Guatemala- Antigua

We survived the crazy long route to get to Antigua fairly easily. Our flight from San Jose left at 6:30am so we had to be up at 4....when we finally arrived in Guatemala we were all exhausted, our first day was kind of spent in a fog. For some reason I had this idea that Antigua would be very similar to Granada, I convinced Johnny to not book anything until we arrived figuring we could just wing it. What I did not anticipate is the sidewalks are so narrow they barely allow 1 person to pass let alone all of our luggage....the roads are all cobblestone which sounds quite charming and physically looks nice, but makes for very poor conditions when your trying to wheel anything!

Needless to say, we were all cranky and tired and sat around a cafe trying to find something cheap.

notice the narrow sidewalk, imagine trying to roll a million bags with 2 kids in tow...ugh!

We were all so cranky in this pic, only Anneka showed how we all felt

We have been told by everyone how cheap Guatemala was so at the very least we were expecting to pay the same prices as in Nicaragua, I was a little surprised that everything we looked at was around $70US a night...(I know still sounds cheap, but we have been pretty consistent with $40-$60 a night all through Central America and we were hoping Guatemala would be the same). We ended up biting the bullet finding a really nice hotel, fairly central for $68USD. (I do want to point out, that if you are single or even just a couple you can get by super crazy cheap...once you add 4 people the cost drives up dramatically).

The view from our rooftop

Casa Mia Hotel- very lovely courtyard

This guy was guarding a parking lot next to our hotel he seriously looked about 12.

The next day we set of exploring....Antigua is much more laid out then Granada I was surprised how big it was. After wondering around for a while we  decided to take the girls to a small chocolate museum where you can actually make little chocolates. As we already visited a cacao farm in Costa Rica, I thought this would be a nice treat and a way to reiterate some of the stuff the girls had already learned, (homeschooling at its best!) What a "sweet" little place this was (I know, I know totally lame!)...we were given an interesting little lesson on how the Mayans made chocolate and then the girls got to pick out their molds and make their own using sprinkles, cookie crumbs and marshmallows  to decorate. It was such a fun way to spend an hour. 

 

We then went to a restaurant Rincon Tipico, that was recommended by our new friends Margee and Mike...  was very cheap and so delicious! For $20 we had a full chicken dinner, drinks and a beer.
(it was so delish we went back again another night!).

My fave restaurant in Antigua-where all the locals go.

Our hotel was right across the road from the outdoor market, I have heard this place is a must see so we decided to finish our day there. I have never been to Istanbul, but I imagine this is what a grand Bazaar looks like.  This place is HUGE!! While the street vendors on the outside surrounding the main market are interesting by themselves—the main attraction is entering into the main covered market!! Get ready to have your senses bombarded, with stall after stall of a massive variety of items. 

women in traditional clothing selling produce, we bought a bag of apples for $1

walking inside the covered market you can easily get lost

Right in the centre of the covered market

We had to take a pic of all the chicken buses waiting to pick up passengers

We walked around for ages and still didn't cover everything, as it was starting to get dark we decided to come back another day. The next morning we had another early rise and shine 6am pick up! This time we were hiking the very active volcano Pacaya. The drive took over an hour to get there, but we had heard that it was pretty strenuous so we wanted to get there early rather then later in the day when it was so hot. When we arrived our group went with the guide and he asked if anyone wanted to take the horses up. Johnny and I knew we would get one for the girls, but no one else in the group opted for one. We set off on a brisk pace and I was surprised to see a huge group of men following us on their horses. I asked the guide about this and he said that eventually some people would be so tired they would request a horse half way up...funny thing was the price got higher the closer to the top you were! He was right a few people from our group did cave and get a horse.

This was probably my favourite thing we did in Antigua, the views from the top were incredible. I couldn't believe that every now and then you could hear a loud rumble that sounded like thunder and you could see puffs of smoke coming from various vents throughout the lava fields. It made you very aware of how volatile Mother Nature can be. The coolest thing for the kids was when the got to "roast " marshmallows over one of these vents (I put quotes around roast as you really only heated the marshmallows, they never actually flamed up...it was still cool nonetheless). The hike down wasn't nearly as difficult, so we opted for the kids to ditch the horses and walk down....they were troupers as it was a little harder then we thought but we all persevered and in the end had a great morning. 

roasting the marshmallows 

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 That afternoon we went back to the market, and did a little more site seeing around town. We were leaving the next morning for Monterrico and we both feel we really could have used a couple more days here. Everyone I know that has traveled to Antigua has absolutely LOVED it... I liked it for sure, but I think a little of my heart was left in Nicaragua so I just couldn't muster up the love that I wanted to...that said I think I needed to explore Antigua more to really get a feeling for town...Unfortunately for us, we have to be in Belize in 11 days and I am desperate to see some baby turtles, so our time has been cut short hopefully I will be able to visit again some day.

Granada

We left Ometepe with saddened hearts and boarded the ferry and shuttle to take us to Granada. Based on the recommendations of an awesome couple we met on the ferry to Ometepe (they were actually from our neighborhood!) we booked a place, close to Park Central called Casa Agua- amazing little boutique hotel run by a Irish fella named Gerry. 

Casa Agua

The front of Casa Agua-very unassuming until you step inside- like most properties around Granada

Saying good bye to our new friends

Park Central

Park Central

We immediately felt at home here, and quickly settled in. From the moment we arrived I LOVED Granada. Every building was painted a beautiful hue, but it all seemed to blend, (I later found out that if you bought a place here and renovated you have to follow the strict codes of use of colour and structure, maintaining the colonial look inside and out. The town is built around the central park, people are everywhere trying to sell you something, (I have quickly learned how to say "Non Necessito, Gracias", but it also seems to be a meeting place for the locals. There are beautiful churches all over each one grander then the next. 

A Funeral Carriage

Many people climb the bell tower here to watch the sunset

From the bell tower

One of the many churches right on the square

This is from the bell tower from the Yellow church

There is actually so much to do in and around Granada we ended up staying one extra day so we could fit it all in. After we arrived Gerry set us up with a tour for that evening to see over the crater of a live volcano and view lava. (apparently one of 3 volcanoes in the world where you can peer over the crater edge and see lava flow inside). At first I was kind of ho hum about the whole thing, as far as all the Nicaragua trips went this one was kind of on the pricey side, however once we were up there looking in, I understood how cool this was, and figured it would probably be the only time in my life I would get to do this....

The crater at Masaya Volcano

The black smoke was billowing out as we were driving to it

 The following morning we booked a day at Apoyo Lagoon, about 20 minutes away from Granada, Apoyo is an old crater with crystal clear fresh water surrounded by lush greenery and volcanoes in the background. The lagoon has resorts all around, that will supply day passes for visitors so they can use their waterfront, kayaks, bathrooms and restaurants. We were taken to Hotel Paridiso for the day and it did not disappoint. The first thing we all thought was that it looked like somewhere in Northern Ontario. The water was a perfect temperature to swim in and we had the best day just swimming and pretending we were at Lake Wahwashkesh:)  (Our lake from back home...)

The next day two more families moved into our hotel so suddenly the kids had friends (and so did the adults!) to play with. We all booked the afternoon to have a boat tour of Las Isleta (an area comprised of 365 small islands) The tour was with a guy from Toronto who packed it all in to start this boat tour company. His boat had two floors, tables, a bar, a dance floor and an amazing water slide and jumping platform from the second level.We all had such a blast, it was an awesome way to spend the afternoon. 

 The rest of our time was spent touring around the city just enjoying everything Granada had to offer. We took a horse drawn carriage ride (much to Johnny's chagrin) and went back to Apoyo Lagoon one day as the kids had so much fun and it was such a fun inexpensive day. 

Anneka and little Kai, possibly the cutest 4 year old I have ever met!

We left Nicaragua and were a little sad we only had two weeks here, knowing that we could easily come back and spend much longer exploring different parts of the country. We were off to Guatemala the next day, having to leave our hotel at 7:30  as we were flying out. Johnny and I found these crazy cheap flights so we could avoid the long bus ride, however the flights included a route that had us stopping in El Savador, then having a layover in San Jose, then up to Guatemala city where we had to board our shuttle to take us to Antigua....

WHEW!!!! What a crazy next couple of days...