Caoba Farms,Cerro San Cristobal and More

 

 

After our friends left, we had coffee with some friends we knew from last year and met a few other old acquaintances in the park.  We had pizza at San Martin for dinner and called it a night.

Saturday morning we made our way over to Caoba Farms.  We bought lots of great produce.  It’s all organic, but I’m not always sure what I’m buying.  I thought I was buying onions and it turned out to be fennel.  Oops!

There are many vendors selling everything from paintings to lotions.  I ended up buying some green slime that’s supposed to keep the frizz at bay.  We will see.

We walked around the farm and looked at all the plants.  Neither of us was hungry for breakfast but really only came for the produce.

There were beautiful flowers everywhere.  I wish I knew all their names.

On our way back to our apartment, Caoba Farms offered a van service to take us part of the way.  That was great because we were lugging the veggies and a few other odds and ends.  We’ve been averaging about five or six miles a day walking, so when offered a ride, we took it.

We bought some tomatoes that were very different looking.  Someone said they were delicious, and I am game to try most anything.

I told Clara I would come and see her at the weaver’s market, so we walked up there after we dropped off the produce.  I met her adorable grandson.

Clara has very beautiful table runners and scarves that she sells.  Many of the items are made on the backstrap loom.

Bruce and I walked back to the Parque Central and a band was playing music.  On Saturdays, Antigua is very busy and alive with activity.

We stopped to have a bite to eat at Cafe Barista where I finally found a bag of decaf coffee.  I don’t usually drink decaf, but it was interesting to find it here.  We also stopped at the chocolate store for ice cream.

We made our way back home for a swim in the pool and a few minutes in the hot tub.  This has been a wonderful place to stay with it beautiful gardens and pool.

For dinner I made a large omelet using all the fresh produce from Caoba Farms.  It was delicious.

On Sunday we were meeting Adriana to go to lunch at Cerro San Cristobal. We walked down the avenue and took in the sights.

We took a bus up to the top of a mountain overlooking Antigua.  It was quite a ride up, one where our palms got a little sweaty.  Hairpin turns on single lane roads with no guardrails.  The driver beeped his horn to let anyone know we were coming.

It was worth the ride up.  The view was breathtaking.

We had a marvelous lunch overlooking the volcanoes.  I had shrimp quesadilla, Adriana had a salad and Bruce had nachos.

We stayed there quite awhile just enjoying the lovely day and our friendship.

We could see Fuego puffing away from up here.

We went through a greenhouse where they were growing some lovely orchids.

What a wonderful place to spend the afternoon.  Delicious food, spectacular views and warm friendships.

On Monday we went to Casa Jackson to sign up for volunteer work.  We ended up volunteering a few hours with the malnourished children.  Bruce had a good time playing with his new pal, Clyde.  That’s not his real name.

The school Nuestros Ahijados is the major part of the compound and Casa Jackson Hospital for Malnourished Children is part of that.  I have volunteered here before and it’s a wonderful program.  The campus is beautiful and it’s a great place for the children to attend school and for babies to recover from malnutrition.

We met with Juana in the park and checked out some neat things she was selling.

For dinner we ate pizza at San Martin again.

On Valentine’s Day we started our Spanish lessons.  A woman named Carmen teaches us at our apartment.  She gave us lessons two years ago.  She’s very good.

We didn’t make any exciting plans for dinner so we ate at this cute Italian restaurant.  They only served pizza.  All was good!

After dinner we walked to the park so a Bruce could smoke his cigar; then we called it a night.

 

#Antigua, Guatemala

#Casa Jackson

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