Miles 4 Melanoma

With a short mileage day to get to Guatemala City, we took our time this morning, walking back into the main part of town for breakfast. We found and enjoyed a typical local place, with eggs, beans, good tortillas, and good coffee.

The road was somewhat hilly, but not too strenuous, but there was a lot of traffic, being close to a major city. Another recommended side stop that we had to miss was the nearby historic colonial city of Antigua. On the highway near the exit for Antigua, we came across “La Casa del Waffle” (The Waffle House). I’m sure the name was inspired by the American chain, but it was no official relation. It obviously catered American tourists; the parking lot had signs like “Jeff Gordon Fans Parking Only” and “Dale Jr. Fans Parking Only.” The inside was decorated with posters and pictures from Three Stooges films. We wondered if the owner had a particular fondness for the Three Stooges, or if he assumed that all Americans did. The food was good American breakfast fare, but with just enough of a south-of-the-border twist that we didn’t feel like we were totally selling out.

There was a scenic overlook for the Guatemala City just as the highway began its descent into the city. The traffic got especially heavy from here on in. We stopped in the suburb if Mixco, where we found a Sherwin-Williams store, and took a break to call Juan, our contact in the city. Juan gave us directions to meet him at El Obolisco, an easily-recognizable landmark near the city center. We dodged traffic for a few more miles until we finally reached El Obolisco and waited until Juan arrived to lead us in his car to the apartment he arranged for us to use for a few days.

We settled in at the apartment, which was in a very nice neighborhood of the city. We never ended up venturing out to explore yet this evening, though. After getting organized and catching up on other things in the apartment, we got tired and it got late, so we just sent out for pizza.

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