Dear all

I am just heading back to USA from Guatemala City, Guatemala, a beautiful spanish speaking country in Central America.

We were at Antigua for a destination wedding in family. Antigua is an UNESCO world heritage town which is two hours west of Guatemala City. Antigua is nestled in Central American highlands off the Central American Volcanic Arc, a chain of volcanoes stretching from the northwest to the southeast along the Pacific coast of Central America.

Antigua has many quarters of criss-crossing cobblestoned streets, restored Spanish colonial buildings, ruins of churches, baroque-style architecture, tropical climate, vibrant colours and great vibes!

Antigua is dotted with colourful shops selling stuffs made locally at bargained price!

The quetzal is the currency of Guatemala, named after the national bird of Guatemala. Quetzal is a symbol of Guatemala appearing on the national flag and coat of arms. In ancient Mayan culture, the quetzal bird's tail feathers were used as currency. It is divided into 100 centavos, in Guatemalan slang!

We had a great experience staying five days in a heritage hotel marked by tropical flowers, heavy cast iron work, numerous cultural props, high ceiling wooden roofs, rustic faucets shaped like old well pumps, decorated fountainheads, gargoyle like ceramic water spouts, ornate chandeliers and lampshades.

An Indian style wedding was planned at Convento Santa Clara, ruins of 1700 church which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1772. It provided a perfect backdrop for a fairy tale wedding.

We explored the town mostly on foot. We visited Arco de Santa Catalina (Famous arch and insignia of Antigua), Iglesias de la Merced (restored catholic 1767 church with beautiful facade), Cerro de la Cruz (a high point for best view of the town).

Antigua is lined by a series of volcanoes. Some of them are active (Mount Fuego billowing plumes of smoke every 15-20 minutes, it’s a low level active stratovolcano, last eruptions were in 2022 and 2023 with 7 kilometres of pyroclastic flow across several ravines). Some of the volcanoes are dormant (Mount Acatenango, Mount Agua, Mount Atitlan).

Yesterday we hiked Mount Pacaya (8373 feet) which is 30 miles southwest of Guatemala City and close to Antigua. It is also one of the active volcano emitting clouds of smoke. Last major eruption was in 2010 with several layers of lava fields. Some of the rocks were feeling warm from the lava lake underneath. At one point there were burning coals probably due to an active channel.

Posting few pictures for your viewing. Sorry for a long write up! Kudos to JetBlu for seamless onboard complimentary WiFi service even in bad weather conditions.