Falling behind on the picture thing....

But I'll catch up.

Yesterday and today were mostly spent walking, poking in and out of the markets, including Antigua's wonderful central "general" market and artisan market.

We also took a chicken bus to Pastores, a town famous for custom-made leather boots and shoes.  Since neither of us had a particular interest in buying a pair ... it wasn't a lengthy stay, but always a good time taking the banzai chicken bus ride.

This morning, we ate breakfast at Fernando's Kaffee:

  http://www.fernandoskaffee.com/

If I've ever eaten a better breakfast, or had a better cup of coffee, then my age and senility bar me from recalling.

It was that good.  Some sort of vegetarian crepe with cheese and fresh mushrooms, smothered in a homemade ... what could best be described as pasta sauce ... and a cinnamon roll that -- while not unusually large for its size -- weighed in at just over nine pounds.

And fruit.

And bread.

And some sort of 130+ octane double cappuccino that was borderline irresponsible on top of the three cups of joe I had in the hotel, on awakening.

We walked for hours.  The cool of the hotel room shows 77* and 70% humidity, so ... in the sun ... it's pretty darned warm.

We stopped at the central park to catch our breath, but then spotted yet another of the relatively famous coffee/baked goods places, and were inextricably drawn inward.

This time, a chocolate-Nutella thing ... whatever they called it ... and a simple cafe Americano.  Yum.

So that was most of the day, mostly out of order.

There's a German restaurant/beer garden, here.  We're going to try that, tonight.  They sell hefeweizen beers.  I like hefeweizen beers.  I think it's mutual.

I checked in with my optometrist.  They have NOT shipped my (much needed) new eyeglasses to my Florida mail forwarder, yet.  Ruh-roh.  They promised to FedEx them, today, though.  With luck, that means I can get them TO Antigua without having to stay here for an inordinate amount of time.

My "old" glasses -- the only ones I have -- have yellow-tinted clip-ons.  They do a good job of managing glare, but ... are a bit too dark for nighttime wear.  In dark towns with unfamiliar terrain, cobblestone streets, and all kinds of sinkhole-type stuff where you necessarily walk .... it's sort of a death wish thing for me to leave the clip-ons in place, but ... glare from lights is overwhelming if I don't.

See the dilemma ?  That's why I'll stay in Antigua until I can get the new glasses to come hither.

Tomorrow should see us taking a chicken bus to the local hot springs.  For now, I'm heading up to the rooftop terrace to bask a while.  I'll put up some pictures later.

Ciao for now ... from the coffee aficionados in the Antiguan office of ... The Gulag.