GUATEMALA 2026: LAKE ATITLAN

 March 19-20, 2026

We had an hour to kill in Flores in the afternoon before going to the airport. We had lunch in non-remarkable restaurant located on a floating dock, then walked around a bit near the seafront. Flores primarily exists these days as a jumping off point for Mayan ruins like Tikal, and yet it has a population over 45,000, ten times the size of the town I grew up in. The neighborhood around the restaurant was charming, and we even saw what appeared to be a working pay phone, something I haven't seen in years.

The Mundo Maya International Airport, just outside the city center, is very small--one small cafe, one large seating area, and one shop. Still, it is Guatemala's second-busiest airport.

I tried to get Bob interested in the birds flying around inside the terminal, but he wasn't buying it.

It was our first time, and probably will be our only time, on TAG Airlines (TAG = Transportes Aéreos Guatemaltecos):

The flight was short and uneventful. We were met at the airport by a driver who took us to our hotel about 30 miles away in Antiqua. (We had been told NOT to stay in Guatemala City.) The traffic was horrid and the drive took almost two hours.

NORTHERN IRELAND, BELFAST CITY TOUR PART II

 July 11, 2024

We had one more day and one more city tour planned for Belfast. Bob had booked a street art tour, not realizing that a lot of the street art would be covered in the political "two sides" tour we had already gone on. Oh well, we didn't mind some overlap.

Unfortunately, on our way out of B&B, I stumbled on the door sill and went *SPLAT* onto that concrete block patch to the right of the door. As I was wearing a full backpack, I went down hard and awkwardly and had to call for Bob to help me get up.

Yeah, I'm a klutz.

Initially, I was more concerned about my elbow and hip, which seemed to take the most impact, but gradually, my ribs began to hurt, and while I did okay during the day, trying to lie down on a bed at night was excruciating, which made sleep difficult. A few days after I got home, and after the pain seemed to be increasing rather than decreasing, I finally went in for an x-ray and learned I had broken three ribs. As if that wasn't bad enough, I got Covid five days after visiting urgent care, and I'm pretty sure that's where I got it.

But I digress.

We met a new guide for the second tour near a small shopping mall that included a store with this window display:

I was, of course, looking for medicinal relief for my aching body. These helped.

Outside the mall is this bronze statue by Louise Walsh entitled Monument to the Unknown Woman Worker. The women are carrying symbols of what is traditionally women's work--a colander, a typewriter, a phone, a shopping basket, etc.

COLOMBIA: BOGOTA PART II (SHOPPING, PLAZA DE BOLIVAR, CITY STREETS, AND A SERENDIPITOUS MEET-UP)

 March 17, 2023

From the Botero Museum, we walked to an area where souvenir items are for sale on tables lining the street. This is the "Old Town," known in Bogotá as the Candelaria District, and it includes the foundation buildings of the city. Candelaria is Spanish for "Candlemas," a Christian holiday that commemorates the presentation of the baby Jesus at the temple.

On our way there, we passed this awesome three-wheeler that was selling, among other things, arroz con leche, or rice pudding.

The Nobel prize-winning novelist Gabriel García Márquez (1927-2014) is extremely popular in his home country of Colombia, as well he should be. There are many sites named for him, such as the cultural center in Bogotá that we walked by.

We also saw many artworks depicting "Gabo," as he is affectionately known in Colombia. He looks like someone I would want to know, at least in this painting!

There was a lot of art for sale, often copies of well-known works, such as Botero's Mona Lisa in the bottom right corner.

COLOMBIA: CARTAGENA, PART I

 March 15, 2023

Bob had arranged in advance for a private city tour in Cartagena, and after we dropped off our luggage at our hotel, we were joined by what turned out to be our best guide of the trip, a young woman named Carolina. She was excellent in perceiving our likes and dislikes and adjusting the tour accordingly.

Cartagena, founded by Spain in 1533 and located on the Caribbean coast of northern Colombia, is a city of almost a million people. It is a major port (one of the largest in South America) and historically part of world exploration and trade. 

Our hotel was kitty-corner from the Castle San Felipe de Barajas, a fortress built in 1536 by African slave labor under Spanish rule. It is an imposing presence and defended the city from attacks many times in the past. Along with the historic city center, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. These days it is used for social and cultural events. 

Our first destination was the Convent of Santa Cruz de la Popa, a convent built by the Spaniards atop Mount la Popa, the highest hill in Cartagena (about 500 feet high). From that spot we pretty much had a 360° view of the city. 

We could see the downtown/business district skyscrapers, which are almost all white. The contrast to the poverty-stricken areas full of cardboard shacks on our way up the mountain was pretty stark.