{"id":13597,"date":"2020-07-14T09:00:02","date_gmt":"2020-07-14T13:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/?p=13597"},"modified":"2020-07-14T09:57:48","modified_gmt":"2020-07-14T13:57:48","slug":"un-viaje-virtual-a-guatemala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/un-viaje-virtual-a-guatemala\/","title":{"rendered":"Un Viaje Virtual a Guatemala"},"content":{"rendered":"

Normalmente paso el verano viajando, pero eso no es realmente posible este a\u00f1o<\/strong> (I usually spend my summer traveling, but that’s not really possible this year). I never stop dreaming about travel, though, and neither should you! That’s why I’m going to continue my “virtual tours” here on the Spanish blog. Hoy viajamos a uno de mis pa\u00edses favoritos: Guatemala<\/strong> (Today we’re traveling to one of my favorite countries: Guatemala).<\/p>\n

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The incredible Lake Atitlan.<\/p><\/div>\n

La Capital<\/h2>\n

La Ciudad de Guatemala es la zona urbana m\u00e1s poblada de Centroam\u00e9rica<\/strong> (Guatemala City is the most populous urban area in Central America). The urban area is home to nearly 3 million people in total. That means that about 1\/6th of the country’s population lives in the capital.<\/p>\n

El nombre oficial de la ciudad es Nueva Guatemala de la Asunci\u00f3n<\/strong> (The official name of the city is New Guatemala of the Assumption). To many locals, though, it’s simply known as Guate<\/em>. The motto of the city is “Todos somos la ciudad<\/strong>” (We are all the city).<\/p>\n

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Image by Padraic from flickr.com.
Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

La ciudad de Guatemala es el centro pol\u00edtico, econ\u00f3mico y cultural del pa\u00eds<\/strong> (Guatemala City is the political, economic, and cultural center of the country). This sprawling metropolis in a valley is divided into 22 different zones.<\/p>\n

You can head to the Centro Hist\u00f3rico<\/strong> (Historic Center) to see some of the most important landmarks in the country, such as el<\/strong> Palacio Nacional de la Cultura <\/b>(the National Palace of Culture). Due to its greenish color, it’s also humorously known as El Guacamol\u00f3n<\/strong> (the Big Guacamole).\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Dentro de los confines de la moderna ciudad est\u00e1 la antigua ciudad maya de Kaminaljuy\u00fa<\/strong> (Within the confines of the modern city is the ancient Mayan city of Kaminaljuy\u00fa). The name means”Hill of the Dead” as it was home to some very richly adorned tombs. It’s definitely an interesting place to visit if you’re in the city.<\/p>\n

Desafortunadamente, solo he estado en el aeropuerto de Guate<\/strong> (Unfortunately, I have only been to the airport in Guate). It doesn’t have the best reputation as a tourist destination and isn’t the safest place to visit. I’d like to check it out one of these days, though, probably on a day tour from our next destination…<\/p>\n

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Antigua<\/h2>\n

Before the capital was in Guate, it was here in the city now known as Antigua. After all, la antigua<\/em> really means “the old one.” Gran parte de la ciudad fue destruida en un terremoto<\/strong> (Much of the city was destroyed in an earthquake). After this happened, the capital was moved to a safer region.<\/p>\n

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A procession in the Central Park of Antigua.<\/p><\/div>\n

Hay muchas ruinas para visitar aqu\u00ed<\/strong> (There are many ruins to visit here). Seeing the beautiful ruins of these ancient churches is definitely a highlight of visiting Antigua. It was even declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.<\/p>\n

Antigua es una ciudad muy tranquila<\/strong> (Antigua is a very tranquil city). The best place to soak up the atmosphere of the city is its Parque Central<\/strong> (Central Park). Both locals and tourists love gathering here all throughout the day, and the place really comes alive at night.<\/p>\n

La ciudad est\u00e1 rodeada de tres volcanes – el Volc\u00e1n de Agua, Fuego, y \u00a0Acatenango<\/strong> (The city is surrounded by three volcanoes – the Volcano of Water, Fire, and Acatenango). While this makes for some stunning scenery and some epic hiking, the danger of having active volcanoes around is very real. Fuego just erupted a few years ago causing great damage and hundreds of deaths.<\/p>\n

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View of Antigua from the Cross on the Hill.<\/p><\/div>\n

Para obtener una vista hermosa de la ciudad, camine hasta la cima del Cerro de la Cruz <\/strong>(To get a beautiful view of the city, walk to the top of the Cross on the Hill). It’s just a few blocks north of the Central Park and is the perfect place to go on a clear day.<\/p>\n

Antigua es uno de los mejores lugares para aprender espa\u00f1ol<\/strong> (Antigua is one of the best places to learn Spanish<\/a>). There are several excellent Spanish schools here. Classes are very affordable and Guatemalans generally speak quite clearly and not too quickly.<\/p>\n

El momento m\u00e1s emocionante para visitar Antigua es durante la Semana Santa<\/strong> (The most exciting time to visit Antigua is during Holy Week). The city hosts some of the biggest processions in the entire world and it’s an amazing sight to behold. Read more about it in this post<\/a> and check out some video highlights below:<\/p>\n