Day 1: Antigua, Guatemala

I know, I didn't finish the South American trip yet, but maybe later.

Becky and I left this morning, and the flights were pretty uneventful, but at the airport in Houston and drunk man found us and wanted us to carry his bag, but we said no and got away as fast as we could.
We landed around 1, and got a taxi to take us from Guatemala City to Antigua. Again, uneventful transport. We were a little unsure when we arrived at our hotel, because there wasn't a sign on the outside, and the door was locked, but our nice taxi driver rang the bell and asked, and yes we were at the right place. As soon as we walked inside, we fell in love. The lady greeted me by name, and they took us right to our room, before we even signed anything! It is a beautiful hotel, with a nice courtyard and a splendid view of one of the volcanoes. And the room is great too - and it has the hugest bathroom that I've ever seen!! Another cool thing is that there is a journal in the room that all the people write in that stay here and write about all the things that they did here in Antigua. It was really cool to read about all the trips that different people from around the world have had in the same room that we are staying in.
After relaxing a bit at the hotel, we set off for the main square in Antigua. We stopped to peruse and shop a little bit on our way, got some money, and booked our tour for the volcano tomorrow. By that time we were pretty hungry so we stopped for dinner at Frida's and had some yummy Mexican food. We did a little more shopping, then stopped at an ice cream shop that we had passed earlier.
We then headed back to the hotel...we made a couple wrong turns, but we finally made it! As guests at our hotel we have 3 keys: one to the front door, one to our room, and one to the big gate in the back that is only for emergency use. So, when we got to the hotel, I stuck in the key for the front door, turned it, and the key broke in the door. Yes, it broke. Fortunately I was able to pull it out so that the door isn't ruined for everyone. We tried knocking and ringing the bell, but no one answered. So, we then considered our situation an emergency, so we used the big gate in the back. Success! We made it in. Becky is now in charge of keys.
At this point I am already sick, and I'm mad because we just got here!! I'm not surprised to be sick, it happens at least once every trip, but really, on the first day?!? I am drinking manzanilla tea right now, Becky says that's the Mexican cure, so we'll see.
We depart at 6am tomorrow to climb an active volcano - Volcan Pacaya. I am so excited - I went a few years ago and loved it, so I can't wait to do it again.
Yay Guatemala.