Antigua

By plane, Guatemala City is less than two hours from Mexico City. From Guatemala City it is a 45 minute taxi ride to Antigua.

I had been told that the city of Antigua is like San Miguel de Allende was 20 years ago. In terms of size I would agree, but clearly not from an infrastructure standpoint as ATM machines and internet cafes dot the town. Luxury boutique hotels can run $250 USD and up per night. But there are deals to be found and the city has a somewhat bohemian feel. Tourists can be found from all over the globe.

Volcanoes serve as back drops to the city, providing dramatic views when one looks up. However, architecturally speaking, Antigua doesn’t compare to San Miguel, largely because nearly all the building are single story and the town is flat; not built on a raise like San Miguel. However, like San Miguel, the architecture is colonial. Therefore, much of the beauty is found behind the walls wherein beautiful courtyard gardens lie.

Our hotel, Mansion del Pensativo (http://www.mansiondelpensativo.com/), was a perfect example of a secret well kept from the street. The rooms were clean and comfortable with great linens. But the exceptional beauty lies in the common areas and lush garden by the pool. The service was amazing. After dinner we’d return to the hotel and the proprietor would build a fire in the fireplace of the living room, and we’d sit by the baby grand piano sipping wine until bedtime. Breakfast was served on the patio with a view to the gardens and the volcano beyond.

Where Antigua wins big is in shopping and fine dining. For shopping it is all about textiles; fabrics woven with beautiful, vibrant colors (I bought a hammock our first day in town.) For dining it is international cuisine, fresh seafood; lamb from New Zealand.

I was a bit concerned one day, when Alex and I were walking through town and we passed a sign posted on a door that read: “Wanted!! Travelers with diarrhea.” The sign went on to describe a person’s qualifying characteristics and the type of treatment one could expect to receive. I said a short prayer that this was not an omen of things to come.

Pao and Cynthia joined Alex and me shortly after we returned from Lake Atitlan. We took them to Nicolas (http://www.nicolas.com.gt/) for dinner.

“Tell us about Lake Atitalan,” said Pao, “Did you meet any of the other guests at Villa Sumaya?”

“Yes,” said Cynthia, diving into her unagi appetizer with her chopsticks, “What were they like?”

Swallowing a bite of seasonal greens with sliced pear and shaved fresh parmesan cheese in a balsamic dressing, I began. “I didn’t really talk to many people. I spent most of my time with my nose in a book. There was a mother-daughter couple from Australia who were quite fun. We had a couple of meals with them; and they shared the taxi back to Antigua with us. The others were largely part of a retreat group that travels all over together.

“I did talk to one woman at breakfast. She was from somewhere in Northern California. We were talking about how clear and beautiful the lake water was and she said that she’d heard that it wasn’t safe to swim, even though some of her group had. When I asked her why it wasn’t safe, she said it was because of some kind of bacteria in the water. I asked her if she was talking about giardia but she didn’t know. I explained that every body of fresh water, whether it be a lake, stream or river, in the Northern hemisphere has giardia. You shouldn’t drink it but it is perfectly safe for swimming. “Even for women?” she asked. That gave me pause because I had to take a moment to remember the anatomical differences that might have led her to ask the question. “Not if you have a watertight cooch,” I thought.

“You didn’t say that!” Cynthia exclaimed, dropping a piece of unagi and splattering soy sauce on Alex’s pants.

Pao was laughing, “Watertight cooch!” she repeated.

“No,” I said, “Of course I didn’t SAY that to her. I just thought it. But even if she doesn’t, I don’t believe that that particular part of the body leads to the intestinal tract where giardia causes problems. I just told her that I’m no doctor but I thought it would be fine.”

“How do you spell “cooch” anyway?” asked Pao. “Is it with a “c” or a ‘k”?

“I think it’s with a “c” said Alex. “You can probably just go to the internet and type in cooch.com with either spelling and see what comes up.”

We went on to discuss the subject and whether any not-exactly-watertight-orifices might lead to risk. But we had to agree to defer the question to someone more qualified. (We’ve yet to do so.)