Guatemala, Day 1

Last week, Tony and I were in Antigua, Guatemala for the wedding of my best friend from college. It was an amazing (and very full) few days, and I was so happy to be there to share that milestone in her life with her. 

Since I was a part of the bridal party, most of the days we were there I spent doing various (fun!) bridesmaid-y things. The first day of our trip, however, Tony and I explored Antigua and a nearby coffee plantation (Finca Filadelfia). Below are some of the pictures from the first day of our trip--enjoy!

Iglesia y Convento de Nuestra Señora de la Merced

Tones :)

Floats of the stages of the cross

Santa Catalina Arch, Antigua

Cathedral in the main square in Antigua

Fountain in Parque Central, Antigua

CAN I PLEASE JUST TAKE ONE NORMAL PICTURE OF US, TONY???

Breakfast at Cafe Condesa

Tony really wanted me to stop taking pictures of the food. I guess he was hungry...

Fountain in Cafe Condesa

Other buildings surrounding Parque Central

Now, for a few photos of the coffee plantation Finca Filadelfia. It was an amazing tour that ended with incredible coffee (in my opinion, this is how all tours should end).

Sweet Tones.

Baby, grafted coffee plants.

Sweet children that hang out on the plantation while their parents work to pick ripe coffee. They were so happy to be around us, and they really liked to ham it up for photos :).

This guy--what a sweetie!

What is this kid in the middle doing?

Special trees (can't remember their names for the life of me--some are avocado trees though!) provide the appropriate amount of shade for maturing coffee plants.

Ladies picking ripe coffee berries

Drying the coffee beans on the roof of the processing plant

One of the three volcanoes that surround Antigua. I think it might be Volcán de Agua, but it very well could be  Volcán de Fuego  (which we saw chugging out smoke many times throughout our trip!).

Drying coffee berries.

Coffee beans with their "berry" part removed

The current owner of the coffee plantation, and the name on all of the coffee shipped out from the plantation. It's exceptional coffee, for those of you who are interested.

Our last stop (before our tasting) was the roasting and packaging facility. I could have just lived in that room--the smell of freshly roasted coffee was absolutely divine!

That evening we attended the welcome party, where many of the guests began the weekend of celebration with a traditional dinner (roasted meat, vegetables, handmade tortillas--all so delicious!), a hot hibiscus tea drink and homemade cake.

Stay tuned for Day 2 of the trip, where Tony visited ancient Mayan ruins in Iximche, Guatemala!