Traveling While Introverted

One of the great joys in my life is eating. I love talking about food, shopping for food, learning about foodways, and, obviously, eating. It’s a little tricky loving food so much when you have gluten and dairy allergies, but it’s amazing what you can live without. (I don’t miss pizza. It’s fine; Adam eats my share for me.) Among the many reasons we chose to explore Central & South America is the relative ease of food options for me. Everything is sin queso, sin leche y sin pan por favor (no cheese, no milk and no bread please). So far, it’s been delicious. 

Let’s start with breakfast. A desayuno tipico (typical breakfast) consists of eggs, blended black beans, a hunk of cheese, maybe some plantains or potatoes, perhaps salsa, and either bread or tortillas. As a SoCal girlie, I’m used to Mexican tortillas which are thiner and less malleable. Guatemalan tortillas are more reminiscent of a Salvadorian tortilla. 

From left to right: desayuno tipico from Mariana’s Petit Hotel in Guatemala City where we stayed our first night; desayuno tipico, waffles, and a bowl of fruit from Hotel Chilero y Cafe in Antigua. (Obviously, I did not order the waffles. The fruit came with yogurt and granola, which I declined. I’m also happy to report that papayas do indeed taste better here than in the U.S.)

From left to right: desayuno tipico from Mariana’s Petit Hotel in Guatemala City where we stayed our first night; desayuno tipico, waffles, and a bowl of fruit from Hotel Chilero y Cafe in Antigua. (Obviously, I did not order the waffles. The fruit came with yogurt and granola, which I declined. I’m also happy to report that papayas do indeed taste better here than in the U.S.) 

I don’t think I need to mention how good the coffee is here. It’s wonderful my fellow caffeine addicts. I do miss iced drinks, but hot coffee is growing on me significantly. (Why no ice? Because you can’t drink the water if you’re a tourist. So why is coffee okay? Because the water has been boiled. I can hear your aha! from here, reader.) 

As lovely as breakfast is, lunch and dinner are where it’s at for me. Guatemalan cuisine is pretty meat heavy, which has been a challenge for us. Typically, 2 out of 3 of our daily meals are plant-based and we prefer to only eat meat for dinner or on the weekends. Plus, it’s generally advised for travelers not to drink the water, which includes brushing your teeth or eating food that is likely to have been washed by local water. As the one with the more sensitive tummy, I have resisted fresh veggies so far. 

Our first lunch was at a restaurant called Urbano. Adam’s choice was grilled chicken with a salad, fries, and bread. (Apparently the bread is a little crunchy and sourdough-y, but airy.) I ordered a mix of beans and rice, plantains, and grilled chicken breast topped with an egg and tomato sauce. 

We need to talk about tomatoes. I freaking love tomatoes so much. I’ll order them almost any which way and just park in heartburn city for as long as needed because it’s worth it. (Unless it’s marinara sauce on top of gluten-free pasta. Feh, I say! What good are carbs if they don’t have the right texture?) I don’t know what they do to the tomatoes here but they are so flavorful and don’t give me heartburn. Fellow tomato lovers who suffer from heartburn: my friends, this might be the place to visit!

The next day, we visited and toured a coffee farm that is part of the De La Gente cooperative, which you’ve read about in our Antigua post. The homemade lunch we were served was just perfect. 

Chicken that falls of the bone in tomato sauce, veggies (halalu!), rice, tortillas and some hot sauce on the side. Y’all, Guatemalans do not joke around with spicy. I’d say I’m a solid medium at an Indian restaurant kind of spicy tolerance level (IFYKYK), but dang, this salsa was very spicy but oh so addicting. 

For dinner on our first night, we visited La Fonda de la Calle Real, a Guatemalan restaurant that serves traditional delicacies.

Pepian de Pollo (left) is a chicken dish with green beans in a Mexican mole-type of sauce, but it’s more delicate in its flavor. Pepian is the seed of the squash, which gives it that subtle flavor and helps thicken the sauce. Subanik is a tomato-based stew served with a variety of meats. Each came with rice and a small tamale with pieces of bell pepper. 10/10. 

After so much savory goodness, we felt like a sweet treat, which is a rarity for both of us. I’m not too fond of gluten-free and dairy-free desserts because I can still vaguely remember what the “real” thing tastes like. (O cheesecake! How I loved thee!) Often, they’re packed with sugar to cover up whatever alternatives they include. Adam doesn’t even like most desserts, so if someone (me) wants a treat, I usually just have fruit at home. Anyway, we took a gander at the dessert menu and look at what we got: fried plantains covered in a sweet mole negro.

If this just looks like a weird mess to you, I don’t know what to tell you. It was chocolatey and sweet, without being sickly, with a warm cinnamon and clove finish. Perfecto! 

(Shoutout to Leighton, Erin & Cori at the table next to us and for talking to us about whether or not to drink the water. Good luck in Texas y’all. May you travel muchly in your future!)

For our last meal in Antigua, we decided to go Mexican, which is funny because we weren’t sure how much Mexican we would find. (It was a compromise: I wanted traditional soups and Adam wanted Chinese.) Anyway, we got the goods: aguachile rojo de cameron (like ceviche but better in my opinion), al pastor tacos with grilled pineapple, and an al pastor burro. Frida’s is a favorite among locals and tourists.

So far so good, we say! 

As for my other obsessions, Jews and libraries, I don’t have a deep dive yet. However, I do know that Guatemala City has a Holocaust Museum and a few synagogues. In fact, when we were picked up from the airport, our driver found out we’re Jewish and said שלום, שלום! ברוכים הבאים! (Hello, hello! Welcome!) Antigua has a Chabad house and I know our next stop, San Pedro la Laguna, has a significant Jewish and Israeli population. More about that later. 

As for libraries: free, public libraries are a uniquely American invention (much like free public education and national parks), so who knows how many we’ll see. However, our hotel had a take-a-book/leave-a-book bookshelf for guests and one of the bars we visited had a “free” library for guests to read while they wait for the next turn of chess. I found my favorite translation of Don Quixote, a U.S. encyclopedia from 1937, and a Funk and Wagnalls encyclopedia run. (I was two wine glasses in so I forgot to take a photo.) Check out this sticker for a local book store. It says “Live to read, read to live.” Then, so randomly, we saw a used book fair in the main square of town. 

Well done Antigua!

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