Friday, January 13, 2017
Today the ship arrived in Puerto, Quetzal, Guatemala at a little after 9 AM. Puerto Quetzal is a great jumping off point for excursions to Antigua, Guatemala, Maya ruins at Tikal and Yaxha as well as scenic tours of coffee and banana plantations. Today I took a tour called "The Best of Antigua". Antigua Guatemala founded in 1552, served as the seat of government for the Captaincy General of Guatemala for over 200 years before being destroyed by a series of earth quakes in 1773. Antigua is famous for its unique Spanish Mudejar architecture that has made it a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site. We left the ship at 10 AM and drove through the Guatemalan country to the colonial capital of Antigua where we arrived at 11:45 AM. We left the church and walked for 15 minutes to a park and saw some government buildings. We left this area and walked another 15 minutes to lunch. On the way we saw sugar and coffee plantations. As we approached Antigua we saw several volcanos some active and others dormant. Our first stop was at the cathedral. We left the church and walked for 15 minutes to a park and saw some government buildings. We left this area and walked another 15 minutes to lunch. We then walked another 15 minutes to lunch at Casa Santo Domingo, a restored convent. After lunch we toured some of the old sites that includes a Museum. After this we walked another 15 minutes over to the Jade Museum & Factory where fine jadeite jade is transformed into works of art. This type of jade is found mainly in Guatemala and Burma. From here we got on the bus and returned to the ship. We arrived at the ship at 5:30 PM. I went to my room to drop off my camera and headed to dinner. There was no show tonight but the;y had a movie in its place. I didn't to the movie but went to the room and processed my pictures from Nicaragua and Guatemala.
Puerto Quetzal is Guatemala's largest Pacific Ocean port. It is important for both cargo traffic and as a stop-off point for cruise liners.
It is located in Escuintla department, alongside the city of Puerto San José, which it superseded as a port in importance to the country's maritime traffic during the 20th century.
Antigua Guatemala (Spanish pronunciation: [anˈtiɣwa ɣwateˈmala]) (commonly referred to as just Antigua or la Antigua) is a city in the central highlands of Guatemala famous for its well-preserved Spanish Baroque-influenced architecture as well as a number of ruins of colonial churches. It served as the capital of the Kingdom of Guatemala. It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Antigua Guatemala serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. It also serves as the departmental capital of Sacatepéquez Department.
The city had a peak population of some 60,000 in the 1770s; the bulk of the population moved away in the late 18th century. Despite significant population growth in the late 20th century, the city had only reached half that number by the 1990s. According to the 2007 census, the city has some 34,685 inhabitants.
This picture was taken from the ship of the port at Puerto Quezal, Gutamala.
This is a picture of one of several volcanos in Guatemala.
This is a picture taken from the bus on the way to Antigua.
This is a picture of the Church of Santo Domingo.
This is a picture of the Convent of Santo Domingo which is next to the Cathedral.
This picture was taken inside the Church.
This picture was taken inside the Church.
This picture was taken inside the Convent.
This picture was taken inside the Convent.
This picture was taken of Antigua.
This picture was taken in Antigua.
This picture was taken in the park in Antigua.
This picture was taken near the park in Antigua. I think this is the Cathedral but we did not go in it.
This picture was taken on the walk to have lunch.
This picture was taken of the place where we had lunch.
This picture was taken at the place where we had lunch in Antigua.
This picture was taken in the place where we had lunch in Antigua.
This picture was taken on the way to tour the museum near the place where we had lunch.
This is a picture of the ruins near the place where we had lunch.
This is a picture of the ruins near the place where we had lunch. This was the old church.
This picture was taken at the museum near where we had lunch.
This picture was taken of some jade at the stop at the Jade Museum & Factory.
This picture was taken at the Jade Factory. It sells for $450.
This picture was taken on the way back to the ship of an active volcano.
This picture was taken of some shops near the ship.
This picture was taken looking toward the ship from the port.
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