Celebrating my 61st in Antigua Guatemala

My hotel room overlooks a gi-gund-ous (is that a word?) swimming pool

I wanted to take a trip somewhere for my 61st birthday mainly because the awesome trip I planned in 2020 celebrating six decades of me was cancelled due to the COVID. (I was going to go to Israel with a side trip to Tbilisi, Georgia, since I already was on the other side of the globe.) (In case you were wondering.) So, looking at my list of where I wanted to go before they chop my feet off, and comparing what was on that list with what was open in the COVID world, the tiny ball of the roulette wheel o' life dropped into the slot labelled Antigua, Guatemala.

The morning broke with me still in Flores, Guatemala, with nothing to do but wait for my airplane ride back to Guatemala City to catch the shuttle to Antigua. It was hot. There still was no internet. The museum that Google Maps claims exists still seemed nonexistent. So I hung out in the hotel's small rooftop pool (with very nice cool water). Here's the view:

Despite missing the first leg of my roundtrip flight from GUA to FRS (Guatemala City to Flores, for those of you who do not speak airport), it was no problem with the return leg. And let me tell you, TSA's collective head would explode if they knew what sort of security situation they have for Guatemala domestic flights at outlier airports.

Soon enough I was at my genuinely sincerely luxury hotel room in Antigua.

My room is the size of the whole island of Flores. I decided to splurge on luxury, especially given how affordable high-end luxury can be in the Age of the 'Vid. This is at least a $350 hotel room in the U.S. And that would be in a second or third tier tourist town. I'm not paying anything remotely close to that. 

I decided to treat myself to a luxury birthday dinner at the hotel's upscale dining room:

It was atmospherically dark. It also was chilly. The temperatures in Antigua at this hour are about 40 degrees less than Flores. (Low 60s compared to low triple digits, if you're into numbers.)

Three-course meal, since that seemed appropriate for a birthday, even if it is not one of the milestone ones.

For the appetizer, grilled asparagus and arugula, with almonds, balsamic vinegar and I believe that orange base is a tomato puree, but I could be making that up:

For the main course, it was beef tenderloin with a side of fettucine alfredo:

And here is one of those little things you miss living in the Age of the 'Vid:  they had salt and pepper shakers (salt and pepper grinders to be pedantic), right on the table! I didn't have to ask for little teeny-tiny white packets of the each. On my table! Unsolicited!

And since it was my birthday, I had to order a dessert. Not to do so would be uncivilized. So I ordered the brioche with caramel ice cream and -- these were the intriguing details -- "wild honey air" -- I figured something there got messed up in the translation and an "almond tile":

The brioche was basically a French toast with the sugar on top being put under a blowtorch. Yum. The ice cream is hidden by the "almond tile," but it has a nice deep flavor. The "almond tile" was a tasty almond cookie. The "wild honey air" was that useless dessert foam that adds nothing of substance but is bizarrely popular with the foodie community who loves novelty and does not seem to like things that taste good. The "air" took up space on the plate. It wasn't bad, but it added no value.

Feliz cumpleaños para mi. Yo tengo sesenta y uno años ahora.