Alan Irwin’s Blog

As Pedro, our proprietor at Posado El Arco, told us; or as Dave Browne, espresso maker/seller to the stars; or Laura Lindsey, sommelier to many of us in Santa Barbara might say – coffee is like wine. We’ve found this to be very true in Guatemala. Of course, it all starts with the beans, but [...]

All the guide books make the 2-hour hike sound like a stroll in the park, and besides, we’ve climbed the 4-day Inca Trail over Dead Woman’s Pass. So we donned our good hiking boots and hopped in the van with a gaggle of mostly twenty-somethings – all of whom seemed to be at least 6 [...]

This is the blog entry you’ve been waiting to read, the one where we usually drone on about fantastic food for pennies a meal, the one that makes you jealous.
Early on, we explored the large outdoor market brimming with mounds of fresh fruits and vegetables. It looked like all the makings of many great meals [...]

Harriet continues to commandeer Alan Irwin’s Blog…
As we strolled several blocks south of Antigua central on our way to the Cultural Center, the chi-chi boutiques became scarcer and gave way to more residential areas, fewer tourists and an occasional Colonial ruin.
The Cultural Center was created by an agreement between one of the universities and the [...]

The approach into Guatemala City International Airport is one of the most dramatic (a close third after Hong Kong, where you seem to fly between the high rises, and LAX where the city seems to sprawl forever) and most beautiful. The city is ringed by magnificent volcanos with just a few halos of mist for [...]