Guatemala City: The Urban Heart
GUATEMALA CITY
The Urban Heart
October 19, 2022
On account of my legs feeling and behaving like spaghetti, I spent the next day chilling in my hotel in Antigua. I had the option to climb yet another volcano – that of Pacaya – but I couldn’t bring myself to leave my bed, not even to go out and eat. And so, I made my peace with not being able to hear or see more erupting volcanoes, at least for the time being. Meanwhile, a fellow backpacker I had met in Flores who had been at Acatenango a few days before me but had failed to see anything because of the clouds, was re-climbing the whole damn thing. Talk about dedication! But yeah…
The following day, somewhat recovered, I caught the bus to yet another capital city – Guatemala City. Here, I’d be spending just one night – meaning I’d only have a few hours to go around and make the most of my time. To complicate things even further, the universe was in yet another one of its ‘I hate Marius’ moods and decided to unleash a storm from hell, just to add to my list of obstacles. But obstacles, shmobstacles. I wasn’t gonna let anything get in the way of me exploring this metropolitan city!
The second I got to my hotel, I begged the concierge to help me set up a route that would show me the best of the city in as little time as possible. He said he could do me one better – and instead hooked me up with a city tour guide.
Exploring the City
In hindsight, he was practically just a taxi driver who took me around some places and dropped me off at others without so much as explaining anything to me. Having said that, I was still exhausted and sore all over, so I didn’t really mind.
Our first stop was the Plaza Mayor de la Constitución – a giant square with a large fountain in the centre and several important buildings flanking its sides: the Metropolitan Cathedral (which was closed due to some sort of celebration), the National Palace where the seat of government used to be (also closed), the National Library of Guatemala (yep, closed), and the Portal de Comercio – an old shopping centre (not interested). It felt so freeing to finally be roaming around a giant city square and feel the rain on my skin – no one else could feel it for me, only I could let it in, no one else, no one else! Oh wow, did I just burst into song? That’s exactly how freeing it was – despite my own personal chauffeur waiting for me, that is.
Whilst I didn’t take in much of the city square’s cultural value, I did spend some time just admiring the beautiful mix of baroque and renaissance architecture. In the centre of the plaza, in front of the fountain, was also a makeshift altar with 41 crosses arranged in the shape of a circle and a heap of flowers in the centre. According to a plaque right in front of it, this was built in honour of 41 girls who died in a tragic orphanage fire in 2017. Following protests and riots directed against those running the safe home, a mass escape took place, with the authorities confining the girls in a classroom when the police brought them back. The following day, a fire broke out in the same classroom, resulting in the death of 41 of the 51 girls locked in the room.
The driver then took me to Plaza España – a round square (oof, what an oxymoron!) – with a fountain dedicated to King Carlos III of Spain, busts and monuments of other relevant figures at the perimeters, and four intricately adorned benches with tiles donated by a municipality in Spain. And then, our third and final stop: Plaza Obelisco – aptly named after the obelisk that was built to commemorate the independence of Central America.
And that was that. Up until that moment, I had been to various places where I felt I could do or see more, mainly for reasons I couldn’t control. In the case of these metropolitan cities, it was an active decision not to spend too much time going around when I could be doing something more fun and wild.
While initially I thought that this came at the expense of getting to know more about the country – its people, its culture, and its history – I quickly realised that this wasn’t the case at all. These cities, especially a country’s capital, do their best to showcase the country’s value – usually through museums, exhibitions, and local events. I, on the other hand, got to know Guatemala through adventure and real conversations – a far richer way to connect with a country than any museum tour.
Guatemala… A country I had fallen deeply in love with. Despite everything being rushed and not having enough time to process the fact that I’d be leaving the following day, I knew I’d have to return one day. As much as I had loved Mexico and Belize, there was just something so raw and wild about Guatemala that had absolutely stolen my heart.