So it's Saturday morning- up at 5:30 again.. I'm getting better at this out of bed thing. We had our last breakfast at Gustavo's and another round of bittersweet goodbyes- Their 10 month old was there and gosh is he beautiful- Sebastian.
The large luxury tour bus pulls into the narrow driveway- It was an odd sight after all the dust covered four wheel vehicles we were using all week. Seemed excessive to me, but we loaded all our bags underneath then each took our own roomy comfortable row. We were off.
Intermittent naps and conversations passed the hours.. I believe it was seven hours or so but I wasn't really paying attention. So many thoughts and experiences to process. Catching up on some blogging helps. There is no way to remember everything but I found myself stopping several times a day this week to take a deep breath and tell myself "you have to remember this moment.. this person, this child, this vantage point.. the beauty of this mountain etc. "
I have also found myself thinking- "next year I have to remember to bring such and such.. or I have to do more reading about whatever so I have a better understanding for next time and I have to work on my Spanish so I can communicate better here." Guess I better talk to Christian about that..
Trying to put the whole experience into words and pictures is difficult if not impossible. It goes much deeper than trying something new or " crossing it off my bucket list" which is what I told people when they asked why I was going.
I have so much more to think about and will post on that a little later.
We arrived in Antigua early afternoon. The buildings are mostly one story occasionally two. The streets are all cobblestone. The sidewalks are a bit smoother but are narrow and very close to the road. The outside facades of the homes and businesses are all connected and nondescript. Plain flat- some colors with large rod iron bars on the windows and beautiful large flowering vines and plants growing in window boxes and overhanging the metal roofs. There are plaster/ cement/ stone window ledges that extend out over these narrow sidewalks just at head level. If I manage to not crack my head open on one of these in the next 2 days it will be a miracle. There are large purple swags of fabric over most of the windows in the whole city. It is lent and this city is 93% Christian, with most being Roman Catholic.
Our hotel, also plain on the outside is stunning on the inside. It is situated in a square with a central, open, colorful and manicured courtyard. The hallways were made of beautiful old tile and quaint comfy sitting areas looking into the open courtyard. The rooms were all arranged around it and were equally as spectacular. I was in a three person suite with Stephanie and Kathy. What a difference a few days make.
No comments:
Post a Comment