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Well Chefhagen is living in a extremely prime area directly on the lake with views that are 5 star postcard. In all my travels, I think it is one the finest locations in the entire region, truly beautiful and just perfect.

But, Antigua is also a very nice city to enjoy and live a nice lifestyle, offering a more robust social life, but where Chefhagen is far more remote, removed and relaxed, a small village nestled on the shore and hillside of the prettiest lake I have every scene outside of a area in near Aspen Colo, Maroon Bells.

Hey, Antigua is much nicer than anything in CR, thats for sure.

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@chefhagan: I LOVE Lake Atitlan too and possibly will migrate out there over time. I plan to shuttle out there every so often just for a change of pace. I won't live in Antigua because it's too noisy and busy for my tastes but instead on the outskirts of town where it is quiet. I will walk or bike into town and get my fill and go back home to peace and tranquility. Antigua is a vast improvement to where I live now and I am looking forward to it. Good luck to you too. Lake Atitlan is an amazing place.

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#34, PM me, this is my home except when I travel (which is often). Good luck.
Tim, you shouldn't have. Where the hell are you and how's the wife. Last I heard you lost her in China.

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chefhagan,

I've got some, and if you want some I'll have it brought on Saturday from Xela. How many boxes do you want? I'm also having some basmati rice brought over too, since it's Q180 for 10 lbs, vs. Q380 in Pana....

If you're in serious need, I have at least one unopened box of salt, and I'll be at the lancha around 9:30 to 10 tomorrow... I have to head over to San Pedro and Santiago tomorrow...

If you're in Xela or Guate, I think it's La Torre that carries Morton's Kosher in the box.

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Op - I loved Antigua when I first came here nearly 14 years ago. I lived many places all over town from the 5th Avenida area in the heart of the tourist pathways to in town places further out like near the cemetery, Candalaria, San Felipe, Panorama,and many more close in places, renting apartments. Now I live even further out of Antigua, just because I like a heavy dose of pastoral landscape in between trips into Antigua at this point. You can have the total immersion in a Guatemalan barrio or as I have, a very pastoral setting surrounded by coffee fincas and milpas if that is what you want, all within an quick bus ride into Antigua should you opt for public transportation. I loved living in the heart of things in my early years here as I went to most social events listed in the Revue to get to know the cultural landscape: concerts, art gallery shows, functions and celebrations in the parque central. Those options are not really available at the lake if that is what you are looking for. Some people want to get away fromt hings like that ...all a matter of personal taste.

Those first tastes of Antigua were very special to me and almost always in the company of a local. As time passed, Antigua did get more crowded during the daytime. I quickly learned which streets to avoid to get all over town w/o running into the crowds that congregate mainly on 5th Avenida and Fourth Calle toward Sta. Lucia and of course the market area and all of Sta.Lucia itself. The first years here I avoided gringos because I wanted to learn Spanish beyond the courses I had taken in college. I lived with Guatemalans at times and other times on my own, but always had exclusively Guatemalan friends from all social classes except perhaps the top1% and the bottom 1% though I did socialize with a family in a cane walled house high in Milpas Altas so I think they might have qualified for the lowest end of the economic spectrum. Only in recent years have I gotten to know the ex-pat community and it is a large and diverse one, from working young Europeans, Asians, Canadians and those from the USA, all the way up to the retirees who range in age from their 50's up to a few in their 90's. I have had and continue to have friends from all those groups. I suppose more than half my friends still are Guatemalans.

So you can have an in town life if that is what you want or a rural one very close to Antigua. One nice area with few ex-pats but little crime and a nice feel plus easy transport into Antigua is San Miguel Duenas. There are even smaller little communities than that one that are pleasant and still off the gringo trail. One place I would avoid, esp to buy land or property is the swath between San Bartolo and San Miguel Escobar into that side of Ciudad Vieja on the upper road that goes around the volcano from San Pedro El Alto. That area is prone to landslides, washouts and floods from runoff from volcan agua. The last three years or so there have been major problems, some homes lost and even some deaths from the landslides. There are developments going in up there but caveat emptor. Ask any local. They all know that is the least desireable place to live...some have no choice like the locals in San Miguel Escobar who are mostly quite poor.

The towns around Lake Atitlan have magnificent views as you already know and a pastoral life can easily be made there. But do know that that is still possible in the Antigua area just not in the center of town. One thing the lake has that trumps Antigua and always will is the lake itself.

If you LIKE shopping at shopping centers and like being near an international airport for convenience, then Antigua is your best option since it is closer to the capital. You do not sound as if you need specialized medical care, but if you did, that too is only available in the capital. Antigua has a nice but pricey by local standards private hospital, Hermano Pedro Privado. I think that the public Social Security Hospital on the road between Solola and Pana is the only option around the lake for full service emergency care, but I will let people from the lake fill out that issue as they know more about medical care there than I do.

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#37. Thank you! My next trip to Guatemala will be to check out housing and this information is extremely helpful. From looking online, you just assume the only option is central Antigua. Unless you want a prefab house in a gated community with a pool and security, you live on the outskirts. Again, this is just the impression online apartment searching gives. I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens outside those 10 square blocks.
I spent the first 20 years of my life growing up on a rural farm in central Illinois. I can safely say, I enjoy the hustle and bustle of city life.
Thank you again for your response.

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Levig, Thanks. I've got about 4-5 boxes but I hate to have people ask me what I need from the US and I tell them kosher salt vs rack of lamb.
If you order regularly from there I'll PM you when I get low.

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Gary, I am in Chicago, found wife and she is back here too, no more China for now. In NYC right now, will be passing thru your neck of woods in 3 weeks on way to Belize from Yucatan.

I see the Secret Service latest debacle is now the recent trip to El Salvador, geez, was Obama in Thailand lately too, those guys must of been overdosing..

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chef... Funny you should mention lamb. I'm the lamb wholesaler for Solola dept. I'll be going to my supplier in a couple of weeks to show them how to cut proper racks of lamb, and lamb tenderloin chops. Ask and you shall receive.... :)

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Cool. Let me know when you get a rack that looks decent.

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something is wrong. a post was made over two hours ago about a decent-looking rack and we have heard nothing from eddystonelightkeep.

are you OK, eddy? please send confirmation of life.

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OK--Just what is "Kosher Salt" and how does if differ from "salt"?

Working on getting rid of salt from Frac water from gas drilling---maybe I can call it "Kosher" and sell it? Like Bentonite--use it for sealing basement walls and it is $80 per ton; Sell it as "Edible Clay" in Health food store and it is $10 per pound.

Most interesting thing I've learned about Salt lately is why salt causes mercury in certain brands of chocolate bars.

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Never mind previous question on Kosher Salt--must be going senile as I forgot that I used to do wastewater work for Kosher chicken plants. Kosher salt is "Koshering salt"--just large grained, flat particles that take up more volumn by weight than other salts--Used to draw out blood from meat, not specifically used to flavor meat.

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Braxton...

I suspect eddy caught a bad case of Andiamo fever. It happens.