vacation continued IIV...Lago Atitlan and Chichicastenango

After spending a few days in Antigua we headed to Lake Atitlan to continue with the relaxing. The lake is absolutely beautiful this time of year. We stayed at the same hotel that Gregg and I stayed at last year for our 1 year anniversary - Casa del Mundo. Since the rainy season this year was so bad the lake had risen like 10 feet since the last time we were there! As you can see from the picture below, Casa del Mundo wasn't exactly planning this much of a raise in the lake...

The boat dock in Panajachel

Kris is EXCITED

Our good friends Julie and Elizabeth

Nothing beats a hammock

Volcan Atitlan

These platforms were NOT under water last year!

Casa del Mundo from above

Another of Kris' dog flings
Gregg named him 'Milkshake'

The paparazzi - aka Mom

Ven Aca = Heaven on Earth

Some things never change

This ones for Sarah:
The infamous Jabilito Mojito - sooooo delicious!

ooo that looks good Kris

On our way back to Antigua we stopped in Chichicastenango (Chichi) which is one of the largest markets in Guatemala. It is one crazy place! It is defintely a tourist trap on some levels - case in point - My mom was followed around for at least an hour by the same woman trying to sell her a beautiful, handmade blanket. She started the price at Q1,000 (Quetzales which is about $125) and an hour later she had lowered the price to Q400 ($50). Another excited experience was Kris getting cussed out in English but a Guatemalan guy that wanted him to buy necklaces. Kris told him he was too pushy of a salesman and he didn't like that too much :) None-the-less it is a fun, one-time only experience.

Next to the market is the 400-year old church of Santo Tomás. K'iche' Maya priests still use the church for their rituals, burning incense and candles. In special cases, they even burn chickens for the gods. Each of the 18 stairs that lead up to the church stands for one month of the Maya calendar year. We were told after we got back to Antigua that its really bad luck to take a picture of the church and that the locals get really upset if they catch you...oops

It gets a little crowded!

All the stalls were full of beautiful handmade crafts