Christmas shopping in Antigua

After a blissful, long sleep (for me; Anna woke up at 6am!) I woke up to continuing drizzly rain. We stayed in bed and munched our granola we had bought for Roatan but never ate. The rain continued...and continued…it almost felt like we were in the UK.

At midday Anna was getting antsy for her coffee fix so we headed out in search of a cafe. We found one off the main square - Cafe Condesa - which is a huge old colonial house with a courtyard which used to be home to successive Counts. Apparently one of them found the butler with his wife in a compromising position and so buried the butler alive! Anna had her first taste of Guatemalan coffee (good but a bit burnt) and I had the most amazing hot chocolate ever (30Q).

Since it was Sunday, we headed to the markets for some Christmas shopping! We got a bit lost and saw quite a lot of Antigua which is a beautiful town with cobbled streets, surrounded by volcanoes (sadly couldn't see much of them through the clouds today). It was the capital until the 18th century when they moved it to GC due to Antigua being continually destroyed by a series of earthquakes. Much of it has been rebuilt but there is still a lovely crumbly, old feel to the place.

We bargained (best was from 150 down to 25) with the traders who mostly seemed to have native roots and were from the highlands. We haven't seen much evidence of the native people since Bolivia / Peru so it’s lovely to see again. We came back laden with presents which somehow will be squeezed into our bags. On our return to the main square, a band started playing made up of lots of men in shiny silver suits. The drizzle, which had briefly stopped, resumed and the crowd was a sea of brollies.

We went back to the room to dry off a little before heading out to dinner. The rain had stopped and we checked out several recommended places; most were a bit pricey and didn't look that great. We ended up at El Faro (lighthouse) and had veggie burritos, chips, salad and tamarind juice (70Q). Great food and great service.

Two things made us chuckle today: Antigua has a penchant for fountains with mermaids that have water shooting out of their nipples! And policemen wear fluorescent jackets saying PMT on the back.Läs mer