Saturday

We drove into Antigua today, which is an old colonial town and perfect for tourism. There are many typical markets, jade stores, silver stores, and beautiful views of the volcano around every turn. First we visited the wood factory. The owners are extremely talented craftsmen who excel at making wood into different fruits, animals, plates, and more. For such a tiny shop, they really have a lot of different items!!

After the wood shop, we visited the jade store. The owner shared with us about harvesting the jade from the mountains, and we saw the unfinished jade all around the store. The prices of the jewelry are incredibly reasonable: about $30 for necklaces and earrings. It's all beautifully crafted as well.

Eventually we made it to the typical market, which is a sensory overload experience. The colors, the scents, the shop owners yelling at us to make purchases, and then of course the joy of bargaining down prices. The market is about two or three blocks square, with hundreds of shops inside the walls. The team really enjoyed visiting with the shop keepers finding deals, and buying souvenirs for family and friends.


After shopping in the market, we had lunch at Pollo Campero again (which made Jesse very happy), and the drove back in the other direction into the center of Guatemala City: Zone 1. We went down into the underground market which is three levels underground, filled with tourist shops, typical markets with produce, fruit, flowers, meat and restaurants, and an entire floor of pottery and baskets. It's an amazing place and a great experience of Guatemalan life.