Picture this- you're riding in a minibus, packed with people from all over the globe trying to speak to one another in 3 different languages; English, Spanish, and Italian. It's loud, it's cramped, you have a hangover that rivals your prime college days, the ride ahead of you is 6 hours too long, and your best friend is possibly in an even WORSE condition than you. This was our ride to Antigua.
Caitlin and I were MORE than ready to exit our minibus when we got to the city of Antigua; we clearly had a great last night in Lanquin, and we arrived at our new destination with thoughts of making the new year even better but first a minor recovery was in order.
We took the advice of a friend we had met on the road and tried our luck at hostel called Dionisio but that may have been the worst decision thus far in our trip... we shall leave the friend unnamed for that reason alone. Lets just say that being woken up at 6am with firecrackers literally outside your dorm door and being torn up by bed bugs was not our idea of a pleasant time so we nixed that place as soon as the morning came.
We moved to a wicked fun place called Jungle Party Hostel and from the second we walked in the front gate we knew we were going to have a good time. We stayed up in the loft (if your over 5ft tall, watch your head on the rafters!!) and had good mattresses and large lockers to store our gear. They also include breakfast in their price per night which is awesome. The first few nights were hazy fun and we hadn't even celebrated the new year yet. ohhh boy....
Truthfully for me, Antigua was more of a miss than a hit, if you're into city slickin' it may just be the place for you. Good food, good nightlife, and large markets draw tourists to this destination but if your a beach bum like me, you'll find a way out fast! Caitlin will fill you in on our NYE night though, GOOD TIMES!
So I liked Antigua a bit more than Katie did- I really enjoyed wandering around the town with our friend Mike and exchanging info about the city and Fact-of-the-Day-type knowledge (yeah I know, nerd alert). It's a beautiful city with amazing architecture and great shopping, especially if you know where to look (thanks, Julie!).
The day of NYE we started noticing a lot- and I mean a LOT- of feminine clothing, mostly saucy silk bathrobes and corsets, floating around Jungle Party. Turns out, everyone got free beer that night if the boys dressed in drag. As for the girls, well we just had to wear these gold halos, like the angels we are! Stop rolling your eyes. I'm serious. Katie, myself, and Juliette (one of the Rebel Gypsies from Mirador, you reunite with everyone on the Gringo Trail) got a group of Aussie guys dressed up reaaal pretty, donned our halos, and started the party.
A bit of an aside: have we mentioned that the people of Central America love their fireworks? Cause they f****** love their fireworks. They set them off at 8pm, 7am, or mid-afternoon. They shout "cuidado!" (careful!) and then throw fireworks AT you. Yes, it's about as funny as it sounds. For a brief moment on Christmas, I thought there was a revolution in progress. That was a huge part of New Years- watching, hearing, and dodging fireworks.
We spent midnight with Juliette at the park watching- you guessed it!- fireworks and exchanging kisses and wishes. After that we went to a local club and reunited with some friends from Jungle, who had ditched the drag queen look (mostly) and were ready to party. The rest, as they say, is hazy. I mean history. The rest, is history. It was a helluva way to kick off 2013- may we all be as blessed in this year as we were in 2012!
No comments:
Post a Comment