La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo

This corner building became one of the branches of Banco Industrial, Guatemala’s largest baking corporation, when this baking corporation acquired one of its rivals Banco de Occidente. This corner is prime location because it is one the corners of Parque Central, the main plaza, between the portal del ayuntamiento (city hall) the portal de las panaderas in La Antigua Guatemala. The jacarandas shot shown in Jacarandas at Antigua’s Central Park was taken from the corner window in the second floor.

The photo above was taken on August 31st, which was a payday and that is why you see all those people were queuing to get their salary from the banks. Tomorrow, Guatemalans will be queuing again to cast their vote. Also, this was the first time (this year) I noticed the Guatemalan flags that will adorn the buildings through September, which is the independence month. Guatemala’s so called independence from Spain is celebrated on September 15th. Check out the Independence Day Slideshow from last year.

I read recently (I don’t recall where at the moment) that to be truly independent a country must have sufficient wealth as to not have to depend on an outsider (duh!); well, let me break it to you guys, Guatemala has not been an independent country for the last 500 years or so. When I was teenager, I remember reading a Mafalda anthology where Mafalda was reading a history book and all of sudden she screams: You mean we were part of Spain, who the hell had the bright idea of independizarnos (freed us from Spain)! Back then, I laughed so hard at the comic strip, but just now I get the joke. Thanks Quino.

Remember, tomorrow Guatemala will be holding its general elections lottery (as Pamela calls it). Come back tomorrow night for an overview of the process and a link farm from all the blogs and sites covering the event.

When I decided to enter the cemetery of San Lázaro I was expecting a very chaotic cemetery full of the antigüeño color palette with many crypts and above grounds burial chambers and perhaps some mausoleums. Surprise, surprise! The only color was provided by the many flower arrangements, there were mostly mausoleums, some nichos (above grounds crypts) and just a few crypts.

Because there are so many mausoleums, the style varies a lot. I will show just a few samples to get the idea. Today’s picture shows a mausoleum with many column as its façade and with its white stucco it could probably pass as an original Greek mausoleum. This is a tribute from La Antigua Guatemala’s City Hall to the Teachers’ Union of La Antigua Guatemala.

Too bad this is the main exit street for La Antigua Guatemala if you are going to Guatemala City, also known as 4a calle oriente. If this was the main entrance, you could see the Fire and Acatenago volcanoes right above the Spanish-tile rooftops. This is the last thing you see also as you wave goodbye to La Antigua Guatemala.

I am almost sure, some of you would rather say hasta la vista, baby.

A quick search for the name Posada del Ángel in this site can reveal how much I enjoy photographing the gorgeous bed and breakfast inn. Every time I go there I found a new photo op. Today’s entry shows the living room, right next to the lap pool. My two other favorite shots of Posada del Ángel are Really green garden and Guatemala sells light and color. You can browse all the other photos taken at Posada del Ángel by following this link.

My best wishes to you guys for the coming weekend!

Nothing much to say. We all need a break after all those photos from a typical Guatemalan Fair.

The photo above was taken at Palacio de los Capitanes building and in a late lazy afternoon. Let’s enjoy the break.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Once again, La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo is participating in the theme day of the Daily Photo community. This time the theme is about the color red. Here you can see the Compañía de Jusús building under care of the Cooperación Española which is a huge red building; one full block to be specific. This building has had many uses through history, like the home of Bernal Díaz del Castillo, home to the Jesuits of Central America in colonial times, thus its name, and more recently it houses a public library, culture center under the administration of Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional. You can see the big entrance of the building, the interior gardens and arches and one the side wall of the ruins. I decided to photograph this building because it’s the biggest red thing in La Antigua Guatemala, but I was lucky to have a red motorcycle and a red jeep enter the viewfinder at the moment I snapped the shot; how lucky, indeed.

I had to break my coverage of the San Pedro Las Huertas town fair for this theme day. I will continue with other aspects of a Guatemalan town fair tomorrow and through the week. Come back tomorrow for the follow up. In the mean time, I leave you with the links to the other Daily Photo sites which decided to participate in the theme day.

Over 100 Daily Photo City sites are participating in the July 1st Theme Day: The Color Red, 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.

Shanghai, China - Mumbai, India - New York City (NY), USA - Manila, Philippines - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Hamburg, Germany - Stayton (OR), USA - Los Angeles (CA), USA - Hyde, UK - Oslo, Norway - Brookville (OH), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Stavanger, Norway - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia - Joplin (MO), USA - Singapore, Singapore - Selma (AL), USA - Cleveland (OH), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Chandler (AZ), USA - Stockholm, Sweden - Seattle (WA), USA - Boston (MA), USA - Arradon, France - Evry, France - Baton Rouge (LA), USA - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Boston (MA), USA - Grenoble, France - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Hilo (HI), USA - Nelson, New Zealand - La Antigua, Guatemala - Brisbane (QLD), Australia - Singapore, Singapore - Tel Aviv, Israel - Hong Kong, China - Sequim (WA), USA - Paderborn, Germany - Saarbrücken, Germany - Rotterdam, Netherlands - Tenerife, Spain - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Sydney, Australia - Naples (FL), USA - Cologne (NRW), Germany - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Ocean Township (NJ), USA - Mainz, Germany - Toruń, Poland - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Singapore, Singapore - North Bay (ON), Canada - Jakarta, Indonesia - Montréal (QC), Canada - Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Baziège, France - San Diego (CA), USA - Prague, Czech Republic - Ampang (Selangor), Malaysia - New York (NY), USA - Kajang (Selangor), Malaysia - Sharon (CT), USA - Newcastle (NSW), Australia - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Nottingham, UK - Villigen, Switzerland - Chicago (IL), USA - Torquay, UK - Brussels, Belgium - San Diego (CA), USA - Mexico (DF), Mexico - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Cape Town, South Africa - Paris, France - Seoul, Korea - Manila, Philippines - Milano, Italy - Austin (TX), USA - Chennai, India - Madrid, Spain - Seoul, South Korea - Wailea (HI), USA - Toronto (ON), Canada - Ajaccio, France - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Zurich, Switzerland - Sydney, Australia - Budapest, Hungary - Moscow, Russia - Auckland, New Zealand - Torino, Italy

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.

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!

A few days ago, on May 3rd, Pamela, from Tenerife Daily Photo, posted a somehow modest cross for the Día de la Cruz if we consider that all around the Canary Islands the word cross, cruz in Spanish, is present in many of the towns like Santa Cruz, Puerto de la Cruz, et-cetera. Come on Pamela, you can do much better than that! So I had to do a follow up, even if it is a few days later and a few kilometers away from Santa Cruz.

I knew it was the Day of the Holy Cross, which is also the Day of the Construction Worker in many countries in Latin America, but I was not able to get a shot that day because we were in the process of moving and there were a lot errands and things to do. Two days later I was able to get a shot of a decorated cross at a construction site. The Day of the Santa Cruz is also celebrated as the construction worker’s day which means the architect, engineer or landlord throws a party for the construction workers which includes a food feast and alcoholic beverages (most of the time, but not necessarily). The construction worker make a cross from the materials available on site and the post it somewhere so everybody can see it. Most of the time, they also decorate the cross.

The legend has it that when they were unburying Jerusalem, they found three crosses, one of them larger than the other two. When some of the diggers touch the larger cross, their ailments healed and the cross were thought to be miraculous. The priests on site called a funeral passing by and the dead man’s hand was made to touch the cross and he resurrected and walked away. The cross was taken immediately to Rome, the Vatican to be precise, and a chapel was built for it. This chapel was built in record time and for this reason and for the fact that the man who resurrected was a construction worker who had died while at work a few days earlier, this date became the day of the construction worker. All of this as seen on tv, a few details more or less.

Don’t forget to browse over Santa Cruz category at Wikipedia to get an idea of how far the Spaniards and Portuguese took those two words.

Tags: Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo / Antigua / Guatemala / Holy Cross / Construction site

At present this building still goes by the name of Colegio Mayor de Santo Tomás de Aquino and still belongs to the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC), but it is now a museum and cultural center. It is beautifully restored and peaceful; awesome place to enjoy a quite afternoon with a book.

This humble building is where Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, USAC, was founded as part of Francisco Marroquín’s wish and will. The USAC was the third university founded in the American continent, right after Mexico’s and Peru’s universities. It was founded by the name of Colegio Mayor de Santo Tomás, the School of Saint Thomas, on 1562 and it was officially declared a university on January 31st, 1676 by royal command of King Charles II of Spain.

Nowadays, the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala is considered one of the best public universities in Central America. It is the only public university in the country (source Wikipedia).

On the north side of Parque Central (Central Park) stands the Antigua Guatemala’s Town Hall, Municipalidad in Spanish or Muni for short. Here is a shot of the arches during the day.

My best wishes for the season and a Prosperous New Year to all the visitors of Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo!

Since several of the Daily Photo Cities are publishing images with low-light or taken at night, I decided to continue with other photos I’ve taken around Parque Central at night. Just a few days ago I posted Lit branches at Parque Central and Illuminated Central Park.

Today I bring to you a shot of another building that is photographed a lot. Palacio de los Capitanes, or Captains’ Palace caught the eye of Meg on the Guatemalan Choppers in Antigua post, back in August 17th. Nowadays the building is used by The Police and the State Department as their headquarters. Here is a view of the building during the day.

Here are other Daily Photos Cities with night shots recently

• Alexandria Daily Photo
• Kuala Lumpur Daily Photo
• Paris Daily Photo
• Shanghai Daily Snap
• Hong Kong Daily Photo

Since the pictures for the last two days had way too many colors, I decided to make today’s choice simple. If you look carefully, you can find at least 8 colors. With this simple photo we finish this series.

Tomorrow is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women we will have a photo to help raise awareness. Please, come back tomorrow and let us know your feeling about it.

The rules of the game are:
1. You look at the photo,
2. You pick one single color and
3. You leave a comment tell us what color you picked and why?

Lately blue has come my way. First time it came as blue house with blue doors and a blue sky. Now, it is a blue house again with a blue tuk tuk tourist police unit. I do not know what it is about tuk tuks, but I like them.

Can you guess how many times I have posted images of tuk tuk motorbikes in this photoblog?