Day 7: Exploring and The Market

     Today we explored Antigua. We were both feeling great and decided to see what it had to offer. We decided to hike up to a large cross on one of the hills there. Going through this path I really wanted to watch George of the Jungle, or some other jungle-located movie. I felt almost like I should have a machete in hand because we were surrounded on all sides by such lush foliage. It was beautiful. When we got to the top, we had a great view, overlooking the whole city. We sat for a while, took pictures, I wished for a while that I had brought a picnic and then we headed back down, ready to see more of Antigua.

     We had heard of the market in Antigua so we decided to head there first. We had a small map and after asking a few people directions, we found it. It was an enormous open-air marketplace. Walking through, we saw people selling everything from octopus tentacles to televisions to hammocks. The outer edges of the marketplace were much more tourist oriented, similar to the food festival day in Juayua. But we walked in deeper and this market became much more interesting and crazy. This was the market that the locals shopped at. There was in the middle of the market a huge food court surrounded by people selling all kinds of unprepared food. I saw a table filled with raw seafood, including an octopus tentacle with suckers as big as nickels. Many people surprisingly sold raw meat. Stacked in piles, they simply fanned away (as best they could) the flies. There were also many people selling fruits and vegetables. Some stands being more sketchy than others. We wandered through the market, taking in the sights, the people, the atmosphere, and, sometimes unfortunately, the smells.

     By the time we were done at the market it was about dinnertime so we decided to head out. Walking around Antigua, taking in the sights, we stumbled across a McDonald's. Austin, as I found out on our last trip to El Salvador, loves to eat McDonald's in different countries. So we went in and he tried their most interesting looking burger, the Pollo a La Parmesana. It had mozzarella cheese and spaghetti sauce on it, as well as a piece of fried chicken. He didn't really like it, but the experience was fun. As for the sights in Antigua, it's filled with old, crumbling churches and cathedrals. They were really cool to look at though. Parts of the city (well town really) were pretty crumbly and run down too but overall it was very pretty. The buildings were mostly brightly colored and very welcoming. One interesting thing is that they were all touching. There wasn't a single alley in the whole place. Houses were against hostels and laundromats and clothing stores. There didn't seem to be any organization to it. Eventually, it started to get dark and we headed back to our hostel for the night.

    Our hostel is an interesting topic. We stayed in a private room, with a private bathroom which was really nice after Jungle Party where we had a dorm and shared bathrooms and showers. And one thing we've found about every place we've stayed so far is that their showers all work the same way, different than in the States. Instead of having a water heater, each shower has an individual, in-stream heater that heats your water right before it comes out of the spout. They work really well. Our room was small, just enough space for the bed, a small end table, and a pathway to the bathroom. But for the price (and the complimentary breakfast), we were very satisfied.