The oddity of Antigua

The trip from Xela (Quetzaltenango) to Antigua was a simple bus ride. Simple except for the highway construction on the mountain pass, which delayed us twice for over a half hour each time, where the highway had been reduced to only one lane of traffic. We wondered to ourselves if this construction wasn't part of a master plan by the locals to sell tortillas, breads, juices and sodas to the stranded travelers, as they would come through the bus 2 or 3 at a time, shouting out their offerings. The home-made cakes and foods were very nice, to be honest and fair! We did also have to change buses to a chicken bus in Chimaltenango, which was fine until about halfway to Antigua, when the bus became so full that Erik had another man quite litterally sitting in his lap.
Still, we got there fine, and found a decent hotel option in Refugio II, which had cheap (for Antigua), comfortable rooms. We could see the sun rise over the city from our window, and the sun set over the nearby volcanos from the roof deck in the evening. We also found a remarkable family-run eatery on the next small street over, "Las Mixtas", which offered cheap beer, coffee, and a $1.50, 3-course lunch special!
Luckily we were able to meet up with Sofi and Andrew in Antigua as well. (Our 3rd such meeting, as we'd spent several fun nights in San Cristobal as well...) They were studying Spanish there and had a friend working in a local non-profit relief organization, so we got a bit of the local insight into things.
Antigua is an odd town, for Guatemala. In the city center, the omnipresent Guatemalan power lines disappear, replaced by elderly western tourists with cameras and safari clothing. The street dogs seem to disappear as well, which worried us a little. (The dogs we did see were very well taken care of...) It is very, very clean, and yet most of the old cathedrals are in ruins from the many earthquakes they've had. Once the capital was moved from Antigua to Guatemala City, they didn't have the support or the funds to keep so many churches up and running. It's nice that they didn't totally demolish them, either, so you have catholic ruins all over the city.
We joined Sofi and Andrew in studying Spanish for a few days, and were able to see one of Antigua's famous religious processions associated with Semana Santa (which really are VERY impressive.) We did manage to get out before the true madness began and the prices sky-rocketed, though. Off to Lago Atitlan...