Sunday, April 12, 2009

Walking Around Antigua

Antigua is a fabulous walking city. Admitedly the cobblestones make it a challenge, but it's such a beautiful city, there is so much to see, so much history. It's a small city but I could spend days just walking without ever getting bored.

Procesión de Resurrección








It's always been interesting to me that Viernes Santo (Good Friday) is the important day in Latin America (maybe in Catholicism?). El dia de Resurrección (Easter Sunday) isn't given much attention, whereas in my protestant youth, Easter Sunday was the thing. We didn't even get Good Friday off fro school, unless we happened to be Catholic, in which case we were allowed to take off in the afternoon for mass! On Easter Sunday in Antigua, there is one final procession. It's a very low-key affair compared to all of the earlier ones, with the participants not even wearing robes. Notice the creature (lizard?) at the bottom of the alfombra. This was in front of Doña Luisa's panaderia (bakery), and included breads made in the shape of various animals! Saira and I enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere in Antigua that day and after the procession enjoyed a two-hour lunch and conversation at one of our favorite cafes, La Opera.