The Kite Festival!!!!!

We walk to the festival via the deserted dirt road that is no longer deserted.  It is teeming with booths of food and cars and noise.  People told us to arrive between 6 and 8 am, but there was no way we were going there in the dark when the first kites aren't to fly at noon.

We get there a little after 8

There are already people here and a few kites are standing.  We walk around in an atmosphere charged with excitement as more and more people pour in and more and more kites are finished and stood up and lashed to bamboo poles.

They are all amazing and still on the ground

There is one team of all women....dressed in the traditional clothes of their region.

We are learning as we go......children are flying kites starting at noon....then at 2 they start with the smaller of the large kites.  ( maybe 12 to 20 ft in diameter) The MC describes each kite and all the symbolism of each kite as it prepares to fly. ( I don't understand any of it. )

 The children are still flying kites, people are everywhere, and teams of people are running with these huge kites, the crowds barely part as the ropes run by their feet or are just over their heads. Some kites soar and some crash into the crowds.  One missed us by 20 ft, but it felt scary because as it comes down you don't know if it will crash on you or not.

If the kite stays up, then another goes up, and then another.  Aparently this was a record as 7 were up at the same time.  We've been here for 9 hours and the sun is getting low and none of the really big ones have flown.....Will they fly them tomorrow or in the dark?....and we don't know how they could possibly get off the ground anyway.  Well, a woman finally explains to us that the really giant ones don't fly.  They are there to look at only.

We have a pork dinner.

Fuego is smoking in the distance and the sun is setting as we end this incredible day!!!

WOW!!!!!

Goodbye Antigua and hello Sampango

We still have the morning here in Antigua, so one more church/ convent.  It amazes me that so many buildings that partially collapsed in the 1773 earthquake are still in as good shape as they are.

The volcanos in the distance are Fuego on the left (the one that just erupted in June) and the twin peaks of Acatenangp from up on top of the church walls.

And off to Sampango

We thought we had a long walk from the hotel in to town, but the people here showed us a shortcut behind the hotel and along a deserted dirt road.  The town is on hills, with steep, narrow streets.  This is the Main Street just up from the market.

The town is gearing up for the Day of the Dead and stands are popping up all along the streets.  

Lots of flower stands because people buy huge armfuls and take them to the cemetery.

Up at the cemetery people are repaining their family vaults, cleaning up around their plots, and placing their flowers.

We can feel the festive energy here as everyone gears up for the kite festival tomorrow.  I am not sure what significance the kites have in relation to the Day of the Dead, but I am so excited for tomorrow to arrive.

Lazy day in Antigua

No agenda today....had breakfast in the garden

Packed a bag to leave at the hotel we will return to after the kite festival. Hung out in the central plaza and ate ice cream.  Through the trees in the plaza you can see the Palacio de los Capitanes Generales which was the headquarters for all of Central America until the capital was relocated in 1776. Now it is a cultural center.

(Notice where the water is coming out of the women on the fountain)

Tomorrow we travel to Sampango.  The kite festival is November 1st and 2nd.  We will return to Antigua on the 3rd.  I can't wait to see the kites!!!!!

Walking, walking, and more walking

This is a beautiful city to walk in.....cobble stone streets, houses and businesses of all colors, wonderful, friendly people, and ruins of churches destroyed by earthquakes with the backdrop of volcanos rising in the distance

We started our day at the artesian market next to the public market...

And where the chicken buses start and end their routes.  These are old school buses from the United States that are driven down here and transformed inside and out to carry people from place to place.  There are now 22,000 of them in the country and are one of the cheapest ways to get around.

We walk toward the Central Park and come across a church that is beginning to be restored to some level.  I think it is the Iglesias y convento de San Agustin. 

The workers said it was OK to go inside and look around. Their are men inside attacking the vegetation with workshops set up inside for the work ahead.

They have safety ropes, but they are even up on top of the highest arches. This guy can be seen as a speck on the farthest arch just above a crack in the arch.

This massive slab fell and is leaning on the outside wall and they have already stabilized it from below with brick work. You can see it in the picture above the back of the SUV

Antigua is anchored on the south by the Pacaya Volcano and the north by the Cerro de la Cruz.  We wanted to walk up to the cross to see the city from above.  

Two more volcanoes to the west of the city

It is quite a walk through town to get there and then there are over 300 steps up to the cross.

View from the Cerro de la Cruz

After resting and enjoying the view we walked back down and stopped at the Iglesias de la Candelaria

Temple de Santa Rosa de Lima

Then the ruins of Iglesias El Carmen

Lastly, we came across this lovely church around the corner from where we live....but it is not a church, it has been converted to an hospital.

It is the middle of the afternoon already and we've walked and walked through this old, beautiful city. It is time to get our bathing suits and go for a swim before dinner, which of couse means more walking.