I have been wanting to write about my 12 day trip through Guatemala for a while, because despite having been my first Nouvelles Frontières circuit experience, it is the one I remember the most, maybe because it combined the visits to the various archeological sites and cultural aspects of the country in a rather interspersed way, allowing us to "digest" the whole different reality, without having to "rush" from place to place in order to "cover" everything that might interest a first time visitor to the country.
We reached Guatemala city by late evening on the 25th of March 2008 having stopped over at Barajas airport in Madrid flown in from Paris. The first day in the country was therefore quietly spent at the hotel Holiday Inn, of which I only seem to remember the bedroom.
The following morning was spent at the Guatemala city National Museum of Archeology and Ethnology, which houses a vast collection of Maya artifacts from the Pre to the Post-Classic periods, in what was a "light" immersion in the Mayan world.
Among the valuable artifacts we saw the well known Tikal jade, pyrite and shell mask dating back to the Ancient classic period (527 A.C), as well as several Péten stelas also dating back to 300-900 A.C., not to mention the exquisite and rare Maya codex.
We soon walked to the historiccentre of the city, Plaza de la Constitucion, also referred to as Plaza Mayor, Plaza de Armas or simply Parque Central. Having been inaugurated in 1776 it perfectly illustrates the urban layout of the former Spanish colonies.
On one side the Museo Palacio Nacional de la Cultura, the most important building in Guatemala and identified as the Guatemala city's symbol in its monumental architectural complex (built between 1939 and 1943) ...
On the other the Metropolitan Cathedral, officially known as Catedral Primada Metropolitana de Santiago, whose main body was built between 1782 and 1815, having incorporated baroque and classical architectural elements.
We had the first typical meal sellected randomly from the look of it, as the circuit didn't include all the meals, but inspite of that first choice being fairly spicy it was also very tasty. We came across the first street vendors, but knowing ahead that the next stop would be Chichicastenango, known for its traditional K'iche Maya handicraft I decided not to buy anything.
We reached our Hotel in Chichicastenango (Santo Tomas) in the evening, after having made a few stops on the way, and what a surprise it was, once it combined the authentic colonial style and comfort, having a huge collection of colonial Art (most of which religious) displayed on the walls of its two storey high hotel bedrooms around a patio with quite a few tropical birds flying about.
After dinner we still had time to walk to the street marke,t a mere few metres away from the hote,l just to get a first impression on what the following day was holding for us - (part of the morning to visit it) and from the look of it I knew I would find it difficult to get to sleep, excited as I was .;.
We reached Guatemala city by late evening on the 25th of March 2008 having stopped over at Barajas airport in Madrid flown in from Paris. The first day in the country was therefore quietly spent at the hotel Holiday Inn, of which I only seem to remember the bedroom.
The following morning was spent at the Guatemala city National Museum of Archeology and Ethnology, which houses a vast collection of Maya artifacts from the Pre to the Post-Classic periods, in what was a "light" immersion in the Mayan world.
Among the valuable artifacts we saw the well known Tikal jade, pyrite and shell mask dating back to the Ancient classic period (527 A.C), as well as several Péten stelas also dating back to 300-900 A.C., not to mention the exquisite and rare Maya codex.
We soon walked to the historiccentre of the city, Plaza de la Constitucion, also referred to as Plaza Mayor, Plaza de Armas or simply Parque Central. Having been inaugurated in 1776 it perfectly illustrates the urban layout of the former Spanish colonies.
On one side the Museo Palacio Nacional de la Cultura, the most important building in Guatemala and identified as the Guatemala city's symbol in its monumental architectural complex (built between 1939 and 1943) ...
On the other the Metropolitan Cathedral, officially known as Catedral Primada Metropolitana de Santiago, whose main body was built between 1782 and 1815, having incorporated baroque and classical architectural elements.
We had the first typical meal sellected randomly from the look of it, as the circuit didn't include all the meals, but inspite of that first choice being fairly spicy it was also very tasty. We came across the first street vendors, but knowing ahead that the next stop would be Chichicastenango, known for its traditional K'iche Maya handicraft I decided not to buy anything.
We reached our Hotel in Chichicastenango (Santo Tomas) in the evening, after having made a few stops on the way, and what a surprise it was, once it combined the authentic colonial style and comfort, having a huge collection of colonial Art (most of which religious) displayed on the walls of its two storey high hotel bedrooms around a patio with quite a few tropical birds flying about.
After dinner we still had time to walk to the street marke,t a mere few metres away from the hote,l just to get a first impression on what the following day was holding for us - (part of the morning to visit it) and from the look of it I knew I would find it difficult to get to sleep, excited as I was .;.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete