The Americas

Once back in Antigua, after showering off the dust and checking in to our hostel we decided we deserved to treat ourselves! We therefore headed to the nearby Irish bar for fish and chips!

We sat on the roof terrace which had amazing views of the surrounding hills and volcanoes.

At one point Dan went to get his hair cut which left me alone to chat to the Irishman Rory who owns the bar. He'd had quite the adventure to get to Guatemala, being forced to flee Ireland 34 years ago with £100 and ending up marrying a Guatemalan lady, breaking his back in H&M in New York along the way amongst other things.

After around 4 hours on the terrace we headed downstairs as they had a darts board (but only two working darts). We played a few games of around the world and 501. No comment on who won.

We then decided to move on from the Irish bar to 'Bullseye Sports Bar'. Despite its English name, the bar was full of locals. Turns out the Guatemalan International team were playing so we joined the locals at the bar to watch. They lost 2-0 to Ecuador in the end.

The other thing that the bar was full of was Everton memorabilia (two shirts and a scarf)! A disproportionate amount for a bar of its size and even stranger given there was nothing representing Liverpool, Man Utd, Man City or Arsenal. However there were shirts for Sale Sharks, Greenock Morton and Ross County. Unfortunately nobody was able to explain the Everton connection but we knew there must be more to it than meets the eye.

We then ended up entering the pub quiz. I was absolutely useless other than Justin Bieber songs and old PlayStation games. Dan however was well up to speed on his movies, philosophy, sociology and all the other arts so carried the team significantly. I was still confident we'd done well but no, we came last, although only 6 points off the winners with 35 v 41.

The early night we'd planned did not come to pass as we got home just after 11 for some well earned rest.Read more