Street signs
by Pieter11
Just randomly walking around is the best way to explore Antigua. Don't go chasing the monuments you see in the travelguides (you will see them anyway) but just walk around and enjoy the every day life of the city. Even though the city is one of the important tourist-spots in Guatemala, you can still see enough unspoiled places.
One of the many nice details in the city are the many beautiful street signs you see on every wall near a crossing of cobble stoned streets. The STOP signs (ALTO in Spanish) and all the street names are written on china-tiles who all perfectly correspond with the theme-park looks the city has.
Women's shoes!
by LADH
If you're planning a trip to Antigua, it's advisable to know about the cobbles - you may think you've seen cobblestones before, but believe me, these are huge. I have no idea how any motor vehicle survives more than a day driving around on them. As a result, high heels, strappy sandals and any shoes that aren't well-anchored to your feet may cause you to come a cropper. It's astonishing how not everyone is hobbling around on crutches. So, if you're wondering what to pack, it's best to leave the high heels at home. Everything - it's a wonderful place.
There's many ruins to look at...
by la_beba
There's many ruins to look at in Antigua Guatemala, it's absolutely fantastic to see the contrast of colors and the rustic of 'em next to newly sprout bouganvilia flowers.... very common in Guatemala! I just loooooove taking pictures in Guatemala, especially Antigua!!
Some of the ruins you can visit include Santa Clara, Capuchinas, La Merced, Santo Domingo, San Francisco, El Carmen and El Calvario.
The signs of Antigua
by easterntrekker
We often see signs on hotel and restuarants all over the world instructing us to leave our pets outside or to make sure we wear shirts inside but in Antigua there are signs at some hotels telling us NO GUNS ALLOWED!
Visit Valhalla!
by JessieLang
The Valhalla Macadamia Nut Plantation is an organic farm. The nuts fall to the ground when ripe, and they are harvested by hand. They have an outer husk as well as a hard shell. These guys built a husking machine that can process 1 ton per hour, and an old tire is one of the main parts. The nuts are dried and then go to a gravity-fed sizing machine. They send them out to Ciudad Vieja to be cracked because it uses too much electricity. The outer shells get composted, and they are experimenting with making activated charcoal from the inner shells and using it to make water filters for poor people. This business isn’t selling nuts. They are manufacturing high-end cosmetics from the nut oil.
Valhalla gives baby trees away to indigenous farmers, 100 trees per family because that is how many one family can care for A tree matures in 8 years, but it will produce some nuts before that. One tree produces 150 lb. of nuts per year, but ¾ of the weight is shells. They could eventually get $1000 per year in income from them. In addition to the economic benefit, the trees will help fix the soil. Valhalla has distributed 350,000 nut trees around Guatemala. He drives out to a village with a truck full of trees and convinces the villagers to take them.
Touring the facility is free. They will even give you a free facial using their products.
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Soupa de papa
Chapel in the convent, San Juan del Obispo
Shopping in the market, Antigua
Iglesia de San Agustin at night
