Hola Antigua - Learn Spanish & Relax

Ah, Antigua in Guatemala. My favorite place in the world. These days, I say that the Philippines have become my favorite country, but for years Antigua in Guatemala has been my favorite place. This is the fourth time I have come here and I was really looking forward to it.

Antigua is a small colonial town, lined with cobblestone streets, colourful buildings, a bustling but not packed atmosphere, and is surrounded by rolling hills and three impressive volcanos - one of which is still active and you can see it emitting ash and lava on a clear day. The town has plenty of things to do, discover and try in terms of food and bars. I just love this place more than any other.

Anyway, what brought me back to Antigua this time were two things. Recharging my batteries as I felt quite exhausted after Samoa and the US and learning Spanish.

Regarding the first point. Since this is my fourth time in Antigua, I knew coming here that I would not need to do all the attractions that are basically a must for first-time visitors since l have done them already (i.e. climbing a volcano, going to the nearby lake, visiting Maya ruins). Instead, I was focusing on getting some well-earned rest, staying in a nice place with my own room/bathroom and just taking it slow and wandering through the beautiful town and discovering its vibrant soul even more so than during my previous visits. Plus, I knew a few people here already that I saw during my first week, which gave me a bit of a 'homey' feeling.

Regarding the second point. As I would be traveling through South America for 7 months, I needed to seriously brush up on my Spanish. I might have gotten away with my current level, but in order to get a better experience, I wanted to improve my Spanish. So I booked myself some private lessons for 3 weeks (4h a day from 8am-12pm, 5 days a week). It was also very cheap at only USD 5 an hour. As my teacher Lucy did not really speak English, I was forced to use my Spanish pretty much the entire time. Exactly the way it should be, even if it can be quite exhausting. But that is the whole point and I was happy that we pushed through some grammar I wanted to learn and then focus on speaking and listening.

During my first weekend in Antigua, I also got to know Maria who is from Antigua and who I spent some of my first weekend and evenings in the second week with. Next to checking out some local food places, we also went to a funfair here in Antigua that would run until the end of the month. I gotta say, it has been a while since I was at a funfair, but we rode a few of the attractions together, had dinner and really just had a great time in each others' company.

Just being back here in Antigua reminded me of how much I love this place. It was exactly what I needed after pretty much 9 months of constant traveling. And meeting old friends such as Charlie who runs the pub crawl here or meeting new people like Maria made this place even more special.

So special in fact, that I decided to extend my stay here. Originally, I planned to leave on the 30th July, but now I will be leaving Antigua/Guatemala on the 13th August.Read more