First stop: Antigua

As soon as we landed in Guatemala we welcomed the sensation of exercising our traveling legs and spanish skills once again. Our first stop was Antigua - a gorgeous colonial city that seamlessly combines beautifully colored houses and flower-filled balconies with cathedral ruins that allude to what the city must have been like hundreds of years ago. Our first order of business was lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Rainbow Cafe, immediately followed by a visit to Yogen Fruiz, which offers a perfect combination of frozen yogurt and fruit. I think we had a cone in our hands at least once a day trying to get our fill for the next few years.

Our first few relatively calm days were a sharp contrast to the time we spent in Antigua during semana santa (holy week), just a week and a half later. In many Central American cities, the entire week before Easter is filled with festivals, parades, floats, and beautifully created alfombras (decorative carpets made of flower petals and colored wood chips). Antigua is at the heart of it all which made for some great parades, people watching and exploring, but a small dose of the crowded streets was about all we could take before moving on.

From Antigua, we were able to hike nearby Pacaya, an active volcano that still has smoke rising from its summit and some sauna-like caves a little further down. Unfortunately it's not currently as active as it was three years ago, so we'll have to save seeing hot lava for another time.