Regresso a Antigua
Saturday, March 8th, 2008I decided to stay at a hotel I’d checked out on my first visit to Antigua: Casa Santa Lucia #3. It’s just north of La Iglesia de la Merced and rooms on the 2nd floor have a view of the volcanos and the top ½ of the church. They are about ½ way into a nice remodel, but the rooms I stayed in had not been started. It’s a solid, colonial hotel (big windows, thick walls and heavy wood furniture) with powerful, hot showers. All the rooms really need is a little patchwork, a nice paint job and new mattresses. I’m not certain if the latter is part of the remodel. But for $25 I get a nice room with private bath. I opted out of Posada Asjemenou because with several clubs around it, I knew it would be noisy on the weekend.
Turns out there is a large Lenten procession Sunday, making leaving Antigua for Flores that evening nearly impossible. I could either leave today or wait one more day. I opted to stay and see the procession and leave Monday evening on the overnight, first-class bus to Flores. This will be $30 rather than about $170 to fly. Not sure when or how I will get back to Antigua. I may take one more diversion before returning for Semana Santa on the 18th. once again I am having a nice time in Antigua.
Last night I went to red’s bar to exchange some books and had a nice, long conversation with a Guatemalan writer who was in town from Puerto Barrios to hear jazz at el Sitio. By the time he’d had 4 beers to my one glass of wine I decided to bid him adieu. He asked if I believed that he’d published 3 books (he told me where I could buy them) and I said I had no reason not to but I wanted to say “well, you sure drink like a writer” ☺.
Peggy Rehm