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Archive for the ‘Travel Safety’ Category

Ant The Beet Goes On

Posted in central america, design, El Salvador, golf, Guatemala, hats, Living in Antigua, panama, Restaurants, Shopping, style, Travel, Travel Safety, tagged , , , , on February 20, 2015| Leave a Comment »

music! Nelson is playing multiple gigs..Panza Verde, Frank’s Place, Angie Angie’s…whew…Dr J and Piano Mike, an unlikely duo, at the Exit Inn tomorrow at 8pm…Alex’ latest creation/restaurant about to open in the rear of Nido Antigua.
and the mess they call 5th calle poniente(west)..workers working at 7pm, trying to finish the screw-up…Christophe says it’s been five weeks of hell and with the first of the big-time processions/with crowds beginning tonight…ah, Antigua..you really know how to screw things up. And no usual Friday night municipal band concert at the Palacio? why?…street under repair, that’s why..the Marimbas under City Hall had a crowd, some dancing.

changes? o where to start? the lower level bar at Casbah is gone…reverted to Djinn, one of the last shops..which means that Marvelous Marbel is out of a job, at least for now…heard that four bars have recently been raided/shut down for various infractions, with Las Vibras being one…the other three? dunno…unconfirmed info, as usual with A-Town..

and the traffic cops were actually directing traffic! as in working! the trail of cars leaving town was bummer to bummer..oops..bumper..
und zo..it’s a starry night, meaning a cold one..wrap up with someone, is my advice.
and tomorrow? the outflow of the latest public printing of Our Man in Antigua, hither, thither and yon..and it’s being included in the 2015 edition of the Moon/Guatemala Travel Guide (the best)..whoopee, I say..go to the Amazon site (they just sent me $$)at http://www.amazon.com/author/michaelsherer for the latest specials, some free.
so, it’s a choice between starting the fire or sending out for two fat women…eskimo stuff, you know…it’s the ‘fire’…cheaper/easier/less hassle and I figured out why there’s the occasional crease in my right knee…propped against the tuk-tuk frame to avoid the bumps…hah, he said…I came back in tuk-tuk #3, who is starting a hamburger business across the street from an existing hamburger place, Hamburguesa Gigante…neither will survive..the new Dunkin’ Donuts, across from Burger King on 3rd calle pon/west?…lines of people and they MIGHT make it..go out and make it a great weekend, somewhere, somehow..la vida es corte/life is short, we know.

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No Rain, No Pain

Posted in Guatemala, Living in Antigua, Travel Safety, Travel, central america, guatemala, tagged , , , , on October 3, 2014| Leave a Comment »

La Taverna mildly jammed, with some of the ‘unindicted co-conspirators’…even John aka Nazi Adams was there, just having flown in from NorCal….he’s 98% here, for good/bad or whatever…Mike d aka the ‘Perfesser’ due in next week…8th? they will both hang out at the Ponzi Bob chateau for a while (and yes, the Vortex People have left)…PB due in later in the year, wife and friends in January, just in time for another stab at promoting the virtues of gold in/around the  Motagua…

Bobby D, rockin’ the Snug! almost a capacity crowd…doesn’t take much per the size…and no, no ‘soft opening’ for the Edge Inn (Spiros/Alabama Bobs)deal with what was the Calle in the Nido Antigua…’talking about some remodeling to the bar…yikes! I liked as it was, and then opening mid next week, +/-….town packed with chapins aka Guatemaltecos…why? dunno…sidewalks jammed…

ran into two of my favorite people, GG Foto and Chocolate Bob…she’s headed for the States soon but is getting the Land Cruiser fixed (carburetor +)and wants to do road trips…he was passing out new samples of the latest chocolate creations (and his chocolate is my  personal fave).

and yes, no evening would  be perfect without passing by the Casbahs little downstairs bar…four bar people but the one I prefer…yeah…Marbel the Delicious…a visual delight and yes, we’ll be ‘doing dinner soon’….after next weeks voyage of the damned, aka ‘back to Salami’…or hide the salami, take your pick..it’s me, JR and the ‘ captain’….with a plan, maps and rum/$$…what could go wrong?

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Move Over

Posted in Guatemala, Living in Antigua, Restaurants, Travel Safety, Travel, central america, guatemala, tagged , , , , , , on September 25, 2014| Leave a Comment »

once more, from the top….the new Tropicana Hostal/Bar is serious competition for any…repeat, any other hostal in town…yes, Monica has done wonders with the Jungle Party and the Black Cat imploded and La Terrazza was coming along, with their Pub Crawls…but…and a BIG but…Tropicana is the new 800 lb gorilla in town. thanks to Rory and Laurel, with some help from some friends, the place is the best…ok? the best, hands down. Of course, for an grand opening all you have to do is say ‘free beer’ and  you’ve got a party on your hands…James Mullen/Laurel behind the bar, Christophe dishing up snacks..don’t take my word for this…go by…a swimming pool? yep..right in the middle, with wood planking…great rooms, ambience..

La Calle is changing hands…Spiros and Alabama Bob take over Oct 1…and a name change: the Exit Inn…with Spiros back to doing what he does best: cooking…yep, ceviche returns(and his is the best)plus burgers and….lamb kebab…greek style…I’m in….and maybe, just maybe, they continue the Thursday night vodka special…any brand, 15q…so, I sucked down two Stoli’s…30q…

Sobremesa is doing a special take on Guatemalan ‘tipico’ food tomorrow…7pm…and adding spice/flavors to  what is…mild/unimaginative…and per the rain or lack of it, it was a quiet aka dead night for restaurants…even Piano Mike and the tasty Andy Z. Luna were looking at a empty room at Travel Menu…everyone..repeat, everyone was at the Tropicana opening…even the ever tasty Marvelous Marbel was alone at Casbah’s little pub..I would’ve stayed/kept her company but the rain was starting..

so…if you’re into whiskey and in Bodegona, check out the Crowley’s…’tipo whisky’ the label reads..but if you read the list of ingredients on the back? 98 % alcohol, 25 whiskey…is this legal? who cares?..La Taverna? slowly dying, as is Ocelot…why? 6th calle is the new center of town, with more bars per block than anywhere else…they’re not the best but they have sucked up the business..the Snug, Travel Menu and so on…north 5th is over/dead..4th calle is restaurant land, with Micho’s and Sobremesa fighting over the biz..Tartines, with ‘the best terrace in town’…a joke..and dead..Fusion getting some action, along with Mamma’s…but not much, not on these rainy September nights..it’s generally a slow month, so take a vacation and shut the doors..and Mayra of Mamma’s…the only person in town who is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America?

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Somewhere, Over the Rainbow

Posted in Guatemala, Living in Antigua, Restaurants, Travel Safety, Travel, central america, guatemala on September 3, 2014| Leave a Comment »

so? the ever lovely, ever statuesque Tanya returns and then is bailing(leaving) Antigua…soon,it appears..damn…Nazi John returns Oct 1 or 2nd…rumors of an open tab in his name at La Taverna…til then…it’s not a good trade but that’s Antigua..and I guess that the ‘Gala’ event of the week is the 1 year anniversary of La Taverna…thursday night..

and yes…another bar  opens! Frank and Fre…6th calle, #18 oriente….rotsa ruck, that that location…as if Antigua needed another bar..like the Segue Way folks…dumb idea, dumb location..

and there’s a great exhibit of Mayan stuff at Santo Domingo…and free!

Piano Mike and Booby Darling are doing music, here and there (I forget, ok?)…Gracie inbound in 
October..and Don Marco surfaced, with his link/URL…if you want it, let me know…I don’t

and no, no Zacapa run this week…HBT faded…”dont’ count on it.”….right..thanks..

if nothing else, I’ve scoring at the paca this and last week..thanks, Dr J, for reminding me of the ‘Big Paca’..great stuff, great prices….Shaun of O’lot leaves soon for Greece etc..Santorini! yes…3 or 4 times…but I forget..and thank you, for the great compliments…a lady from South Africa, loves ‘Our Man in Antigua..’that’s the concept…

I have just arrived in Antiqua yday follwoing an article I read in a magazine in South Africa and found your book in the reception of Chez Daniel. Thank goodness for this as I am just about to start my expeditions, so reading the book gave me huge insights ito what to do and what not to bother with.
I loved the Housestohomes Org. I was not plannign on doing any charity work during this trip but have just written to them and will go help out for a day or so.

hey…whatever works, right?

www.amazon.com/author/michaelsherer…

 

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The Flip Side

Posted in Living in Antigua, Restaurants, Travel Safety, Travel, central america, guatemala on June 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »

even in the rain, Francisco our local MLM source of dubious goods, showing a large carving of black jade to a Chapin couple..and the crippled guy w/crutches, who used to have a camera in the park? sad to say, some of us raised $$ for him to buy a camera or have his fixed..one even loaned him a camera in the interim…$$ gone, camera gone….

Nelson, working Micho’s and talking of being in northern californicated soon..and where’s Ignaciio, the Cuban? still working at Panza Verde? don’t ask me..haven’t been to PV in months….Mono Loco celebrating their 15th anniversery tonight…La Taverna with a smaller than usual group for happy hour, still pushing that low end cheap vodka, worse than Pavlov…

Beverly B!  long time ex-employee of O’lot/Lava…working downstairs at Pelicano Sport and sporting a new lip ring and a few new pounds….the ever marvelous Marbel upstairs, wearing an outfit that left everything to the imagination.

Caffe Bourbon, despite a new TV…empty…a few crowds/bunches/herds of Christian folks  heading out…and where are the Mormon lads, in their white short sleeve shirts, black pants, bad ties and back packs full of Books of Mormon? and where is my new computer guy, s’posed to return and mate the new monitor with the  laptop? right..he’s been paid and I’m holding the bag(empty) so, who cares? I’m in, dry as dry can be..the rains are falling, lightning nearby, it’s Friday the 13th and a Full moon…and if I have to change ONE more password I’m gonna scream..I have a special little book fulla passwords, for this that/etc…next, I’ll have to have a password to let off the Beretta..and I’ve got it…Fu.. You!..bang!…

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Ruby Tuesday

Posted in Guatemala, Living in Antigua, Restaurants, Shopping, Travel Safety, Travel, central america, guatemala, tagged , , , on January 24, 2012| Leave a Comment »

an old Rolling Stones song, as i recall… and then I’m as old as the ‘Stones’ so if you can’t remember, it’s okay…it was a quiet a night in A-Town as it gets…dos Reilly’s closed, anyone else with a lick of sense lo mismo…only Gaia on upper 5th hopin’ for walk-ins…the very delicious Flor M closing shop at 7..Alex of Sobermesa recounting a long day in the City..involving tuxedos and rum…go ask him..it was hilarious.

Frener Printing!…5th ave sur…cranked a perfect copy of the book in  24 hours!…Mike bought the only copy ever in white(the cover)..everyone else asked about the choice between the orange-ish red and the white version went for the orange-ish red…thank you, one and all…i felt the same but there’s been times when my judgement(sic)hasn’t been exactly 100%…

looks like Maggie M has rented out the space between what was Poco a Todos and the new cafe casaca(and they’re doing great)…Los Cebollinas doing a decent breakfast biz, at least on the weekends…otherwise, it’s a dead zone…and if I start flogging the Great Venetian Masked Ball..Feb 17th, San Jose El Viejo…it’s because the ever delectable Gabi talked me into being the ‘moderator’…whatever that entails(means)…

thanks again to Franklin of the Whiskey Den, Robbin Haas(B5) and John Rexer for signing off on orders of the book..the Pirate Radio Guy in Travel Menu…the project is hung up, just a little bit…it’ll fly,,,give it time…

thanks, H, for the shot of rum and the good words…let’s see..a sample of scotch at whiskey den, a shot of stoli at travel menu and a shot of rum? could i be the souse of the border?

the fire is smoldering in the fireplace(i can smell it) and a match to the paper would accelerate events…and daughter #2 is moving to Wales with her her husband…whatta day..i love this life..tim for a shot of pavlov and then start barking like a dog when the bell rings…woof!

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Non Compos Mentis

Posted in Guatemala, Honduras, Living in Antigua, Restaurants, Shopping, Travel Safety, Travel, central america, guatemala, tagged , , , , on December 28, 2011| Leave a Comment »

‘been one of those days…and it’s early still..’passed ‘she of the smile/laugh’ earlier…no recognition…ok, fine…it was what it was, when it was..and i thank her for that.

Panza Verde? idiots…firing the one marketing/graphics person who’s done a helluva job? adios, ms A…too good, too talented, too gorgeous and too threatening to the tiny brains(sic)running the place..as always, money talks and bullshit walks…they’ll play hell finding a replacement…was it $$ or envy? pick B…too good for that operation..

Pangea’s Edy in tonight, with a small dinner crowd…please, make him an offer to buy the plaee and yes, they’re still advertising for a bartender..and thank you, Pat F..explaining that the real Emma is in England and not cavorting with Peter in Texass..i know..i take one plus two and it equals sic..sis..six

more kudos to Shaun of Ocelot for promoting the 100 reasons for liking Guatemala..alas, Ruslan and lady departing O’lot for San Francisco on the 9th of January…Marvel! this may be your shot at working there…show up, dammit…Iris doing a great job, btw..aka Lucy.. and yeah, the book is selling..https//www.createspace.com/3755222….have at it..or the ebook version…https//www.smashwords.com/books/view/114724

‘word is that Mark Francis aka Jeffrey whatever is doing fine in prison(per Pat F)…and no news on john Wilbur…Elle’s in India having a great time..Carla B’s in Roatan, West End and looking for a job..sailing doesns’t appear to have agreed with her..me, either.. 

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