Well this day was the day that Sharon and I decided to bunk off! All we really wanted was a bit of a lie in and a chance to wander about by ourselves, with maybe a wine or a beer now and then. 

Everyone else was off on a walking tour of yet more churches and museums. I have no time for churches, as I don't believe all the claptrap they throw out to the masses. When you've seen how opulent the churches are, especially the Catholic ones, and how poor their congregations are, it is time to question the validity of their role in society. 

I like museums but usually only enjoy certain parts of them that appeal to me personally. I don't want to be led from exhibit to exhibit with lots of chat about stuff that doesn't interest me. I am fairly well read and, no,I'm not a  know-it-all, but I do know what I like. 

So, we decided to wander at will and maybe join up at the restaurant for our paid-for lunch. 

Breakfast was a delight with no feeling of urgency and we wandered off at about 10am to explore the delights of Antigua. As we left the hotel we saw five fully armed soldiers standing around the entrance to the hotel. Bit odd? Well, what the hell, Guatemala was sometimes like that! 

We decided to have a wander around the plaza, where there was a kind of covered craft market going on and then we went off, (Sharon's map directions), looking for a jade shop that Ivania had recommended and then, from there, the plan was to go to an old convent that had been converted into a 5 star hotel, which is where the museums were located. Lunch was to be a few blocks away. 

Oh, Sharon, why did I let you read the map? 

Completely the wrong direction, but we met some lovely puppy dogs along the way. 

Sharon is a real soft touch with puppies, I love her for that. It is so nice to meet someone who has the same appreciation of our faithful canine friends. Personally I find dogs much more reliable than humans, don't you? 

We strolled through the craft tents and were quite tempted but didn't succumb. 

Our aim was to go to the hotel cum ex-convent, known as Santo Domingo, and then meet up with the others for our free lunch. After circling the plaza a few times like a homing pigeon, eventually we set off in the right direction and found the jade shop. 

Sharon was busy looking at all the jewellry. I'm not really a fan of jewellry. There are all different colours of jade, not all green. She eventually chose a necklace and earings in lavender jade which is only found in Guatemala. I was quite interested in a jade mask in boring old green, but decided that as it was basically wood with a thin covering of jade, it wasn't really worth the money. ($500). so I left empty handed, as usual. Ok so I'm picky, I can't help it! 

When we reached Santo Domingo it was amazing. Although the convent itself was in a state of disrepair, probably due to earthquake damage, you could easily envision what it must have looked like in those days.  Obviously the nuns knew how to live.  The hotel part was obviously not a ruin as it was a 5*

The place was immense, with large outdoor areas covered in beautiful plants. There were Blue and Scarlet Macaws all around the outdoor spaces, fountains everywhere and, to be honest, none of the austerity that you expect in a convent. 

We had discovered a kind of modern art museum on the way in, that seemed to focus on the horse as its theme. There were some lovely bits of artwork there. However, there was also the most amazing glass museum which was very skilfully displayed. It featured the old Mayan art alongside that of similar subjects in the modern European and African or Australian art as contrast. The modern glass pieces were exquisite and I started lusting after several of them, which is so unlike me, as I'm usually a bit of a philistine! 

There seemed to be some kind of Jewish ceremony going on in the entrance to the archaeology museum, lots of skull caps and head bobbing, so we bypassed that and we also bypassed the silver museum as it cost us money to go in. 

They were preparing the main chapel for a wedding later in the day, what a lovely spot for a wedding! So we just wandered around. There was an area that had two intact cases of two skeletons. I'm not sure who they were supposed to be, but I can safely say that they were dead! 

We failed to find anyone from our little band of travellers, despite Ivania saying that they would be there around 11.30. So we decided that we would come back tomorrow to finish off our tour and go direct to the restaurant. They were due there at 12.00, so we trotted in and sat ourselves at the table, ordering our Sauvie Blonk along the way. 

Two glasses later we were giving up hope that they would turn up, so we ordered our meal. Just after our soup arrived, so did the rest of our party. They had not been allowed into the hotel, due to the wedding. We had just walked in as though we owned the place and nobody had tried to stop us. 

Sharon and Jill 1 ..... The Rest 0 

We finished our meal and hitched a ride back to the hotel. There were still armed guards everywhere. Wassup? 

At last, we found out. 

Jimmy Morales, ex TV comedian, now President Elect of Guatemala, had been at our hotel for breakfast. Aaaah, that explains it. Too bad he arrived too late to meet me, his loss, not mine! 

The rest of our afternoon was at leisure, so we wandered about getting to know the local .... puppies. 

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, it was tiffin time again. It all comes round so fast!! And, once again, we were off to have dinner on our own.

There was an option to on a Life in A Guatemalan Village optional tour but I had seen enough Guatemalan villages and lives, so opted out. It turned out that the consensus was, that it wasn't really worth going to. Result!!

Despite our good intentions we ended up once again at the Contessa's caff with more pie and a pot of tea each. Well why not, we're on holiday!!

Tomorrow we're on our way to the airport to fly to Flores in northern Guatemala. All in all I will have done seven flights on this trip!