Even though I’ve been in and out of Guatemala for the better part of almost three years, there are traditions I’ve never encountered before and some which I still don’t fully understand. As part of Antigua’s New Year’s Eve celebrations, there were two such events I was looking forward to watching: The Baile de Moros y Cristianos (Dance of the Moors and Christians) and the Quema de Toritos y Alas (Burning of Wings and Bulls).
Baile de Moros y Cristianos
This dance is one of those traditions that have endured even though the actual events that inspired it occurred well before colonial times and a continent away. In Spain, this tradition is much more elaborate and recalls the time when Moors (or Muslims) dominated the territory that is now considered Spain. Eventually, the Christians reconquered their land from Muslim rule in the 15th century. By the time Spaniards established themselves in the territory that is now Guatemala, they had already been celebrating their victories over Moors for centuries.
These dances, in particular, were a not-so-subtle reminder for the Maya that the Spaniards were on the side of the “good” guys and would triumph over those who opposed them. Spaniards represented Virgin Mary in her customary blue, while the Moors were dressed in red, much like the devil, who was purported to be on their side. Additionally, there are good sheep and evil goats. This allegory played nicely with the Maya’s religious beliefs, which strongly assert the existence of good and bad spiritual forces and conveniently co-opted by Catholic missionaries.
Baile de Las Abuelitas
This dance is relatively recent, as the custom started less than 20 years ago. The Dance of the Grandmothers is a fixture at Independence Day celebrations in Guatemala. This particular dance company is from the nearby town of El Tejar, where the dance originated, though there is now a myriad of copycat groups, each trying to outdo each other. The Pregonero (Town Cryer) could also be seen walking around, announcing the start of each dance/event. Curiously, at the one event where the Town Cryer would’ve been the most useful – the countdown before the stroke of midnight, the Town Cryer went missing and was nowhere to be found.
Quema de Toritos y Alas
Another important tradition I’d never seen in person before was the Quema de Toritos y Alas (Burning of the Bull and Wings). The Spaniards also brought this tradition to Guatemalans, the latter who very much love their fireworks. To say Guatemalan love fireworks is akin to saying that fishes love water – they absolutely cannot get enough.
This particular celebration was tamer than most – in its traditional interpretation, the man carrying the contraption loaded with fireworks actively chases people around a plaza. In this particular one, the “bull” just limited itself to pacing up and down the center of the street.
Midnight Celebrations
As mentioned earlier, fireworks play an important role during any on here in Guatemala. Midnight in New Year’s Day is no exception. There are two popular places to await the stroke of midnight here in Antigua. One is in front of the Municipal Palace across Parque Central, the other at Calle del Arco. Having done the first, this year I had the opportunity the latter. Much more crowded than the other location, it’s not for claustrophobic people, although there wasn’t any pushing or shoving that one might expect. It was a fitting fireworks display to end the evening.
Restaurant Cerro San Cristobal is a neat place to visit if you want to get away from Antigua Guatemala for a while. It’s a relatively recent attraction in Antigua that opened its doors on October 2014.
Cerro San Cristobal doubles as an organic farm and vegetables from its farm are sold at Nim Pot, the highly-recommended handicrafts market on Calle del Arco / Arch Street / 5a Avenida Norte.
This restaurant/farm is hard to miss, as the hill it sits on can be seen from nearly anywhere in Antigua – just look for Agua Volcano, then look left of it for the small hill nearest to the city (to the southeast).
Getting to the restaurant is not very complicated if you want to drive up. Just head south on the road towards Santa Maria de Jesus and before you begin the steep ascent towards Agua Volcano, take a detour (left) towards San Cristobal El Bajo. Once there, anyone will be able to point you to the dusty, hilly road that climbs towards San Cristobal El Alto, a village atop the hill and the restaurant’s location.
A much easier option is to take head to Nim Pot, which offers shuttles to the restaurant – the roundtrip costs Q10 per person. There isn’t a set schedule, so be prepared to wait. The shuttles run daily, from 8 am to 6 pm.
Alternatively, you can call them directly at 7832-2681 and arrange for the shuttle to pick you up directly at your hotel.
Arriving At Cerro San Cristobal
The restaurant’s grounds are stunningly beautiful and very well done, as is the entrance leading up to the restaurant.
Entrance to Cerro San Cristobal
Stone steps leading to the restaurant
Views From Cerro San Cristobal
The views of the Antigua valley from atop the hill were fantastic and much better than those at Cerro Santo Domingo – no knock on the latter’s views, which are excellent if you’d rather see volcanoes.
View from Cerro San Cristobal
By the way, if you want to see New Year’s fireworks, this is a great place to do it. Check out this video, taken from Cerro San Cristobal at midnight on New Year’s Day:
While there’s the main dining area in front of the restaurant, there’s also a covered bar and lounge area below the main seating area, as well as quieter areas near the edge of the hill. I took the time to poke around and take some photographs of the gorgeous setting.
Lower-level seating area
Lovely plants throughout
Lunch with a view
Restaurant At Cerro San Cristobal
The restaurant has its organic farm behind the main building, and it’s where vegetables used to prepare the food are harvested shortly before consumption. Feel free to wander around and check it out.
There are tours of the farm daily in Spanish – call the restaurant for times. There’s also a greenhouse onsite with over 200 varieties of orchids.
Cerro San Cristobal’s organic farm
The restaurant usually has live music.
Live music – upper-level seating area
Service Reviews
*** This is an account of my first visit in 2014. Read below for my newest review ***
Since we were checking out the place after lunch, we weren’t particularly hungry – a good thing, considering that between the time we waited for the shuttle and the time we arrived, almost an hour and a half had passed.
When we arrived, there was no one to greet us nor the elderly couple that had come on the shuttle with us. We scampered about looking for a table and quickly discovered that, unfortunately, the only seating places available where those without umbrellas. If you’ve ever been to Guatemala, you’ll know the sun here is murderous between the hours of 11 am to about 4:30 pm – the reason those tables were empty in the first place.
At first, I was just content to take pictures and look around, but my wife, mother, and daughter were getting antsy. My wife went up to a waiter near the restaurant to ask when would tables become available and the server replied there weren’t any right now and promptly turned around never offering to help her find one.
As more people arrived via their vehicles, it became a ridiculous game of musical chairs, where people just milled about staring daggers into people that had apparently finished their meal and were taking their sweet time to get up and let others have a seat.
After more than 25 minutes of this, we headed downstairs and sat at the corner of the bar, having to look for additional chairs ourselves, as the two people manning the bar seemed unconcerned about us. Eventually, we resigned ourselves to sitting at the bar with our child. Not ideal, but also not a big deal since we weren’t about to order a proper meal.
After requesting a menu (none was offered), I decided to order a ceviche – it was delicious. Something to note here is that there’s no chicken or beef on the menu – only a selection of shrimp-based dishes that Bubba Gump would love: there’s breaded shrimp, shrimp pasta, shrimp skewers, shrimp salad, shrimp pizza, shrimp ceviche, shrimp quesadilla and shrimp smoothies. Ok, I made the last one up, but you get the point.
Tasty shrimp ceviche
There’s a tilapia farm being built on premises, which will broaden the menu. For now, a lot of the food on the menu relies heavily on vegetables and cheese – pizzas and quesadillas are your best bet.
After two enthusiastic thumbs up for the ceviche, we ordered some coffee, which was unremarkable and rather pricey at Q20.
Cappuccino at Cerro San Cristobal
*** This is my newest review (2018 visit) ***
I’m glad to report that I’ve visited a few times since my first visit. They’ve sorted out the seating arrangements and now a hostess makes sure that visitors are promptly seated or at least given an estimated time.
The service is has been courteous and prompt. I’ve also had the chance to try their pizzas. I highly recommend the shrimp pizza (lots of olive oil, so it may not be everyone’s cup of tea).
Prices At The Restaurant
Prices are for the most part affordable – at least much more so than at Tenedor del Cerro. You can check out the menu here.
The highest-priced item is the fettuccini pasta and salmon at Q125. Twelve-inch pizzas cost between Q70 and Q90, while plates of pasta range from Q50 – Q75. You won’t find red meat or chicken in any of the dishes, only fish or shrimp.
Quesadillas range from Q50 to Q55 and salads are Q40. They also have blooming onion starters, nachos, and other appetizers. Breakfast mains cost between Q30 to Q50.
The bar offers a limited selection of cocktails, shots, wine and other drinks, which should be more than enough to find a drink to pair with your meal.
As for the service, it left a lot to be desired. Granted, it was on a Sunday, and they were somewhat busy, but it didn’t look like there was anyone running the place or looking after visitors. It’s the sort of laid-back place that invites you to linger and spend a few hours in – which is hard to do if you have your mother, wife, and child in tow and no place to sit under the shade.
After we were done, we headed towards the exit to wait for the shuttle, which also took almost 45 minutes to arrive. Again, both shuttles arrived at the same time, almost empty, which speaks to lack of coordination, something that should’ve been sorted out after two months being open. After the driver arrived, we had to wait a bit while he unloaded boxes of frozen shrimp from who-knows-where.
As I got on the shuttle to head back, I was wondering whether we just had bad luck on that day. It turns out a very chatty group from Guatemala City got on the bus, and I was able to eavesdrop on their experience. They too had trouble finding a place to sit. When they tried to order some shrimp-based dishes, they were told the restaurant had run out (at 3:30 pm!). They also recounted how another time they visited, the restaurant was nearly out of everything, including pizzas. That said, they did mention that other occasions they were able to order food, it was marvelous, especially the pizzas.
I look forward to visiting on another, less-crowded day, maybe during the week, as I saw enough that made me want to give the place a second chance.
The shuttle and service issues seem to have been sorted out. I highly recommend checking Cerro San Cristobal out.
San Cristobal El Alto
There’s a small town just a quarter mile up the road from the restaurant. While the town isn’t that picturesque (it’s really tiny), it makes for a pleasant after-meal visit on Sundays, when the town hosts a crafts fair in the tiny main plaza. Their marmalades, made with regional fruits, are great if you have a sweet tooth.
I love Christmas festivities and Antigua has so far exceeded expectations this year. Celebrations kicked off with the traditional burning of the devil. With that out of the way, it was time to bring on the fireworks – Guatemalans thoroughly enjoy them. Took this pic at last weeks firework show:
Fireworks show in front of San Jose Cathedral
This week? More fireworks! I’m at home, it’s a little bit past midnight, and I can still hear fireworks going off in the distance. By the way, how did I know these things were happening? Easy, I checked my /your very own Antigua Events page (click to open in new window). No excuse to miss out on events now. Here’s a pic I took from Parque Central this weekend:
Fireworks show in front of Palace of Captain-Generals
But I didn’t go to Antigua on Saturday just to see fireworks. I was – I mean, my daughter was there really there to see Santa :
Santa Claus in Antigua Guatemala
Turns out there were quite a few mini-events going on in Arco Street this Saturday – including an appearance by Santa. All 100% free! It was nice to hear some Christmas carols…
Choir at Arco Street
… see the three wise men – which I grew up with as a Christmas tradition, not Santa…
Three wise men – or wise teens – in Antigua
…and see a live nativity scene, something I can’t recall ever seeing before. Pretty cool.
Live nativity scene
And of course, there had to be a nice Guatemalan touch. It ain’t a celebration here until marimbas are making music.
Marimba music at Arco Street
Since the night was chilly, we headed towards La Merced for some hot ponche, the traditional fruit drink of Christmas. On our way back, the live animals for the little ones were already out.
Live animals in Antigua
And before you ask, yes, I did touch that… donkey. They also had sheep. Or was it goats? What I do know is that it was also a good photo-op.
Riding the donkey in Antigua.
The streets weren’t very crowded…
Christmas at Calle del Arco
…because most people were hanging out at the other end of the park at the free concert. Even Santa stopped by to say hello to the crowd.
Free concert in Antigua
And this being Antigua, of course, there had to be a procession making the rounds, albeit a tiny one – well, not really a procession, but a posada. This one was honoring Virgin Guadalupe, whose celebration was held on Friday, December 12th. Maybe they were making up for having missed the big one the previous day?
Guadalupe procession at Christmas
And that was as good a Christmas-season day I’ve had in a while. No malls, no crazy crowds, just traditional Christmas carols to get you in the mood for the season.
***Looking for a list of Events happening in Antigua this month? Click here***
Santa Catalina Arch
Guatemalan Handicrafts
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***Shtileronow has a permanent location! Find the truck at 1a Avenida Sur #4 – Open from 8 am to 10 pm.***
While there are many food street vendors in and around Antigua and throughout the country, it’s unusual to find food trucks anywhere in Guatemala. Most street vendors usually prefer to set up shop in specific street corners or near/around parks. They rarely – if ever – move around. Add to that the cost of the vehicle itself, Guatemala’s high price of gas and maintenance required and it’s just not feasible for the vast majority of people to set up anything resembling a food truck.
The more I think about it, a food truck makes perfect sense in Antigua – rental rates for commercial spaces here are outrageously expensive, often thousands of dollars a month, making it difficult for business owners to break even. Set up a mobile kitchen and voila, instant restaurant. Prime real estate, very little in overhead, no high rents to pay – something the owner of Antigua’s first food truck, Shtilero, is finding success with.
Shtilero
The unmistakable Shtilero Kombi van
The Concept
Shtilero, a mobile sandwich shop, is the creation of Alex Houel – who came to Antigua via France. This incredibly cool food truck is a Volkswagen Kombi, the van made famous by surfers and road trippers worldwide.
It took a bit for Alex and his partner, Rocio, to find the perfect vehicle – he wanted a German model rather than the newer Mexican and Brazilian models. He found a 1971, Germany-built Kombi and set out to restore it from the inside out. The most notable modifications are the stainless steel kitchen inside the vehicle and the cut-out roof, the latter providing a waterproof roof and when raised up, the needed headroom.
Inside the Shtilero kitchen
Where to Find Shtilero
You can find Shtilero around Antigua on weekends and most weekdays. Because the Shtilero doesn’t have a set location, you’ll have to check their Facebook page to find out where they’ll be on any given day.
Most of the time you can find Shtilero parked either in front of El Calvario Church (at the end of Calle de Los Pasos), next to La Candelaria (1ra Avenida Norte), near Hermano Pedro Church (3ra Avenida Sur), or next to Tanque de la Unión (2da Avenida Sur).
They’ve found a permanent home at 1a Avenida Sur #4 and are open 8 am to 10 pm. They occasionally travel to Guatemala City and are available to cater events (phone # 5157 9176).
Story Behind Name
So what’s the deal with the name Shtilero? As Alex explains it, he’s from the northern region of France, Ch’ti, which when pronounced sounds like “Shti”. Wanting to combine an element of Guatemala into the name, he decided to mix the word “chilero”, which here is slang for “cool”. And that’s how Shti + Chilero begat Shtilero.
Side note: If you want to know what people of northern France are like, watch the French comedy “Welcome to the Sticks” – the most successful French movie ever made. From what I gather, northerners from France are the equivalent of southerners in the US… funny accents, kind people and good food.
The Review
But let’s talk about food. Is it good and how much does it cost? Well, it’s surprisingly affordable. Sandwiches cost Q25, but the combo is a much better deal at Q30 as it comes with rosemary-seasoned salted fries, a natural drink (mandarin orange juice was available when I visited), and a small pack of cookies – the last item nothing to write home about.
Meatball sandwich combo at Shtilero
On my visit, I had the meatball sandwich, which had a rich tomato sauce and a good amount of gooey mozzarella cheese – I really enjoyed it. The salted potatoes were an enjoyable and hearty side order, though a bit greasier than I would’ve liked. The mandarin orange juice was good and had the right amount of sweetness to it.
Chicken Pesto and Egg Sandwich at Shtilero
I didn’t try the chicken pesto and egg sandwich – the only other option that day, as the menu varies a bit. A customer that bought one gave it thumbs up, so I might try it when the wife orders one another day – I’m hooked on the meatball sandwich, so it’s not likely I’ll give this one a shot anytime soon.
If you happen to run into Shtilero, give it a try! Let them know Rich sent you. It’s a great alternative to Subway(yuck), especially if you’re craving a meatball sandwich, which can be hard to find in Antigua. Here are some more pics of the Shtilero bus.
Santa Claus in Antigua Guatemala
Christmas at Calle del Arco
