Our little piece of heaven...

Wow! We've only been in San Pedro for a week and it feels like months.

It looks like we have been really lucky. On our second day here we found an apartment on the lake. It is basic but we have a kitchen, hammocks and hot water - something 90% of the town lacks.

The other great thing about our house is that the garden runs down to the lake where we have a jetty and a soon to be opened bar!

Manuel, our earnest landlord, is slowly building an empire (think multi-storey hotel - it's current one floor -, lakeside bar, restaurants etc etc), but we have arrived just in time because there is no one else staying here and it is still underdeveloped.

We are already scheming to work in the bar while improving out Spanish.

We have also found what we think is an excellent teacher. We say this with hesitation however... this is a man who in the first 4 hours told us that he speaks 7 languages, holds 4 degrees (1 PHD), has travelled the world, is a champion rally car driver, martial arts expert, goes hunting with a sling shot - and that modesty is his more outstanding attribute!

Despite this he has been an amazing teacher and in 1 week we can already say so much! One-on-one tuition is the way to go!


As for San Pedro itself, well, what a querky world we have entered.

It is an idilic town on the edge of lake atitlan, adjacent to 3 volcanoes. It is also a getaway of the budget traveller (that's saying something in Central America) and has also become a hideaway for hippies - or as our teacher Roberto likes to say - social drop outs.

The Western presence means that we have internet, hamburgers, thai curry, a pub with cable and 3-4 places showing nightly movies - creature comforts that we appreciate given how long we are staying.

The downside is that the largely hippy foreign populace cruise around town in their own world, an ocean away from our more conventional backgrounds. It also means that San Pedro is known as a bit of a drug town. We had no idea!

Ironically, on our first night here, as walking home after dinner Nat said 'Where on earth would you find drugs here?' Literally that moment someone said 'Ganja? Weed? White stuff?'

It's comical that in the centre of town, just next to our school, the most frequently heard words are 'Kayak? Weed?' and they're coming from the mouth of the same guy.

Fortunately San Pedro is still a lovely Guatemalan town where people wash in the lake, cows walk down the main street, taco vendors ply their trade and we can chat with the friendly locals who are all keen to help us improve our Spanish.

Our final stroke of luck is Poppy, the puppy. She wiggled her way under our fence the first day we were making lunch (our kitchen is outside). This town has a massive stray dog problem and at first we were planning a full adoption. We then discovered that she actually lives next door, but Nat has nevertheless assumed responsibility for her feeding, washing and grooming. In a few days she has been transformed from skin and bones to a healthy pup. It's just another thing to help us feel more at home.

One of the main reasons go through San Cristobal is the nearby Mayan ruin site of Palenque. It is just over 100 kms but the trip takes 4 to 5 hours on a speed bump riddled road.

This was our first ruin hit and it was breathtaking. 15 kms worth of ruins spread throughout the jungle - totally Indiana Jones. Large enough so that tourists were limited to one or two in the distance. Bright blue sky, stunning green jungle, grey stone temples... Some well preserved, others no more than crumbling blocks.

Zapatista dolls, sold throughout the Chiapas region of Mexico. In 1994 this leftist group occupied San Cristobal and surrounding towns with the aim of improving the lives of indigenous people. The presence of the group is still felt today, although behind the scenes...

Spanking the saints and a shot gun wedding in Chiapas.

San Cristobal is a lovely little town set in the Chiapas hillside. There is that special something about this place - the perfect mix of Mexican culture, Mayan history, cosmopolitan expat establishments and plenty to see and do.

We hired a scooter and headed for the nearby village, San Juan Chamula, famous for its unorthodox religious practices. This includes ´spanking the saints´ and people rubbing themselves with chickens and eggs then drinking Coca Cola to burp, thereby expelling any demons!

We also participated in an improptu wedding ceremony in traditional garb at the home of Juanita in Zanacantan. The surprise was that Jack and I were the bride and groom. Jack felt a tad emasculated in his Little Bo Peep straw hat with rainbow coloured ribbons and matching handbag (an outfit for next year´s marti gras), while I looked like a distant cousin of Moses. We were glad when we could get changed and snack on some of Juanita´s delicious homemade tacos.

From Mexico City we headed south to Oaxaca (pronounced Wah-ha-ka). We took a tour for this leg of the trip. Due to an overbooking we were driven to Oaxaca in a private car with Edgar, our very own local dreadlocked leftie guide.

We stopped in the pretty colonial town of Pueblo for lunch which consisted of chicken enchiladas with mole, a paste made from cocoa and chili. Unfortunately this dish sounds far more exotic than it tastes. We also took a moment to admire the cactus covered hills and the vultures circling above the Mexican desert.

Not much seemed to be happening in Oaxaca so after a few quiet days we decided to jump on the overnight bus to San Cristobal de Cases.

We hit the museums on our second day in Mexico City. First up was the Museo Frida Kahlo, housed in the beautiful ´blue house´ in which Frida Kahlo was born and lived for most of her life. The museum is only a few blocks from the house where Trotsky, who was a friend of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, lived in exile until he was brutally murdered there.

We also visited the gigantic and somewhat overwhelming anthropolgy museum which is home to numerous Aztec and Mayan artefacts like the one pictured above.

A garbage truck Mexico City style. Check out the mags!

We touched down in Mexico City 13 hours later than originally planned after a hickup with the checkin for our flight thanks to Iberia´s inefficiency. We were only going to stay for one day due to Mexico City´s reputation as a dirty and dangerous metropolis. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find that the city was nothing like what we had expected.

Our first stop in town was the National Palace in the Zocalo (the main square and site of the protests regarding the recent election result). The walls of the palace are covered with gigantic Diego Rivera murals depicting certain periods of Mayan and Mexican history.

We spent the rest of the day getting lost in the colourful markets and munching on authentic Mexican street food. Future visitors be warned - taste the guacamole before smoothering it all over your taco as it may be full of lethal chilli seeds!

The most amazing thing we did in Madrid was to attend a Flamenco performance. Admittedly we made the effort to track down a Flamenco shop and ask for advice on where to go - our main concern being to avoid tourist traps.

We ended up at a place called Casa Patas and on arrival were ushered into a small, dark room located at the back of a bustling tapas restaurant.

The performance was stunning. From the moment it started we realised that we had found an authentic show... the singing was raw, gutteral (almost painful) while the dancing itself was entrancing. Jammed into the room like sardines everyone was close to the stage and in awe of the performance.

After the show we walked home on a high and happened to stumble across the symbol of Royal Madrid - a bear foraging a strawberry tree! Dad happily posed for a photo.

Two relaxing days of discovery were followed by a massive surprise at our one must do attraction in Madrid - the Prado.

Mum was checking out the Goya, and guess who was checking out Mum? Tess Phillips, cousin to the FitzGeralds, who lives in Canberra.

Tess is doing a 6 month Europe trip and while we knew she was away we thought she was in London - it was a total surprise!


Once the shock subsided we had a great lunch and decided that Tess and her friend Meryn had to move in to the apartment with us.

We flew, Mum and Dad took a train, and we all met a few hours later in Madrid. A booking (language) misunderstanding had us in 2 apartments instead of one so we had plenty of space, however we still missed our little plaza back in Barca.

First priority... to watch the Australia v Italy game. Stunned disappointment. You know the story.

Next... more spanish food. To our dismay Madrid lacks the Basque style pinchos that is more common in Bacelona. Conventional tapas is everywhere though and soon we found a place for tortilla, prawns with aioli, grilled asparagus and broken eggs.