Antigua has continued to grow since the last time we were here. There are a lot of great places to eat. After a long trip to get here, we needed to eat (and drink). Before we could go off wandering around town, we needed to get settled at the house we rented to be our home base for the next few weeks. We toured the property, met the gardener and the maid, and decided who would stay in which room. Let me just say, this place is fantastic. We knew it would be nice, but it’s even nicer than the VRBO listing made it look. This is going to be a great trip.
Charmaine and I picked a room on the main floor, near the back. It gets a nice breeze and always seems to be perfectly cool. The bed is quite a bit smaller than we’re used to, but it will be fine. We packed an extra suitcase that had nothing but our favorite pillows from home. I think that seems a little crazy, but we were flying first class and were able to check 3 bags free – each. So the nice cool room and our favorite pillows should make a great combination.
Pancakes with Fruit
I decided to test the bed out and quickly fell asleep for a power nap. After that it was lunch time, and you know what that means? Time to hit the town for some breakfast. We headed straight for the main square and found a great little place called Café Condesa. We each ordered a batido. I wet with mango. It was really good, but I wondered if I should have chosen papaya instead. Especially after tasting the amazing papaya they brought out as part of our meals. I really love papaya. Charmaine ordered a beautiful plate of pancakes with fruit. I got the Huevos Guatemaltecos. That was also a great choice. They came with refried black beans and some fried potatoes. It was great, but I really needed about 5 times as much to drink. The batido was delicious, but it was nothing compared to the amount of liquid I’m used to drinking each day. The dehydrated feeling was compounded by the long flights with no drink options. That really was a killer.
Scrambled Eggs, Refried Black Beans, and Fried Potatoes
On our way home we stopped by a tienda and picked up some food and other things we thought we needed like shampoo, lotion, toilet paper, etc. It was really hot inside the store and I was really feeling the dehydration. The salt from breakfast was sucking up what little water I had left inside me. I just wanted to get some drinks and get outside. I didn’t pay quite enough attention to what I was grabbing or to the other options that were available. I wound up with some of the worst drinks I have ever had the misfortune of drinking. In fact, some were so bad I couldn’t finish a single glass. I’m sure they’ll wind up going down the drain because nobody is going to drink that crap.
After that we took some real, multiple-hour-long, naps. We hadn’t really slept the night before, so it was good to get some real sleep.
We went back to the same store later that evening and I saw that I could have had freshly squeezed orange juice for almost the exact same price I paid for the terrible stuff. What a blunder. Mostly I just wanted water, though, and I got a bunch of it. I felt so much better after getting some water in me. It was amazing.
