Moving Around

What have you guys been up to?

We've been on the move a fair bit...took the overnight bus from Flores to Guatemala City, spent a day in "Guate" then hired a car to take us to Antigua Guatemala, where we will be based for the next 4 weeks.

What exactly did I get myself into???

So, let's start with the overnight bus trip to Guatemala City. Actually, let's start earlier that day. We decided to have a lazy morning and catch a bus to Tikal so we could finally look around at this wonderous ruin city that neither one of us was really that interested in seeing. Aparently we were too lazy, because by the time we got moving...NO MORE BUSES TO TIKAL. Um...oops?

SO, now we have to be out of our hotel at 1pm, and the bus leaves at 10pm...what to do, what to do. Mojtios anyone? Thankfully the kind people at the Hospedaje Dona Goya 2 were kind enough to store our monstrous packs so we didn't have to cart the behemoths around with us. A little dockside tanning (my first burn of the trip, but I digress) some swimming, get cleaned up...now we only have 8 hours or so to kill! We drank and ate ourselves around the little island town and ended up at this rinky little place that I can't even remember what it was called. We probably should have known to leave when they said they were out of limonade...and 80% of their menu items. Not our best decision to stay, but you live, you learn, and you try not to get sick after!

We FINALLY killed enough time to get to the bus. I'm not going to lie, their was a little trepidation on Penny's part (ok...my part), but the bus ended up being as nice as I have heard. Way to go ADN!

Not our exact bus, but close

Aside from having the middle TV removed and a bathroom that's lock mechanism was all taped over (you had to hold the door shut, and the light went out about 4 seconds after you got in...holy baby jesus it's dark in those things!) the appointments were quite spectacular! Wide leather seats, plenty of legroom, seats that reclined way farther back than normal and footrests that came out like a laz-e-boy. It was easily more comfortable than 2 (maybe 3) of the hotel rooms we have stayed in so far.

Luxury Ride!

We did, however, arrive in one seriously sketchy area of town called Zona 1, or the old city central. We had originally planned on staying in a place down there, but I changed the reservation to a place in the more modern and affluent Zona Viva, or Zone 10. Thank god. 

This is what we ended up getting as a hotel room. Sweet beds, lots of space, nice bathroom, and exercise room (Penny used it, I didn't!) and our first flat panel TV.

Pretty sweet view too! We couldn't check in until 3pm, which caused a little bit of trouble, because when we arrived at the hotel it was 6:45 in the morning. Yep...another day of finding stuff to do. Again, thankfully the fine people of the Mercure Hotel Guatemala were also kind enough to allow us to store our packs. So, off to explore we go! (and maybe find some food...)

We leeched the hotel wi-fi (there is wi-fi EVERYWHERE in Central America!) and located a couple of possibilities for desayuno (breakfast). Of course...as it happens, we found an even better place to eat on our travels...

We wasted as much time as we could over breakfast, went back to the hotel for more wi-fi, then decided it was time to get back to civilization...

Civilization!!

Hello, normalcy! Oh how I missed you, North American convenience! After 27 hours on the go, with nothing but a couple hours "sleep" on a bus, a little retail therapy sounds like heaven.

There was also this:

 The V.I.P. cinema experience. You can keep your DTS, your Dolby, Your D-Box and AVX. I am all about the VIP. Man, you should see this theater...I may just have to come here to see every movie! A Lounge, restaurant, private snack kiosk, waitered service to your LEATHER loveseats...

I thought I was hallucinating from lack of sleep...

The waiting lounge, with your own restaurant and kiosk

Did I mention there was a bar?

yes, that's right...sushi baby!

Now THIS is movie seating!

Getting comfy!

Had to pull out the stops to finally get Penny to agree to see a Star Wars movie!

In case anyone was wondering...Star Wars Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace, is still as bad as it was when it came out...oh George, what were you thinking??? I am not sure what was worse, the dialogue, Natalie Portman's acting, Samuel L. Jackson's acting, or The Droid army, or Jar Jar Binks.

Thankfully, Penny has no frame of reference, so she didn't know how badly it marred the originals, although about 2 minutes after he was introduced she did lean over to me and say "I hate this Jar Jar..." - Good Girl! :)

The next morning we did actually watch Episode 4 (The original Star Wars...) so she could get a grasp on the original. I've downloaded the rest, so if she is willing she'll be able to experiance the whole thing. I'm sure she's giddy with anticipation!

After the lovely movie experience we finally got to check into our room. It was quite nice, and by that time I was ready to keel over with exhaustion. So much for going out on a Saturday night in the big city...I think we were asleep by 9! (I'll get to enjoy some nightlife sometime!!!)

Next day off to Antigua...but that is a story for another blog!

Keep it real peoples...we love you all.