Today was our first whole day here in Antigua. It was a Saturday and we didn’t have anything on the schedule. We walked around town, bought some ice cream, enjoyed the fountain in the center of town, and then met up with one of Brett’s neighbor’s for lunch. Adam, Brett’s neighbor, just happened to be coming to Guatemala this week and knew Brett had served his mission here, so he sent Brett an email asking what sites he should see while in town. Of course, when he heard we were going to be here at the same time, he wanted to meet up and say hi.

We tried to have lunch at Cactus, which has good reviews, but it is really small. We had a group of 10 and it looked like the total capacity of the restaurant was about 14. Luckily there was a much larger place next door. Papi’s BBQ doesn’t sound like a typical Guatemalan or even “Latin” fare, but it was really good. I got the namesake burger. Charmaine got a pulled pork sandwich and a maracuya drink. Everything was really good. Charmaine’s pulled pork wasn’t quite as good as Phil’s, but she said it was pretty close. That’s about the highest compliment Charmaine can give a BBQ joint.

After lunch we walked across town and hiked up to the cross overlooking the city. The hike was all paved stairs and in the shade with a nice breeze, so it was really nice. The view from the top was great. We could see Agua, of course, and to the far right we could just see Fuego and Acatenango. Fuego was spitting out puffs of smoke every now and then. It was very relaxing to sit and watch from the top.

Later that evening we climbed to the roof of our place and watched Fuego puff some more ash out and we also saw some lava coming out as the sun set and it got darker. Charmaine zoomed with her dad and Steven so they could see where we’re staying and maybe catch a glimpse of the volcano.