Antigua; nice people, good music

I've just spent the last 24hrs travelling from Oaxaca, Mexico to Antigua, Guatemala.  The bus I caught took me to Guatemala City, getting in just as the sun was going down.  I had been tossing up whether to stay in Guatemala City and then Antigua or go straight down to Antigua.  But the drive in Guatemala didn't look too impressive and from what I'd read/heard there wasn't much to see and I didn't have a good vibe about the place, so I decided to go to Antigua straight away.  However, to get there it was a cab and a second class crowded chicken bus with all my gear after dark then another cab.  Or a A$50 cab straight there. So I took the cab. 

But the cabbie didn't understand the directions to the hostel as I had them written in English.  So I explained as best I could, but to no avail.  However, I think he was dumb as opposed to my bad Spanish being the problem.  He stopped and asked directions from this nice policeman.  We showed him the directions and I translated the bits I knew again.  He got it straight away.  He explained it to the cabbie, who still looked baffled.  He explained it to me, I got what he was saying.  He cabbie still looked baffled.  He explained it again.  The cabbie decided the best thing to do was give up and find an Antiguan cabbie to take me there.  So the nice policeman came and explained it to the new cabbie who knew exactly where it was and got me there in 2min. It's nice when people are helpful.

So I checked in.  The hostel here is really nice and in one of those cute cobble-stoned streets with the cool old buildings.  I had a nice hot shower and went across the road for dinner.  It was a real lovely little restaurant, with these fantastic photos everywhere, a big outdoor garden and they were playing old music like Ella Fitzgerald.  The nachos and fish crocettes were so damn tasty.  A lady, on her way out the door, told me it was her last day here otherwise she'd be back for the homemade ravioli which she said was fantastic. 

While I was eating I looked at the table across from me to see a lady down a shot of something.  I thought 'woah, she downed that pretty easy', my thought must have been written on my face (reminder as to why I don't play poker) because she started laughing at me.  So I asked her what she was drinking and it was some kind of liquer thing made from a flower.  Hibiscus maybe.  Anyway, she poured me one as she had the bottle sitting on the table.  It was pretty tasty but went straight to my head.

After dinner I thought about going to the bar next door as I could hear a band and a girl in my hostel room said she would be there with friends, but I couldn't be bothered.  However, from my hostel room I can still hear the music from the bar.  It's been really good.  First there was a blues band.  Now it's just a guy and a guitar and he is good.  So I'm just vegging out in bed listening to the music.

Antigua after only a few hours is nice people and good music.