Here we go

We’re off on our adventure! After several weeks of finalizing details (house, car, furniture storage, insurance, etc.) we decided on Guatemala as our first stop. Thanks to various recommendations, we chose to stay in Antigua which is an old Spanish colonial town about 1 hour outside of Guatemala City.

En route to Guatemala City

A red eye flight from Seattle to Houston followed by a shorter Houston to Guatemala City flight landed us around 1:30 pm local time. Taking a taxi from the airport, we arrived in Antigua around 3 pm and checked into our Airbnb. It’s a charming 3-story colonial style house with multiple private bedrooms and a colorful rooftop terrace. Surrounding us on all sides are lush green hills and volcanoes. Two prominent volcanoes are volcán de Agua and volcán de Fuego — which provide a dramatic backdrop anywhere you travel in Antigua.

View from our airbnb room

For my fellow history nerds, Antigua was founded in the mid 1500’s by the Spanish and the architecture, urban layout and gardens are reminiscent of its founders style. Mayan culture is still very much alive here, given that the Mayan people make up the largest indigenous group in Guatemala. In northern Guatemala (and much of Central America) there are various remote areas with Mayan ruins dating back to between 200-900 BC. Side note - we’re hoping to catch a bus up north to Tikal to see some of these ruins in the next week.

Our host has been incredible so it’s worth sharing some of her story. She’s been hosting on Airbnb since 2010 and immediately made us feel welcome by cooking us delicious homemade breakfasts of eggs, plantains, papaya and beans, suggesting some of her favorite places in Antigua, and providing a clean and comfortable room. Here’s a link to her rental in case you’d like to visit.

The majority of time in Antigua was spent exploring by foot — drinking coffee, stumbling upon a 1500’s era cathedral which is now in ruins after enduring 2 major earthquakes during the 1700’s, walking through the central market and practicing our Spanish. The next stop is Lake Atitlán — a volcanic crater lake surrounded by, you guessed it, various volcanoes and coffee plantations.

Cathedral arched dome ceiling which looks like it was never finished

Cathedral ‘ruins’