Guatemala pt 3

Day 4: After eating breakfast we decided to check out Santa Cantalina arch which is iconic Antigua! Just beyond the arch is La Merced which is a Catholic church and every Sunday they allow visitors to go up on the roof. It was beautiful ! 

Santa Cantalina Arch

La Merced

La Merced

The roof of La Merced

We had lunch at a famous Guatemalan food chain- Pollo Campero. I didn't think it was that great, but it kind of reminded me of KFC. 

On our way back to the hotel we stopped at Ruinas de Catedral. We got some great pictures! 

At 2:00 we had our last tour of Guatemala in which we visited Altamira and Hobbitenago. 

Altamira is a mountain top eco-park. It has panoramic views as well as hiking trails and photo spots. 

The famous golden hand

Hobbitenago is a Lord of the Rings inspired park. It offers beautiful views and features hobbit style houses. We didn't spend as much time here, but did walk around for a bit. 

Once we finished with the tour, we went back to the restaurant we ate at the first night. The timing was perfect because right after dinner was the processional.

Spectators line the streets to watch and local families, create intricate, temporary, colorful, sawdust, and flower carpets. (Alfombras) 

The processions feature massive, ornate and often 3 ton wooden floats. They are carried through the cobblestone streets and often pass over the intricate sawdust carpets.

I knew nothing about any of this before coming to Guatemala. The owners of the restaurant that first night were trying to tell me about it in Spanish. I’m glad they did so I could get a heads up and do some research to find out what it was. 
It was pretty cool to see! 

Back at our hotel,  as we were turning in for the night, we experienced our very first earthquake! Our room shook for less than a minute and we didn't know what it was at first. Mike thought there was something going on on the floor above us, but I said it's probably an earthquake! And sure enough....  

Apparently earthquakes are very common occurrences and most of them are not a big deal. If I had been asleep, I probably wouldn't have even woken up for it.  What an experience! 
Almost right after the earthquake, we heard the LOUDEST fireworks ever. Pretty much every night we were there, they shot off fireworks from the church. (I think whenever people get married) It literally sounded like it was right outside of our door. 

Earthquake alert on my phone

What a fun way to end our trip to Guatemala!  LOL 

Overall, I enjoyed my time in the country. Everything went smoothly, I never once felt unsafe, and the people were so friendly. Again, most people don't speak English so it was a fun challenge to communicate using my Spanish.