We’ve settled in and had our first day of school.
Antigua’s in the shadow of a volcano. It’s huge and lies to the south. With any luck it’ll blow while I’m here. There are 36 in the area and nearly all have the potential to do something spectacular
A brief overview. The volcano
Mountains to the north
The town of 40,000 is mostly single storey and walled. All the streets are cobblestone
The main square
The junction of the two main streets
Guatemalans are beautiful
My first day of school. In fact the first five minutes. This is Merle. She’s hilarious. I was totally hooked when we were at Buenos noches Senorita within seconds. I could definitely remember that.
OK, enough culture. This is a bike blog.
This is where Lucinda lives, until she gets picked up for repair. A locked courtyard. I put the cover on her after a couple of days of her getting bombed by avocados from the tree above her
This is an Antiguan pothole. Technically they don’t seem to be a problem as I haven’t seen one more than a few inches deep.
There are more bikes in Antigua than cars. There are two types of bikes – very cheap and very expensive. Nothing in between because the people are either dirt poor or fabulously rich. Here is one of the endless line-ups of cheap bikes. The assortment is interesting and I’ll do a post on this subject after careful study
The rich kids have larger, newer bikes, but they’re rare. Based on what I’ve seen, maybe one in 100. In fact this is the only cafe I’ve seen where they hang out and I’ve walked most of the town core.
Then there’s this guy. I’ve seen him twice. In fact when I saw him, the whole town saw him twice, because everyone stops to watch him. White leathers, matching sport bike. He’s totally the man here, a bike town. It’s super important not to laugh because the whole town goes silent as he goes by blipping the throttle. He shifts every few seconds.
Another shot of the endless bikes
And here’s a very pretty gas station
Comments
I am sorry Jeremy I just do not understand the the appeal of travelling on a bike. Why not a nice four wheel drive: comfortable and safe and no terrible accidents. I am sure his is sac religious. I hope you are well.
whoa!
More culture, I love the culture shots!!! Also, what a beautiful gas station indeed.
I love Merle’s smile!!