Palm Sunday in Antigua what a beautiful sight

Somewhere between Mexico and Guatemala we lost track of the dates.  We arrived in Antigua Saturday (not Friday) and spent the afternoon walking the streets with my sister and our friend Ana Sosa (referred to mostly as Sosa). 

That evening in their beautiful hotel we had a lovely dinner celebrating my hubby’s Birthday. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not really having any idea of where we were going next, and knowing that driving anywhere on Palm Sunday would be next to impossible we arranged to stay on more night in the hotel.  Sosa and I slept in the room and my dear, sweet husband stayed with dogs in the parking lot. 

Palm Sunday is one of the most festive days in Antigua.  The celebration of Semana Santa really takes off on this weekend and there are two processions.  The procession is a parade of sorts with the faithful dressed in white and purple robes like Arabs carrying huge elaborately carved “Andas” or wooden floats, and let me add incredibly heavy floats.  The andas are carried down the city streets, which have been decorated with elaborate “Alfombras” or carpets made out of dyed sawdust, flowers, pine needles and fruits.  The sole purpose of the alfombras is to mark the path for the faithful to walk. 

We were lucky enough to get to the church before the procession started to get a good spot.  It was a good idea to get there early as soon the area filled up and it was pushing room only.

 

From start to finish the procession takes 4 hours which means that different parts of the city are closed down to cars depending on the time and then there was another procession which went from 6 to around 11 PM.

Unfortunately, we could only afford one extra night in Antigua as the prices for the hotel sky rocketed for the rest of the week, so we headed off to see a different side of Guatemala… Mayan Ruins and the jungle.