Suitcase and World: Antigua. Spanish charm and Mayan color.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Antigua. Spanish charm and Mayan color.


Of all the postings in this travelogue, this one was the hardest one to put together. I started with my usual style of describing my day was like and then using photos to help the story along. About two paragraphs into writing the posting, I trashed the draft because it wouldn't have conveyed what I wanted to say about Antigua.

For me, Antigua is a gem..... a wonderful blend of restored Spanish colonial-era architecture, rugged cobblestone streets and is peppered throughout with ruins of buildings from its glorious past. This mix extends to the culture which is a melting pot of both Spanish and Mayan traditions. All this in a town that is so small you can comfortably walk it but because there is so much to see, you can spend days walking the streets. And even though you can walk the same street over and over again, each time there is something different that catches your eye.

There's a quaint charm to the place but there's also a vibrancy to it. The colors, the music, the food.....it all just pops out at you.

I was completely enchanted by this little town and wanted to somehow convey this. In the end, I decided that pictures are indeed worth a thousand words so I pulled photos from Soon's, Valiant's and my collections and tried to capture some of the highlights of Antigua in this video.  Be sure to turn up the volume on your speakers.....you'll be doing the salsa in no time :-)

Enjoy!