Or rather from Santiago de Compostela to Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala reads the plaque of this monument donated by Spain to symbolize the encounter of the sides of the Atlantic ocean. By the way, this monument was located at the Parque de La Unión prior to its renovations and from there it had … Read more
As I have mentioned before, every year, on 15th of January, thousands of pilgrims from Guatemala, the United States, Europe, Mexico and other Central American countries flock to pay homage to the dark wooden image of the crucified Christ, the most revered Catholic shrine in Esquipulas, the spiritual center of Central America. The image of … Read more
The Plaza Mayor better known as Parque Central is full of plain-view secrets and interesting trivia. For instance, did you know there is a homage plaque for Ronald Hubbard, the founder of Scientology? How in the world this plaque found a place in Parque Central beats me, but there it is. Other interested things in … Read more
What’s so special about the Esquisuchil trees around La Antigua Guatemala? For starters, the esquisuchil trees (bourreria huanita) are very old and very few. Quite possibly, the oldest specimen is located in San Miguel Escobar where it was planted by Guatemala’s first bishop Francisco Marroquin in the 16th century. From the esquishuchil tree in San … Read more
It is official: The California avocado if from La Antigua Guatemala. I had mentioned a couple of times the antigüeños are known as Panzas Verdes (green bellies) because of all the avocados they eat (see trivia 2) and that one Wilson Popenoe took the antigüeño avocado to California (see trivia 3).
Santiago was a very popular name for the conquistadors to use as they rechristen the new lands of the American continent. If you check the entry for Santiago in Wikipedia, you will there are over 60 cities and towns throught the world that carry that name and that is a very short list since you could probably find about 60 towns with the Santiago name, just in Guatemala. But why was Santiago such a popular name for the Spanish and Portuguese conquistadors?
The English-language speaking community refuses to recognize the official name of La Antigua Guatemala because it is too long or lack of knowledge or poor Spanish-language skills; who knows really?. They just want to call it Antigua. But Antigua is a Caribbean Island. Yet, they refuse to call it La Antigua Guatemala, which, by the way, simply means the former Guatemala City.
To add to this confusion, many Guatemalans just call it Antigua too, although more often they say La Antigua. This error is even published by newspapers and magazine. Worst yet, the road signs just say Antigua Guatemala. Even Wikipedia just have it listed as Antigua Guatemala, which by the way means Old Guatemala.
Even though I said before that people enjoy walking and strolling La Antigua Guatemala. I sort of lied. See walking is still the best way to get to know and to enjoy La Antigua. But the problem is that the sidewalks are uneven, there are all kinds blocking part of the sidewalk and many people … Read more
And in front of the door that I hadn’t crossed in so many years, I remembered the small key, short and round, and how to turn it to open; the tiny hand of the door knocker, the mail box, the wood, the cord to open the door without knocking. At the end of the street, … Read more
