Me standing in front of Parque Central. |
Bellies full from a big lunch, we hit the streets – walking towards Parque Central which is ringed by buildings on three sides and by the beautiful Catedral de San José on the fourth. Most of the buildings housed banks and commercial establishments. With the buildings all draped with purple banners, it seemed appropriate for the trees in the park to also be awashed in purple. The purple blooms of the jacaranda trees added just the right touch.
We strolled through the small park that occupies the center of the square. Workmen were busy at work cleaning the fountain. I’m guessing it’s being gussied up for Semana Santa. There were lots of opportunities for photo ops.
We strolled through the small park that occupies the center of the square. Workmen were busy at work cleaning the fountain. I’m guessing it’s being gussied up for Semana Santa. There were lots of opportunities for photo ops.
Parque Central |
These purple banners, which read "Lent and Holy Week, La Antigua, Guatemala" hung from many windows and balconies. The whole town had been decked out for Holy Week. |
Parque Central. The day we arrived into Antigua, it was relatively quiet. A few days later and it would be packed with people, standing shoulder to shoulder! |
Soon and Valiant standing in front of Catedral de San José. Simply known as Catedral, this was the place where we saw one of the most moving Holy Week processions on Good Friday. |
Catedral. |
Fuente de las Sirenas. |
A view of Parque Central with one of its two fountains in the foreground. |
Old wooden beams and cobblestone walkways are a prominent feature of many of the buildings in Antigua. Adds to the charm of the place. |
Here's a 360 degree video of Parque Central.
On one street corner, we passed a street vendor selling mangos. We decided to check them out. Greedy as the four of us are, we could not pass up buying a couple of mangoes to try out. For less than $2, we got a couple of different varieties. Not surprisingly, with my brother the Fruit Obsessed One in tow, we would be buying and trying every exotic fruit Guatemala has to offer and it has a lot to offer as we would come to find out.
The one think noticed right away about the children is that they didn't look underfed. Definitely smaller in physical size than their identically aged counterparts in the US adn Europe but they looked healthy.
Me, standing in front of the ruins of Compañía de Jesús. |
On our "self orientation" walk through town, we passed by several of the church ruins that Antigua is famous for.
"The Boys", as they would come to be known as, at the Mercado. |
By now, I was getting thirsty and so I was in search of water. We passed by several local shops but decided to head for the Mercado highlighted on our map. Several blocks later, we spotted the stalls that signal we’ve arrived at the Mercado.
The Mercado is absolutely huge – vendors fill the open spaces outside and are crammed into the indoor space. This is a combination of a tourist hotspot and the place where locals buy what they need for daily life. By now, it was late afternoon so many were closing shop. We’ll have to come back on Saturday when the market is operating in full force. I'll cover our visits to the Mercado, and we had quite a few, in a separate blog posting.
We were starting to feel really, really tired – it had been a long day for all four of us. We decided to meander back to the hotel.
First stop. A shop to buy water. Remember, we had planned to head to the Mercado to buy water but we got so distracted that we completely forgotten to get any. My throat is now parched dry and I need some agua fria :-)
On the way back to the hotel, we passed by La Merced. It was difficult to not be drawn in by this magnificent church – ornately decorated and painted in yellow and white. We found some spots just outside the church to sit and rest our feet. For a few minutes, we were content to just watch the world pass by.
The front entrance of La Merced. |
Posing just outside the front entrance. |
This ever so cute girl was standing near her mother. Her juice bottle just about overwhelmed her tiny little figure. |
As had happened to us the moment we set foot outside the hotel, we were immediately besieged by local Mayan women selling their wares – mainly textiles, jade necklaces and woven dolls. It takes me a while to get back into the tourist mode of having to say “No” every few minutes - at times, it can seem so annoying to have someone shoving stuff in your face as you’re focused on your surroundings.
The church bell pealed and we all took that as a signal, I don't know why, to head inside where the cool air was a welcome reprieve from the hot, sunny outdoors. In contrast to the exterior, the interior of the church was extremely modest. Purple banners provided a splash of color against the white walls.
Near the apse, an alfombra (carpet) made of vibrantly colored sawdust, had been created on the floor. An alfombra typical of those for Semana Santa. Surrounding the alfombra were fruits, including the palm fruit we had seen at the market – prayer offerings perhaps??
The workmanship of the carpet was just stunning!! |
My brother chatting with a couple of local Antiguenos who were also admiring the alfombra. |
As I stood admiring the handiwork that went into creating this beautiful carpet, it was hard to believe that for all time and effort that goes into creating the beautiful carpets of Semana Santa, that they existed to eventually be trampled on by the processions that would take place during the days leading up to Easter. Truly a labor of love for the creators.
Alongside the church pews were statues atop platforms. From the looks of them, I’m guessing these will be carried during the processions. As the rest of Antigua is also doing, this church is getting ready for the upcoming festivities. From what I read, the major processions will start from this church and wind their way through town. I wonder if we can secure a prime viewing spot…..that would be awesome to experience Semana Santa from this church.
By now, we were all really pooped and all we could think of was heading back to the hotel. We left La Merced for the day and made our way back to the hotel. Tired or not, it wasn't quite the end of our day yet. There was still dinner to come!