How did it go by so fast?

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It is our last full day in Antigua, Guatemala and I’m sitting in Casa Herrera drinking some delicious coffee (props to Milady) and banana bread from the Doña Luisa Xicotencatl bakery (I highly recommend it, it’s magical) while listening to the church bells ring close by and the hustle of people at the market. It’s been a little over two weeks here and I’m not ready to go.

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Antigua is a place of vibrant beauty with such unique smells and sounds. When you walk on the cobble stone streets of Antigua, you can actually feel the history under your feet with every step you take. The name “Antigua” means ancient in itself. The name of the city is not deceiving by any means. Although the name might mean “ancient,” the city is very much alive and colorful. When I say that we have been living in Antigua for two weeks, I mean that it has felt like two days. The city is one of those places where you need to have an introduction and then go into your actual chapters within your very long, and intriguing novel. I feel as though these two weeks have been my introduction and that I am now able to finally begin to actually live here in detail. I have barely scratched the surface of those cobblestones. Just when you think you know where you’re going without getting lost, you’re flying away from it. The up side to this feeling however, is that I know that this won’t be the last time I’m here.

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Speaking of cobblestones, I have a fascination for rocks. Whenever I see a church or temple in ruins, it’s the most exciting thing for me (along with textiles, but I’ll keep this restricted to just rocks). Although this might seem a bit strange to some, considering the impressive and monumental structures architecture can achieve, I see the skeleton of it just as sublime. Antigua is a colonial city with many churches that were destroyed by multiple earthquakes – and we experienced one while staying here! Three of the churches I’ve included pictures of (and have a slight obsession over) are below: El Carmen, Santuario Arquidiocesano del Santo Hermano Pedro, and La Catedral de San José. Guys, architecture in ruins has its charm. As for Pre-Hispanic sites, we’ve only visited Iximché so far, but we will be visiting many more after we depart Antigua! I guess leaving Antigua won’t be too bad…(as long as I come back!)

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A little bit of background information about Iximché (in the photo above): it was the capital of the Late Postclassic Kaqchikel Maya kingdom from 1470 up to 1524, when the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado declared Iximché as the first capital of Guatemala. Pretty interesting, right? Well that’s like pretty much everything in Guatemala!

Here’s to our upcoming wonderful week of travelling to Petén and Belize!

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