The Bell at San Francisco

Another fine day in Antigua!  We met up with the rest of our group which turns out to be smaller than intended as two of the folks are stranded by the blizzard in Heathrow.  So we are a group of three.  Lily joins us from New York and was thrilled today when we bag arrived!

We spent the morning wondering around town again making a specific effort to see lots of the ruins, some of which date from the 1500’s.

The Ruins at Santa Rosa

I’ve been highlighting a map of Antigua whenever we walk a new street and we’ve almost got all of it covered in orange.  We ventured into the town market and marveled in the varieties of fruits available.  Stacks of pineapple,  papayas bigger than rugby balls, coconuts being skinned by machete, and maize roasting over charcoal made me wish I hadn’t just eaten lunch.

Our Souvenirs from the Super Mercado

We finished our exploration with another visit to the Super Mercado and did our favourite kind of souvenir shopping!  Food!  I love bringing home a taste of the places I visit and the list often includes honey (the flavour of honey changes based on what the bees are pollinating), hot sauces (here the flavour of roasted/smoked peppers is incredible and we found some sauce that captured the flavour of the national dish perfectly), and hot drinks (today’s list included an oatmeal drink and full-fat powdered milk).  We also treated ourselves to a tortilla warmer/cooker which should work well for papadams and nan bread as well.

Tomorrow the harder work begins as we’ll take on our first volcano, Pacaya.  We hear last summer’s eruption changed it dramatically.  Today was another day in photographer’s heaven!

You can view photos from today’s walk-about here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=584124&id=509940550&l=16719245c0