December 29th
Antigua Guatemala
Our
morning starts with a visit to the second Copān museum, this one dedicated to
smaller artifacts. We then depart Honduras
for a bus-and-plane voyage to Guatemala City. It’s an interesting travel risk conundrum: which is more dangerous, a three-hour
drive on mountainous 2-lane highways, or a 20-minute flight in a dual-engine
propeller plane? Fortunately we
get a bit of both, thus achieving diversification.
Guatemala
City is not the most beautiful of the large industrial centers we’ve
encountered. Founded relatively
recently, it is a sprawling metropolis covering the flattened tops of many
nearby hills. Rather than building
on the slopes, the new method seems to be one of creating flat sections, then
ignoring any remaining ravines. It
makes for a confusing suburban plan.
The center of the original city is a typical square, cathedral to one
side, government center to the other.
This one is distinguished largely by the hue of the Presidential palace
– it is distinctly green.
We
drive on to Antigua Guatemala, the old colonial capital, once abandoned but now
restored and in use. This charming
city of 16th and 17th century buildings was damaged by
several earthquakes, leaving shells where once there were churches. The loveliest sight is the Villa Santa
Domingo, a mid-16th century convent now being restored and housing
an excellent hotel. Some of the
property is incompletely renovated, giving it a sense of living among the
ruins. The church is ethereally
lovely at night, with white fabric drapings taking the place of a gothic ceiling
and a lit trellis in place of side archways. Elaborate while floral arrangements drape the site of the
altar. The lighting is indirect,
pointing up to the heavens in pure white beams. It is impossible not to visualize an evening wedding with a
bride all in lace.
As we wander the cobblestoned streets, we happen upon small museums, tiny churches, private homes seemingly untouched by time. Pepsi signs are few (even Burger King’s brass sign seems elegant), as this is a UNESCO site. This is the capital of a prouder, perhaps truer, Guatemala than that we saw earlier today.