Happy Christmas Eve!
We are nestled into the town of Antigua, where we are surrounded by many volcanoes. This is a colonial town mostly built in the 1500's but most of which was destroyed in a huge earthquake in 1718. There are many churches in the town with a lot of history, some are still active since the 1500's.
All of the streets are cobblestone, uneven, and small sidewalks to negotiate. It is a very internatinal place today, in part because of being a huge tourist location, but also the residents here come from all over the world. It is a lot colder than we were prepared for, with a low of 55 and high of 78. I have been layered up in everything I have!
Yesterday I hiked the Pacaya Volcano. It is an active volcano with the most recent erruption in 2010. That year, the lava went 2 km high and 4 km wide, and the path is still paved. One person died, and many houses were destroyed. Now, the coffee plants are beginning to grow again, but I guess it took 2 years before anything would grow. My guide led us as high up as we could go, we could not go to the very top because of the fumes and heat at this time, it just started spewing smoke again. But, these pockets are all over the area and are so hot you can roast marshmallows (which we did) or start a fire with sticks (we did that too). It was nice to watch the sun set from the so high up - 2300 meters. The top of the volcan reaches 2500 meters.
We have enjoyed some good Guatemalan coffee here, and walking around has been quite nice. Today we will walk up to the lookout point on the north side of town, and also go to a Christmas Eve service tonight. Here, Christmas Eve is the biggest day for services and festivities, and then Christmas Day is very quiet.
Missing you all this Christmas!
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