Home sweet Antigua.

Home base for pretty much the entire trip will be the town of Antigua. By pretty much all accounts, Antigua is a small but very charming town, chock full of colonial Spanish architecture and cobblestone streets. The town is designated a UNESCO World Heritage site and its residents take pride in preserving the colonial look and feel of the town. I read somewhere that there are barely a handful of buildings that are more than 1 storey in height. Whatever the building height, I'mjust hoping I don't see either a McDonald's or a Starbuck's there - that would just crush my expectations!The town is into a valley that is surrounded by three volcanoes that dominate the horizon.

Chichicastanango.

Chichicastanango. I love the name. It just rolls off the tongue. Commonly referred to just as Chichi, this mountain Guatemalan town is known for for its traditional K'iche' culture.  The K'iche' are the largest indigenous Mayan culture. 

Semana Santa.

Holy Week is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter. It starts on Palm Sunday and includes the religious holidays of Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday) and Good Friday.  Holy Week commemorates the last week of the earthly life of Jesus Christ and culminates in his crucifixion on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday.  When I think of where to go to celebrate Holy Week, the last place that woud come to mind is Guatemala.

Will he come with me?

Ispoke with my brother Mark today.  He's just  few years younger than I am.  He's a doctor who lives in San Mateo, California and though we don't see each other often, we share many interests in common that whenever we do get together, time flies by quickly because no matter what we do, we thoroughly enjoy ourselves.  One thing we definitely have in common is a penchant for galavanting and exploring new places.  I told him of my plans to go to Guatemala for Semana Santa and I asked if he would be interested in going with me.  Of  course, I was doing my best to twist his arm :-)  I don't know if he as just trying to be polite or if he really meant it, but he told me he would think about it.  I hope he decides to come *keeping my fingers crossed* :-)  The last time we traveled together was a few years back when I made a trip out to the Bay Area.  He had a hankering for a road trip and so did I.  We pulled out the map of California, bounced around a few ideas about where to go and ended up settling on Death Valley National Park.  Yep, Death Valley which at 280+ feet below sea level is the lowest spot in North America.  Name sounds foreboding but it was a place neither of us had been to and the information provided on the park's website made it sound like a very interesting place to see and it turned out to be exactly that.  If you've never been, you must put it on your list of places to see in the US!