GUATEMALA CITY BLOG...

Back to the museum.There are a lot of artifacts here from the Classical Period which stretched from about 200 AD to somewhere in the 900s.And around this time there was actually a lot of communication between Teotihuacan and cities in Guatemala , especially in the Peten region.A lot of artifacts that I am seeing here I believe are somewhat similar to things that you may also find in Teotihuacan.

Over here are some artifacts or ceramics from the Post -Classical period in MesoAmerica which started around 900 AD and ended around 1500, pretty much when the Spanish conquest of America began. Right now we are looking at some art from the colonial period which is very distinctively different from everything else I have seen so far.

 

So I just realized that this museum was in the middle of a university campus. And it makes sense now why I kept walking into rooms that looked like lecture halls when I was trying to find the entrance to the museum earlier. So against everyone's recommendations, I am about to go the Historical Central with some very expensive electronics. Hope this goes well.

 

RIght now I am in the Centro Historico of Guatemala City, which as the name suggests is the historical center of the city. It's actually a lot like the Centro Historico in Zocalo in Mexico City in the sense that on one side there is also another metropolitan cathedral for Guatemala City, and on the other side there's Guatemala City's version of the National Palace.

 

So when I was coming to Centro Historico and I was asking people on their opinions about the area, a lot of people were telling me not to walk around Centro Historico with my camera or anything expensive. But it turns out that as long as you are in the main square you're probably safe cuz there are cops around.

 

If you want to be safe you probably should not just walk around the area with something like an expensive gopro dangling from your hand. This Cathedral is the main cathedral in guatemala city. and it was built about 200 years ago. Unfortunately right now it looks like the gates are closed so I won't be able to go inside this one and explore the architecture a bit more.

 

Behind me now is the palacio national de la cultura. I am sorry about butchering the pronunciation but it's essentially the national palace of culture and it used to serve as the headquarters of the guatemalan president back in the day. I believe it was built around the 1930s.

 

RIght now it serves as more of a museum but also apparently it's used for certain government purposes as well. Just found a restaurant that seems to be catered for JD enthusiasts. But the prices are too expensive so I'm gonna eat somewhere else. After trying and failing to get any good Guatemalan food, I ended up settling for a spicy bagel from Dunkin Donuts.

 

Fun story.

As I was ordering my food, I ended up spilling my water on the table all the way into the cashier's cash register. So I am pretty thankful that they didn't kick me out of this place.I don't know how but I somehow always end up doing the dumbest s**t ever.

Hello everyone.I realize this outro is 3 months late from the original video but I lost the original video that I recorded in Guatemala city airport so here it goes, and if I look like a semihobo it's because it's finals week and I am doing everything possible except for studying.

Well, Guatemala is pretty freaking amazing. Again it's another 4 day trip for me, so I didn't get to do nearly as much as I hoped to do.So if you do get to visit definitely go for more time. TIkal was the main reason that I went to Guatemala and it was by far one of the coolest things

 

I have seen in my life.If you are into history and you are into ancient civilizations that'sa must for you.It's a lot less touristy than other similar sites that I have been to in the past. Antigua was unexpectedly beautiful. The one big regret that I do have for this trip is not being able to go on this overnight volcano hike that a lot of people were talking about, but I couldn't do that because it was a 2 day thing. You had to leave early the first morning, and in the middle of the night you camp out on a volcano or next to a volcano. They wake you up so you can see the lava in the middle of the night and that sounds really amazing.

 

So I definitely plan on coming back and doing that the next time I come visit Guatemala. On a side note, this video is hopefully a little better put together than the last ones. I actually was able to use my camera and not lose it. If you have any more constructive feedback let me know. If you have any questions about going to Guatemala, where to stay, safety in Guatemala City- by the way Guatemala City I have heard is a little sketch but Antigua and Flores were just super safe tourist towns.

So safety is not an issue over there.