East vs. West

Let's finish up our look at the Park. I know you have been dying to find out just what is on the East and West sides of the Park since we have already looked at the North and South sides. So let's satisfy that unquenchable desire for knowledge.

But first, here is a bus in the Square.

What does that say? Here is a closer look:

60 Passengers? Oh, much like your narrator, the bus is quite modest and we know for a fact that you can put more than 60 people on a bus at one time. In fact, this number is a much more accurate estimate of the number of people you can cram standing up in the aisle of a bus.

On the West side of the Park is a long row of shops under a portico. There are a couple banks, a book store, an artesania market, a guitar shop, coffee shops, etc.

The East side of the Park is dominated by the Cathedral of San José. Given this countries history of earthquakes, the edifice you see today is not the original construction which was begun in 1545. The first church was toast in the 1583 earthquake. The second building made it through the 1689 and 1717 earthquakes but was toppled by the one in 1773. What you see today are two restored chapels that are known as the Church of San José. If you go around the corner, you can see some of the ruins of the previous structure. Maybe we will make it around the corner in a future post.

Las Puertas

A musical introduction.

Title says it all.

 

Stronger than dirt.

165

Sometimes you are 'sure' you have a photo of a certain number and then end up scrambling and using some chili peppers (which made an excellent chili and pico de gallo, by the way) and other times you end up with multiple choices. Sigh...just can't win.

By looking at the stats of our blog (did you know we are big in Russia?), we have noticed a trend among viewership trending toward a peak on Mondays - 8 AM EST and 12 PM PST. We thank you for your dedication.

Realizing some/many of you may need to actually try and accomplish something today (I understand the inability to check in with your favorite blog on weekends or when you aren't working - in fact, I had to tell a friend that I no longer read her blog because I wasn't working any longer and no longer had the free time) we are going to show a few more pictures of the colors of Antigua:

Random quote (if you have made it this far):

I have always been a romantic; one of those who believes that a woman in pink circus tights holds all the secrets of the world.          ~Tom Robbins

I can't remember the original source for this quote but when I met Tom Robbins at a reading at City Lights Book Store, I asked him to sign a copy of this quote which he did without protestation (after reading it) so I assume it is at least somewhat attributable to him . By the way, his reading at City Lights is one of the top three cultural events that I have been fortunate to be witness in my time in WNC -  the other two being the Indigo Girls playing the Cherokee Ceremonial grounds as part of their Honor the Earth Tour, and the Afro-Cuban All Stars playing at WCU.