Antigua | From Behind The Lens..
- Rob Molyneux
- Oct 4, 2018
- 3 min read
¡Bienvenido a Antigua!
We arrived in Antigua being very optimistic of what we may find here, after hearing nothing but good things about this city.. What we didn't expect though, was to fall head over heals in love with this incomparably imperfect gem!
A city with cobbled streets that are unevenly perfect, with walls that crumble in all the right places, and their paint-pealed wear and tear radiate a charm that even the most talented of architects could not create.. For us and for any other photography lovers, this is just heaven on earth!
Wander these charming streets, camera in hand and you will no doubt find that perfect photo around every corner. Sit and people watch with the locals in the main plaza and gaze at the towering volcano that overlooks the city, try your best to get 'that photo' of the clock tower (without too many people in it, of course!), shop with the locals in the maze like market and try your luck with learning the lingo at one of the many Spanish schools around the city!
We were lucky enough to spend quite a lot time calling this our home, while we attended the Antiguena Spanish Academy. We cannot recommend this enough by the way, it is definitely worth spending some time learning the language if you are planning a big trip through the Americas and you will not be able to find a better place to do it (ps, say hello to my tutor, Sheny Flores from me if you do go!). During our time here we mixed it with the locals in the markets, cooking our own food, joined the daily morning queue for the fresh bread at the bakery and then jumped from coffee shop to coffee shop, tasting the best of the Guatemalan coffee. This was our life for quite a while, and as boring as this may sound, it was so nice to have a little bit of routine to our days after, some non-stop travelling and we couldn't have picked a better place to call our home!
Not only is Antigua unquestionably beautiful, it is also home to some great hikes with outstanding views, hike to the top of Cerro de la Cruz, for a great view over the city, get your hobbit on and visit the quaint hobbit village of Hobbitenango, an almost replica of Hobbiton in New Zealand which is very impressive! Visit the nearby volcano of Pacaya on a day trip or test yourself on hiking one more challenging like Volcan Acatenango! Surrounded by volcanoes this part of the world is so enchanting and yet so dangerous. The ever present danger of eruptions is always on the locals minds and we had lots of conversations that all came to the same conclusion of, its a matter of 'when' rather than 'if', the next major eruption would terrorise the surrounding cities. As terrifying as this is, it seemed to us to be unthinkable that something so majestic as these towering giants, can be so destructive and that this surely could not really happen anytime soon, right?
After some deliberation with Sheny (my Spanish tutor), we decided to climb one of these volcanoes.. A two day hike meant that we needed to camp at the top of Volcan Acatenango before summiting early in the morning, this sounds impressive in itself but what we wasn't prepared for was what we witnessed at the top! ..and I am going to keep you waiting there! I will be posting a blog about our Volcan Acatenango hike soon so keep your eyes out for it, but lets just say that this is possibly the best thing that I have ever done!
This truly is an unmissable stop for anyone who is travelling through Central America and after around two years worth of travelling all over the world, this is still one of my favourite cities!
Before you visit for yourself, here is a look from behind the lens..
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