Guatemala City

Wednesday July 8

On July 8, we flew from ATL to DFW, then after about a 2.5 hour layover, we flew the rest of the way to Guatemala City. We had a slight delay getting off the ground in DFW, so we were about an hour late getting to Guatemala City. That being said, our friends that live there were still at the Airport waiting for us. We didn’t have to wait for Baggage Claim, and there was literally nothing to Immigration, so we were able to get out pretty quickly. We met our friends on the other side of ‘the doors’, and they quickly got their car and we were on our way. It was a short 10-minute drive to their apartment in Zona 14.

As normal when travelling, we were a bit peckish on arrival, so our friend took us to a local outdoor restaurant, just half a block from his place. It was getting on 9 PM, so a quick taco snack was on order. We went to Montano’s in Decima Plaza for a couple of drinks and tacos. Unfortunately, none of us could translate ‘chicharonne’, which in this case happened to be beef (since it was obviously a steak restaurant), and we can’t eat beef, so our friend got the short end of the stick. But we did get a few tacos, and as I remember, a few glasses of wine, which was more than enough to put me to bed.

Thursday July 9

The next morning, our friend had a few work calls, and we kind of did our own thing. He had a 30 minute break around 9 AM, so we walked a few blocks and got take-away coffee at La Central, which happens to be one of the 100 best Coffee Shops in Central America (there’s a list somewhere).

Top 100 Coffee Shops | iPhone 16 Pro | 2.7 mm Back Camera | f/1.8 | 1/230th | ISO64

We took a leisurely morning, ran a couple of shopping errands, and got ourselves together. We had planned on watching the Quarterfinal that afternoon, so we decided to visit the Nacional Museum Mayan Art Archeology in Guatemala City. The Museum itself wasn’t that large, and we were really there only for about an hour. Lots of really striking scuptures anywhere from 400-800 years old.

Museum Entrance | Sony A7R IV | Sony 24-70 mm f/2.8 | f/7.1 | 1/500th | ISO 200

The Original Dob | Sony A7R IV | Sony 24-70 mm f/2.8 | 27 mm | f/3.5 | 1/30th | ISO 250

Engraved Alter | Sony A7R IV | Sony 24-70 mm f/2.8 | 40 mm | f/3.5 | 1/20th | ISO 500

After the museum, we walked over to the FIFA Fan Fest, which was basically in a 3-story mall, a few blocks away to watch the France v Morocco Quarterfinal. We were still on our Mexican diet – more tacos, so we sat at a taqueria and had lunch and a few beers during the match. France won the match relatively easily.

We had dinner at a friend of a friend house later that evening, so we left the ‘pub / Fan Fest’ and went for a walk to take a break. There is a a series of Plazas dedicated to countries across the Americas, notably missing the United States of America.

Plaza de La Cañada | Sony A7R IV | Sony 24-70 mm f/2.8 | 56 mm | f/5.6 | 1/800th | ISO 250

Plaza de Nicaraugua | Sony A7R IV | Sony 24-70 mm f/2.8 | 63 mm | f/5.6 | 1/320th | ISO 250

Plaza Uruguay | Sony A7R IV | Sony 24-70 mm f/2.8 | 70 mm | f/5.6 | 1/200th | ISO 250

The Avenida finally concluded at Plaza de Berlin, which featured a bear statue, and a couple of actual slabs of the Berlin Wall, after it was taken down in 1989. I believe the bear statue was painted as it was in order to ‘blend in’ with the background of the hills, the clouds, and the sky. Who’s to say though..

Plaza de Berlin Buddy Bear | Sony A7R IV | Sony 24-70 mm f/2.8 | 49 mm | f/2.8 | 1/1250th | ISO 250

Remnants of the Berlin Wall | iPhone 16 Pro | 2.7 mm Back Camera | 6.8mm | f/2.8 | 1/1250th | ISO100

We finished the walk!!! (It was really only about 45 minutes, so not terrible).

Successful walk| iPhone 16 Pro | 2.7 mm Back Camera | 23mm | f/1.8 | 1/250th | ISO40

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For the remainder of the evening, we were very graciously invited to join a ‘friend of a friend’ at her house for dinner. She was the Counsel General for Australia, so we all had a connection to ‘back home’, although she was very clear that she had only visited Australia ‘a couple of times’. It was a lovely dinner of prawn ceviche, white wine, and great conversation.

Ceviche and a chat | iPhone 16 Pro | 2.7 mm Back Camera | 23mm | f/1.8 | 1/250th | ISO40

Full Guatemala City Photo Album

Antigua

Friday July 10

Friday morning, we made a quick run to &Ampersand Coffee and back to collect our bags and get in our car. Since we weren’t going to require a car for the rest of our time in Guatemala, we had a friend drive us to Antigua directly, and collect us and drive us to the next spot after a few days. The drive was easy, around 90 minutes, and we were in Antigua by midday. ‘Officially’, we couldn’t check into our AirBnB until 3 PM, but they did offer a locked cabinet for our bags. Our friend that we were travelling with had already been to Antigua a few times, so we let him guide and we went along.

We started at a French café called Tartine, and settled at a table on the rooftop, which left us open to seeing old remains of the old Cathedral, as well as a view over the rooftops of the town. We were only a block away from the main town square. We had a lovely lunch, and bottle of Italian white wine, before heading to the only World Cup Match of the day. These three flags were flying on the building on the corner, overlooking the central Park.

Flags of the Department and the Country | Sony A7R IV | 70-200mm F2.8 GM II | 200 mm | f/2.8 | 1/2500th | ISO 250

After an early lunch, we went to Bullseye Sports Pub, inside The Barrio, to watch the Spain v Belgium match. We got in early enough that we got a good table, ironically, sharing a table with another travel from Romania, who really didn’t like Spain National Team. In the end, Spain beat Belgium pretty handily at 2-1, with Spain having around 70% of possession vs. Belgium’s 30%. Game over,onto the next round. 

Time for the next phase of the day. My partner was a bit tired and wanted to have a nap, and our other friend, who he was with, was waiting for his partner to drive in from Guatemala City. Both of them headed back to the AirBnB.

I, on the other hand, desperately needed a haircut and went for a walk around Antigua, while trying to get some photos around the town. I walked past the Cathedral de San Jose and the Royal Palace of the Captain General, and into the neighborhoods just to the south of the town.

Flags of the Department and the Country | Sony A7R IV | 70-200mm F2.8 GM II | 200 mm | f/2.8 | 1/2500th | ISO 250

After about an hour of walking, I tried to hit three separate barber shops. One was full (it was 4:30 on a Friday evening), one was not even open, and the third one had barbers that appeared to be around 60 or 70 years old. I didn’t think I could get a good, stylish haircut at that location. 

I finally getting hungry so I stopped at a restaurant called Ta’ Cool and had a bowl of chips and salsa and a beer. Right as I was leaving, my friend said his partner arrived but also we’re going to take a nap and so he suggested he and I go out together and go for a drink. we ended up at Camino el Royale which is a nice Rooftop Bar on the west side of the city and very shortly after we arrived my partner finally got up from her nap and joined us as well. We walked just a couple of blocks to 27 Adentro, which was a relatively traditional Guatemalan style restaurant. Our friends partly finally got up from his nap and join us to dinner as well and we spent the rest of the evening at the restaurant enjoying company and a good chat.

We went back to the Airbnb relatively early that night. We all got a good sleep and wanted to make the most of the next day. Our friend and his partner were splitting up for a few weeks so they asked that they have some alone time during the following day so they could catch up before being apart. 

Lake Atitlan

Tikal

Flores