bedroom Window, please use the links below to visit them.

Due to time zone differences and other factors, the theme photo may not be displayed until later if you are viewing early in the day.

Seattle (WA), USAManila, PhilippinesAlbuquerque (NM), USASingapore, SingaporeToruÅ„, PolandBaton Rouge (LA), USASeoul, KoreaSaint Paul (MN), USAVantaa, FinlandMadison (WI), USASaarbrücken, GermanyCleveland (OH), USAChicago (IL), USACottage Grove (MN), USAOmaha (NE), USABellefonte (PA), USAMelbourne, AustraliaStockholm, SwedenGrenoble, FranceLubbock (TX), USABoston (MA), USAArradon, FranceHyde, UKJoplin (MO), USAKyoto, JapanTokyo, JapanKansas City (MO), USANaples (FL), USATuzla, Bosnia and HerzegovinaManila, PhilippinesSydney, AustraliaStavanger, NorwayBucaramanga (Santander), ColombiaLondon, UKChandler (AZ), USANelson, New ZealandSingapore, SingaporeHamburg, GermanySydney, AustraliaTenerife, SpainMoscow, RussiaLyon, FranceKuala Lumpur, MalaysiaVilligen, SwitzerlandAnderson (SC), USAOslo, NorwayEvry, FranceHayle, UKMumbai, IndiaKitakami, JapanWassenaar (ZH), NetherlandsMenton, FranceMonte Carlo, MonacoLos Angeles (CA), USACypress (TX), USALa Antigua, GuatemalaPaderborn, GermanySan Diego (CA), USAAmpang (Selangor), MalaysiaMadrid, SpainLyon, FranceSelma (AL), USAShanghai, ChinaBazií¨ge, FranceCologne (NRW), GermanyNorth Bay (ON), CanadaRotterdam, NetherlandsStayton (OR), USASharon (CT), USAAustin (TX), USAHong Kong, ChinaTrier, GermanyJoensuu, FinlandParis, FranceGreenville (SC), USAWailea (HI), USABudapest, HungaryCork, IrelandBastia, FranceVancouver, CanadaBrookville (OH), USAJakarta, IndonesiaMainz, GermanyMinneapolis (MN), USAZurich, SwitzerlandTorino, Italy

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