After two flights and an hour plus drive from the airport, Nancy Mark who is the anesthesia director for H.U.G.S, and I arrived at our hotel. This is not the place where the whole medical group stays in Antigua. But I had been told it was quite a beautiful place to stay. Even though it was only 9 pm in Guatemala (they are on central standard time) it was 11pm in New York. Time for bed. ..
This morning Nancy and I met for breakfast. There was a buffet with lots of what I would consider Mexican food that I think is yummy and then eggs, fruit, yogurt, cereal…the usual buffet stuff. I happily had Mexican! I can eat the rest anytime.
We decided to go for a walk to wander the city and do some shopping. It’s a familiar place since this is my third time here. I knew some things I needed to buy (coffee beans which are excellent and a few little embroidered dresses for Leatrice who is my niece Amy’s daughter) and then we just wandered for a while.
Nancy who comes from California was tired so we split up and she went back to the hotel. We had planned for afternoon massages at the spa. It turned out to be a great idea after a long travel day.
We relaxed in the outdoor spa area until it began to rain. It has rained here daily for more than a month. The hotel is an old monastery which has many areas of beautiful stonework, statues and archeological artifacts. There is a museum on site which I will visit perhaps tomorrow.
We met Leslie, a British woman, who Nancy knows from having her as a Spanish tutor for dinner. But Leslie is also an MD Phd neonatologist who moved here 20 years ago after she fell in love with the country. Her medical practice is in the past. She helps families and children who are orphaned or disadvantaged. She speaks Spanish and several Mayan dialects. She works for free. She is a larger than life woman in every aspect and fun dinner company. We ate at a local restaurant, Las Palmas. Excellent food with a pretty mural on the wall.
Walking back to the hotel reminds me that this town is gorgeous at night. It’s nice to be back here
The Adventures of Anne 