We can smell the incense, the corn cooking on the grill, the sugary sweet candyfloss stacked up high above the head of a street seller. We can hear bells ring out from churches, sellers call out their wares, hand-pushed ice-cream carts rattle and jangle as they pass, and people chatting to each other in excitement everywhere you turn. I’m watching my step to not trip on the cobbles, and not step on the sawdust decorations. On every street people are offering things for sale, asking would we like to buy a palm leaf bouquet, or a candle in the shape of a pilgrim, or how about some delicately embroidered cloths or hats or shoes?
Antigua Guatemala was probably the busiest and most colourful place we went to on our trip. Semana Santa, or Holy Week, is the week around Easter and is a very important celebration in Latin America. We’d already seen processions and preparations in El Salvador, but nothing on the scale of Antigua. Semana Santa in Antigua is actually on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List, and attracts visitors from all over the world. We had coincidentally managed to time our arrival for Palm Sunday, having carefully avoided being there for what we thought would be the busiest time over Easter Weekend. It was quite an incredible experience.
Continue reading “Easter in Antigua: our unplanned visit to a world-renowned cultural celebration”