With a big hug we were met by the tour operator who handed us off to Luis for our days adventure. In short, about an hour away from the port is the Mayan city of Antigua, we made many stops along the way, including a fruit market, a flower market, and a small town for a handicraft shop stop. Jan inquired about the beautiful work a woman was doing while weaving and within two minutes had Jan fully decked out in local attire. It took us more than a few minutes to make a get away, ah, gotta go the van is leaving.
Antigua as mentioned is a UNESCO world heritage site, originally built in the 17 century. So from the original cobblestone streets (maintained with the same look and feel), to the building facades everything must be kept in good form reflecting the era. Luis did an excellent job of showing us around, we were 5 in total in a van that could hold 12, so we were very comfortable. We stopped in a great little spot for lunch, nachos and a burrito, with a local beer of course. Towards the end of our tour Luis took us to and incredible 5 star hotel, the Casa Santo Domingo, this hotel had to work in tandem with the heritage laws, so within its walls was essentially a village within the hotel - one would not even know this amazing site was behind the hotel walls. The Jade Museum was next, great presentation about Jade from Guatemala with barely a soft at the end, impressive, we were expecting some sort of pressure to buy, but no, a simple, "thank you for listening to my presentation". So we did take a look around, said thank you and left.
Back to the port and the port market, we are the last ship in for the season, so prices were very negotiable. We purchased four masks for our new gazebo, awesome prices.
So a great end to a great stop here, thank you again Carla and WD Travel for this wonderful treat today...
Hope you enjoy our day's photos's...
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