Antigua

 Our Airbnb included breakfast, and it was wonderful. We had a fresh fruit salad—the pears were absolutely delicious—along with various rolls. It was the perfect energy to start the day.

We decided to begin with a hike to Cerro de la Cruz. It starts off steep, but the good thing is that it’s a paved sidewalk with steps, and the total distance is only about a mile. The reward at the top is a fantastic view overlooking Antigua Guatemala and views of a volcano.

From there we wandered all over the city—and by “all over,” I mean we probably saw most of the streets. At one point we stopped for a fruit slushy. We are definitely getting used to these smoothies!

The arch in Antigua is an iconic landmark built in the 17th century. It was designed to connect a convent with the school, allowing the nuns to pass without being seen.

Today we were lucky enough to see three different weddings at three different churches, a quinceañera, and a Lent procession. Apparently Antigua is a very popular wedding destination, and couples often book venues almost a year in advance.

A quinceañera is a celebration for a 15-year-old girl, symbolizing her transition into womanhood. It includes a religious ceremony followed by a reception. The young woman we saw wore a beautiful flowing red dress and graciously allowed me to photograph her.

Because Antigua is largely Catholic, there are many church processions during Lent in the weeks leading up to Holy Week. The floats in these processions can weigh up to 7,000 pounds. The people who carry them rotate throughout the parade because it’s such a demanding task. While watching one float pass by, I caught the eye of a young girl carrying it and gave her a thumbs-up. She smiled back and looked proud of herself.

The streets are decorated with elaborate “carpets”—intricate designs made from colored sawdust, pine needles, flowers, and other natural materials. These displays can take up to ten hours to create. If there are two processions in a single day, a second carpet will often be built for the next parade.

Later we had a late lunch at Restaurante Rinconcito. They were grilling the meat right inside the restaurant, and our table happened to be close to the grill—not ideal since we stayed pretty warm during the meal! Still, we thoroughly enjoyed the “meal of the day”: delicious roasted chicken with buttered potatoes, coleslaw and freshly made hot tamales.

We also wandered through the big market and several smaller ones. They were truly a feast for the eyes—bright colors everywhere, women in traditional dress, chubby-faced children, piles of flowers and spices, and beautiful Guatemalan textiles.

We torched the ruins of the capuchin convent. It had an interesting dormitory that was built in a circular fashion, and the nuns rooms were in this circle at the time the non-spent most of their time in their rooms praying.

The buildings in Antigua are brightly colored in keeping with its Spanish colonial heritage and to maintain a harmonious aesthetic as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s truly a quaint and beautiful city—although it was very crowded today with tourists, which apparently is the norm.

Arrival in Antigua

Breakfast was at a little local café where we had a typical Guatemalan breakfast with drinks for 70 quetzals (about $9).

Our ride was scheduled for 1:00, but I believe he arrived closer to 2:00. What should have been a 30-mile trip from Guatemala City to Antigua Guatemala took more than three hours. There were eight of us packed into the van, and by the end of the ride the three of us in the backseat were giggling and practically friends. In fact, the two girls beside me had just met on that van ride and were already planning to travel to a volcano together. At one point I saw a sign that said “Caution: Curves,” but I think the driver thought it said “Speed Up.” There were many moments when we were bouncing so much that one of the girls actually hit her head on the ceiling of the van. The traffic was unbelievable—just one long line of cars inching along. Then a car suddenly swerved in front of us and I was sure we were about to crash. It was definitely a ride to remember. To make it even more interesting, as we were leaving Guatemala City we saw a man walking down the sidewalk with about six goats. As I turned to keep watching, he started leading the goats up the steps of a pedestrian bridge that crossed over the highway.

Arriving in Antigua wasn’t what I expected. There were cars everywhere and crowds of people, and it felt very busy. The driver said it’s like that every day. We were the last ones dropped off, but my impression of Antigua changed as we turned down some quiet neighborhood streets and pulled into a gated community where our Airbnb is located.

The Airbnb is absolutely beautiful. Our hostess, Linda, retired from Chicago and has lived here for 16 years. The unit is filled with colorful Guatemalan art and thriving plants, and as you walk in there are gorgeous photographs of Guatemala on the walls. It turns out Linda is a photographer and even had a photo show at one point. I already feel right at home.

We walked downtown planning to find a Guatemalan meal, but one look at the menu at an Italian restaurant changed our minds. We were so hungry after not eating since breakfast that the decision was easy. The meal was delicious, and the walk back to the unit was lovely. The temperatures here are absolutely perfect.

Last morning in San Jose

It was a great day with perfect temperatures—low 70s with even better humidity around 40%. Looking out from our balcony, we noticed many people strolling by wearing pants and jackets. I did put on light pants but skipped the jacket.

We went downstairs to the restaurant and had a typical breakfast: scrambled eggs, toast, bananas, fried cheese, and rice and beans. It was delicious and gave us plenty of energy for a walk around downtown.

 We passed several small parks and noticed police officers stationed at each one. We also stepped into two churches. The largest was the downtown cathedral, where we happened to catch part of a mass. It was beautiful to see the sunrise shining through the ceiling onto the altar.

Anne Frank statue with gifts placed in her hand, a gift from Holland.

Episcopal church downtown behind gates.

Afterward, we headed back to the hotel and relaxed for a while. We ended the trip perfectly—having only about 300 colones and a few coins left, maybe $5–10 total.

Our midday taxi ride had much less traffic than when we first arrived in San José. The drive from downtown to the airport took about 40 minutes. Our airline, Volaris, is quite popular—probably because of its cheap fares.

At the airport we went to the Priority Pass lounge, one of the great perks of the Capital One card. The lounge had pasta, salad, pineapple (so good!), watermelon, spinach pastries that were unfortunately as hard as a rock, along with drinks and alcohol. It was still a nice place to spend some time watching the few airplanes take off.

Leaving San Jose, Costa Rica.

Arriving in Guatemala City, Guatemala.

Our taxi ride from the airport to the Holiday Inn Guatemala took about 10–15 minutes. Guatemala City looks much more urbanized than San José, and it seemed cleaner and possibly less congested—though there are motorcycles everywhere!

Our room is very nice, and they upgraded us to one with a balcony on the 11th floor so we can see out over the city. We took a quick walk around the blocks near the hotel and each got a pastry. Then we had a drink in the hotel bar, took showers, and ended the evening relaxing in bed watching TV.

San Jose, Costa Rica

 Our final walk in Jacó led us to a small café where we had juice and a pastry. Afterward we took one last walk along the beach and sat by the pool, reflecting on our beautiful home for the past three days.

Soon it was time for a quick shower and an Uber to the bus station. My anxiety always seems to spike when we’re about to do something new, and this time it was getting on the bus. It turned out to be easy—the bus was large, air-conditioned, and we even had assigned seats. The ride was interesting for two reasons. One the driver will stop even on the highway to let people off and then they just hop over the guard rail to get where they’re going. The other thing is the driver stopped at one point on the highway to relieve himself at the side of the road.

Three hours later we arrived in San José. It was about a 20-minute walk through the city to the Balmoral Hotel. Along the way we passed through a very busy shopping area, and at one point two people warned us to hold onto our cameras, though I never felt unsafe.

At the hotel we were upgraded from a standard room to a deluxe with two double beds, a balcony, and—oddly—a full-size refrigerator.

We went back out to explore, walking through a couple of parks and noticing the mountains surrounding the city. We also wandered through the Central Market of San José, packed with vendors selling food, flowers, spices, and clothing.

Scotty picked up a cheese pastry and a slice of cheesecake, and I got a yogurt smoothie. Back at the hotel we ended the night watching two very bizarre movies: Final Destination and Weapons.

Playa Fantasia

Today’s adventure was a catamaran ride to a private beach, Playa Fantasia. Once we got on the boat, they brought around drinks—Tico Locos—and fresh fruit. There were 14 of us in our group, and when we arrived we truly had the beach to ourselves.

There was a tiki hut bar there, and we both had more liquor than we’ve had in years. Scotty tried different drinks, but I stuck with piña coladas. Yum, yum, yum! There were also plantain chips with queso, corn, and salsa. I really liked the plantain chips.

The water temperature was just perfect, though the waves were a bit rough. The ocean floor was sandy with very few shells, but there were some smooth stones here and there.

While I was out in the water, I saw two macaws fly across the beach and land in a tree just above where our group was sitting. It was so, so cool to see them flying—and then to watch them spend some time in the trees eating avocados.

The guides also took us out in a smaller boat to go snorkeling. We didn’t see a lot of fish because the water was rough and the sand was being stirred up, but we did see a few fish, along with sea urchins, rocks, and coral.

Lunch was absolutely delicious. We had chicken skewers with vegetables and beef skewers with vegetables, along with salad and potatoes.

After lunch we walked down the beach, and then I got back in the water again. It was a heavenly

Back at our unit we went to the pool. After so many drinks and being in the sun, the water felt incredibly refreshing. Later we came inside to clean up and then walked out to the beach to watch another beautiful sunset.

On the way home, Scotty got a pizza pastry and I got a smoothie with mango, pineapple, and strawberries.

Life is so good. Pura Vida!