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The bubble maker, originally uploaded by rudygiron.

The people need to survive which way they can. Here you see a woman making bubbles because she is selling bubble makers: a wire ring a plastic cup with soapy water. Now that I see how much fun she is having, I wish I have bought a bubble maker. Oh well, c'est la vie!

Charly García in Antigua, originally uploaded by rudygiron.

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Yesterday I mentioned that often Antigua is used as backdrop and great location by professional photographers and film-makers. Well, they are not the only ones. Antigua is also used as a natural venue for concerts, jazz festivals, classical music recitals and much more.

Lisi, from Hong Kong Daily has been posting a delightfull series of night photography; it inspired me to post photos taken at night time.

Here is a photo of Charly García, an Argentinean Rockstar from Buenos Aires 1 / 2 taken at Santa Cruz Ruins in Antigua Guatemala. This guy is really famous and his music is awesome. If I had to classify him, I would put him in the unclassifiable category. Here you can see a few more photos (f1, f2, f3, f4).

Painting Antigua, originally uploaded by rudygiron.

PLEASE NOTE: this site has a new address, would you please update your links so it now reads:

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Antigua's streets are used for many things. Often you can see people water-coloring and oil-painting on the streets. Some of them do it for pleasure, others make a living selling their artworks to tourists. Believe me when I say that this city has many motives for amateurs painters and photographers alike.

Antigua is also used as backdrop and great location by professional photographers and film-makers. Actually, there are quite a few movies which have been shot in Antigua; I don't have a list now, but I will post it later on with some movie-making photos.

Unplugged knife sharpening, originally uploaded by rudygiron.

Antigua is a modern city with cutting-edge technologies like wireless internet, satellite television, direct tv, wifi cafes, partial underground electric cabling, broadband internet access, and a very long et-cetera. Nevertheless, in Antigua certain things are still done the old-fashioned way: sharpening knifes is one of them. Although, you can argue it is done wirelessly. ;-)

Exotic flowers for exotic Lu!, originally uploaded by rudygiron.

The slogan of this blog says that Antigua has flower farms, but I have not yet published a flower photo. Well, believe it when I say there are flowers farms around town. Soon I will go to one of them to give further proof; in the mean time, I leave this shot of a truck and its exotic load. This one is for Lu! and to all that might benefit with the sight of flowers on the "boot up" day of the week.

Mac and Windows in Antigua, originally uploaded by rudygiron.

Something 'light' for the weekend. I know I am really stretching it with the association of Mac and Windows. In case you are wondering, yes there is a McDonald's and Burger King in Antigua.

Best wishes to all the regular visitors!

Panadera's arch, originally uploaded by rudygiron.

On the west side of the Central Park in Antigua you can find the Portal de las Panaderas (bakeries), which represented the business side at the main square. Nowadays, you can find two good coffee shops, two banks, two restaurants, two bookstores, an electro-domestic store and a few other stores. It is the less flashy side of Parque Central, yet you can have good coffee at Café Condeza and have the fabulous Flan Antigüeño at the restaurant by the same name, buy the newspaper, withdraw some money, but a Guatemalan Literature book, make a phone call, have your shoes shine; all within one block and in less than 30 minutes.

Antigua is such a human-friendly city; you can walk and do most ordinary life chores and pleasures within four short blocks. Match that L.A.!

Antigua's red, originally uploaded by rudygiron.

The restaurant La Fonda de la Calle Real is another of Antigua's landmarks. You can find it at three locations all around Calle del Arco, which is Antigua's most famous street. The one in the picture is in front of the main location, which is just right across the street.

How is the food? La Fonda is well-known for its expensive traditional Guatemalan cuisine. At this restaurant ate Mr. Bill Clinton when he was still a president and her Royal Highness Infanta Doña Cristina. How much are we talking about? Well, a lunch for two should be around US$25-35, which is not too much for tourists, but it bit expensive for Guatemala. Should you eat there if you come to Antigua? Sure, most definitely.

Antigua's green corner, originally uploaded by rudygiron.

This corner has appeared in two previous photos: the street lamp on Antigua's rush hour and the green wall on Opposite ends of life. Today I decided to give the whole corner and a little bit a local's insight.

You can get some of the best cookies in Guatemala right there. The owners called the business "Cookies," a very appropriately named, if you ask me. They sell about 18 different kinds of cookies, fine pastries and cakes. You can buy a dozen cookies for about US$3.

Next door, to your right, is one of Antigua's landmarks, Doña Luisa Xicotencatl, a restaurant where many people meet, local and foreigners alike, for coffee, lunch or breakfast on the weekends. In my opinion, they have one of the best bakeries in the whole country. It is a torture to walk by the bakery everyday because of the smell that emanates from the ovens: fresh breads of all kinds (banana, nuts, chocolate, etc.), cookies, croissants, cakes. If you come to Antigua, please, do pay them a visit, you will be very happy you did.

Wood Window works, originally uploaded by rudygiron.

The wall's zapote color takes its name from the fruit Mammea americana, known here as zapote (click to see it) and zapote mamey in Mexico. It is a dark salmon color. Have I mentioned yet that Guatemala is great place to eat all kinds of fruits and vegetables?

After looking at the great workmanship in all those windows and doors, I have decided to do a window and door series later on.

Mico sign, originally uploaded by rudygiron.

Yesterday I started the photo series about Antigua's color palette. In this photo you get two of my objectives: 1. the color which sky blue and 2. the mico sign for a tradicional wooden toy store. Does anybody know what a mico is?

Yellow wall and window, originally uploaded by rudygiron.

The Antigua's color palette only accepts about 12 colors. Here you see the antigüeño yellow. This week's photos will be about the color palette. You have already seen red and green. This yellow wall is the outside of Hotel Aurora.

Palo de Izote tree, originally uploaded by rudygiron.

Palo de Izote is a relative of the Yucca Tree. It is present in almost all gardens and fences here and everywhere in Southeast Mexico and Central America. In my Santa Clara ruins photo on June 10th, it caught the eye of Patsy. I do not know how she was able to extract it since I do not post large photos, but it was there. Once she pointed it out to me, I was more aware of it. This photo was taken at a house which is only three houses away from my office. I like the wavey wall and the tree heads just above. I wish the sky was better, but we are in the rainy season here (May - October). Please, do forgive my gray skies for a few months.

When people just have arrived in Guatemala, one thing catches their attention: how wonderfully green is everything. This country will be perfect playground for the constant garderner because of its fertile volcanic soil, abundance of water and humidity. Of course, there is a price to pay for everything: here you have to live with 33 volcanoes nearby, 3 of them active, and a copious rainy season. I believe these are the main ingredients that made this country the land of the eternal spring.

Rush hour in Antigua, originally uploaded by rudygiron.

On the weekends the traffic in Antigua quadruples. Here, it might not seem like much. But, if you consider that Antigua is only a 10 by 10 block city and the every street is filled with traffic like the one in the picture, it might begin to feel like the Santa Monica Freeway (10) in Los Angeles; well, not quite like it, sorry Luggi.

Antigua's electric-wire web, originally uploaded by rudygiron.

Spiders are not the only animal that creates webs: humans do too, and all different kinds...