Guatemala City-Tourists for a Day

Hotel Villas Espanola

We're still awaiting the remainder of our group, expecting them to arrive over the course of today. We've all been moved into the Hotel Villa Espanola located in Zone 9 In Guatemala City. A bit nicer of an area then the original hotel and the rooms are certainly nicer. Nothing fancy, no air conditioning... but the weathers not too hot and we're not here for a 5 star experience. Unlike countries such as Mexico there's much less English spoken here, including by hotel front desk staff. It's a good thing that a couple of our group can speak passable Spanish.

Meat Market in Downtown Guatemala City

Today it was off to the central part of town where we (as a group of tourist) visited a couple of markets and the main square where the National Palace and Metropolitan Church as well as several markets, both open air and inside. Great spot and all sorts of new fruits and food. A street food foodies paradise. I tried a fruit called a Mamey which has a light brown skin and several large seeds, tasting something like a  cross between a peach and a papaya. Stand after stand of fruit and vegetables as well as lots of dried fish known as Bacalhau. There were also lots of meat stalls with virtually everything you could think of and for some of you terms you'd rather not.

Fruit Stands in market

A quick snack of tacos at a local stand was had by many of the group ( 3 tacos for 10 qt- which would be about  1.5 dollars.

As we've driven or wandered around Guatemala City one thing that really stands out is the sheer number of private security guards with shotguns and handguns. Their in front of restaurants, banks and other business of course and even our hotel had two guys 24/7 standing guard in the front entrance area.

Tomorrow we leave for Guastatoya and should be getting more info on our build, our family we'll be building for. Looking forward to it.