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Antigua...the old capital...the old, old city filled with monsterous ruins from it's glory years...and tourist from many countries.  Here the streets are all cobblestones...the size of baseballs...the stores & restaurants are ancient buildings & homes re-purposed without losing the character of the original building.  Two city blocks are crammed with handicraft items:  bags, purses, wood carvings, belts, ceramic figures, cultural clothing & trinkets so numerous it just overwhelms you as you walk by shop after shop as the merchants hound you..."Lady like a pretty scarf?  I have beautiful blouse.  Many color.  You want to buy bag?  I give you good price today.  Only for you. etc. etc."  If you dare let your eyes fall on an item, the sales pitch gets louder & faster...and if you pick up an item to examine it...good luck trying to get away!  Honestly, I would have like to buy more than I did but the suitcase space & weight is a good deterrent.  We followed a walking tour and located all the sites and learned much about the history of this city.  I especially enjoyed visiting an ancient convent that took up a whole city block.  It had a circular room where about 30 small cells had served a bedrooms.  I was surprised to see how many of the other rooms were now used as offices with hardly any change to the original decaying walls.  Of course, churches outnumbered the gov't buildings and one of each had been restored.  Another convent has also been restored including the archway above the street that provided a path for the nuns so they couldn't be seen crossing the street.  That convent is now a hotel.  Domes sit majestically on top of most every building and the wall that surrounds Antigua is covered with flowering vines.  And the backdrop to this beauty are three towering volcanoes...one that almost destroyed the city and one still quite active which Rog saw proof of.  Another active one, Pacaya is about an hour away.  We arranged a tour and around 4 pm we began the ascent...it was hot, steep & unstable.  After about 2 km, I gave into the guy who was walking behind me & leading a horse who every time I sat down to rest, would ask "Taxi?".  It was a blow to my pride...but I did enjoy the views much more...and the views were magnificent.  The winds picked up as we reached the bottom of the clouds...which luckily cleared for us so we could see the mountain top spouting steam!!  We also found a hot spot and roasted marshmallows in a crack in the lava that we were standing on.  Another lady had strawberries which she shared with us so we feasted & enjoyed the sights around us until almost sunset.  Then we hiked down...no horse ride...stopping only to take in the ever changing hues of the sunset over the mountains & valleys that surrounded us.  Covered with lava dust, we arrived back to our hotel ready for a shower and bed.