Leaving the mansion behind we headed for Guatamala's former capital Antigua. The town itself is beautiful, with rows of cobbled streets & vibrantly coloured houses all basking in the watchful gaze of 3 volcanoes Agua, Fuego & Acatanango. We were staying at Julio's parents weekend home (again, how lucky are we?) which was beyond belief. Beautiful garden, numerous stunning guest rooms & tv's in each! We dumped our kit & went out to explore the town & after some time we settled down at the rooftop bar for a well-earned beer in stunning surroundings. That evening we headed for the Mono Loco (crazy monkey) bar which was next to the club where Marijie & Julio met (aaaah). The place promised nachos as big as your head... we were skeptical & confident that we had pretty big heads but we were wrong! The giant, busy sports bar, supplied a plate of nachos big enough for the four of us & made for a very fun night including some insightful conversation about who would be on your 'list'......Jon Bon Jovi anyone?

The following morning as everyone else dozed I managed to sneak in a couple of hours of football thanks to the cable tv in our room (score) before a quick lunch. We spent the rest of the day chilling before checking into a hostel & then heading for one last meal with Julio & Marijie......sob! Just to round it off in style we went for a very decadent fondue meal with numerous cheeses & steak for dippin'. After a truly great end to our awesome few days we said a sad goodbye to our amigos & set out on our own again.

We spent a few more days in Antigua before moving on. The pick of which involved us climbing an active volcano in the morning, our early start nearly scuppered by our drunk hostel hosts padlocking us in overnight, then heading to a local sports bar to watch Real Madrid vs Barcelona in the Copa del Rey. The game was amazing & the atmosphere electric with the majority of the locals screaming over every decision, however the definite highlight was the camera catching Christiano Ronaldo having a proper toys out the pram tantrum when Barca scored & Alice calling him several impressive names! The following day we set off for Lake Atilan.

As we knew our next destination was a wee bit isolated we spent the morning shopping & stocked up our provisions so we could save money by cooking. Our transport to Atilan & a small town called San Marcos was a mini shuttle which really emphasized every bump & curve in the road. The last 3 hours of the journey were some of the craziest roads we have seen so far, steep drops & chicanes all the way. When we finally caught a glimpse of the lake it was all worthwhile, a truly spectacular view. We carried on on our winding journey until our driver decided he didn't want to go any further & chucked us out & paid for us to get a tuk tuk (small taxi-type thing) the rest of the way. After a short walk we arrived at our intended hostel & discovered a small problem- the place was deserted and there was no one there to check us in. After 45 minutes of waiting our hunger got the better of us so we made a start on dinner, figuring someone would turn up soon. Shortly after we finished and washed up, the manager arrived & told us there was no space! We kept our mouths shut about the kitchen & headed for the next place down the street which happened to be a lovely hotel... Thereby achieving the best of both worlds - kitchen to use and nice place to stay! Score! We spent the rest of the night playing chess & drinking wine in a very chilled bar at the top of the hill. Classy!