Believe it or not, the dry green river bed is El Pensativo River. The other day while driving on Calle Chipilapa, which takes you to La Ermita de la Santa Cruz Ruins, I saw this huge bougainvillea tree on the other side of El Pensativo River, dry now but soon it will have running water. I never seen a bougainvillea tree so big; my girlfriend and I saw a midget bougainvillea tree—about 1 meter in height— in Tapachula, Mexico.
Many artisans come to La Antigua Guatemala to sell their crafts. The streets are for anyone who wants to sell, just watch for the tourist police or they might confiscate your work, give you a ticket and send you home with empty hands. On the streets you can buy tortillas, handicrafts, textiles, furniture, watercolors paintings, … Read more
La Antigua Guatemala is based on the time-tested Spanish grid of Streets and Avenues (see this map to get an idea). Streets are divided between oriente or east and poniente or west (although poniente means sun setting point). Avenues are divided as usual sur and norte. So you have all the basic elements for street … Read more
Even the sidewalks get a new look for the visit of King Don Carlos and Queen Doña Sofía from Spain this Friday. According to the woman supervising the painting of the plaza of San Pedro Las Huertas, Don Carlos and Doña Sofía will be visiting this village, just outside La Antigua Guatemala on Friday; I … Read more
Many houses and business buildings get a new paint job right before the Holy Week. The streets of La Antigua Guatemala get repaired as well. All this rejuvenating and face-lifts of this old town are needed to make Antigua Guatemala look its best for the Holy Week (Semana Santa in Spanish). As a matter of … Read more
Back in March 6th I showed to you the entry doorway of Hotel Santo Domingo (Holy Sunday, by the way) with violet banners adorning the crown of the door passage and as a mark of the Lent season. Well to honor the Doors and Windows category I needed to follow up with a pair of … Read more
Is it motorcycle or automobile? The meeting of the tuk tuk drivers and the police was to define the tuk tuk as either a motorcycle or an automobile so that the drivers can have the proper license and insurance. Interesting enough, they meet to decide this after the introduction of the tuk tuks mototaxis. Even … Read more
Even though most, if not all, of the quick photo labs are digital now in La Antigua Guatemala, the old and traditional photo studios still remain open. How long will they stay open, I don’t know. I saw how in less than 18 months all the quick photo lab went digital and how the Guatemalan … Read more
The informal economy is the basis for making a living for most Guatemalans. That is why you have shoe-shining boys, orchids sellers, furniture sellers, textiles sellers, handicrafts sellers, vehicle watchers, ice cream handcarts sellers, market merchants and a very long et-cetera. As matter of fact, Guatemala’s SAT, IRS equivalent, has a tough time collecting the … Read more
Cobblestone streets are yet another characteristic of La Antigua Guatemala’s life-style (see photos 1, 2, 3). They are hard on the automobiles, trucks, bicycles and humans. Cobblestone streets require a lot maintenance. In the photo above you can see just one of the workers responsible for the streets’ repairs and if you follow the next … Read more
Many of the streets of La Antigua Guatemala are owned now by people who ask and demand to take care of your vehicle while parked. They ask in return for a small tip. So far so good. If you tell them you don’t need to have your car looked after, some of them will scratch … Read more
On August 12th, the entry about The Dance of the Giants, I mentioned that on the weekends Calle del Arco, Antigua’s most famous and photographed street, becomes a pedestrian strip. It is nice to see dogs and cyclists take advantage of the extra space. Tags: Antigua Daily Photo / Antigua / Guatemala / dogs / … Read more
Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and nowhere is awareness, new legislation and law enforcing need it more than in Guatemala. No más is campaign by Amnesty International to stop the killings of women in Guatemala(1). Director Giselle Portenier came to Guatemala to document the story of the brutal … Read more
Many of the deliveries are still done by bike. If you recall my post about daily bread delivery service on September 24th, you might remember that bread delivery was done on a bicycle. Also, just a few days ago I mentioned that bicycles are among the most widely used vehicles in Antigua on October 11th. … Read more
One of the benefits of living in or around La Antigua Guatemala is the lack of billboards. Isn’t weird that I start the paragraph describing the absence of billboards around Antigua (really, it is more like bragging), then I show you the very one thing I just said we didn’t have. Well, let me brag … Read more