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Queso fresco, queso de capas, queso de Jalapa, queso de Petén, queso de Taxisco: it’s all here, deep down in the lower levels of the Mercado Central in Zone One of Guatemala City.

text and photos by Michael Sherer
Set at the northern end of the enormous Plaza Mayor, Guatemala’s National Palace is the origin of all the roads in the Republic with a spot known as Kilómetro Cero. Two and half miles north of the gleaming chrome-and-glass towers that line the Avenida La Reforma, the edifice is flanked [...]

If Copán is a quarter-sized version of La Antigua Guatemala, San Cristóbal de las Casas, one of the few remaining colonial gems of Mexico (founded in 1528) is Antigua times three. And, whereas the good people of Antigua seem to revere their city’s signs of age, in San Cristóbal, they have painted, patched and applied mascara. The inner center of the city is designed for walking, shopping and eating, with several streets closed to cars.

A bit of history: Granada is the oldest city in Central America, founded in 1524 by Francisco Fernández de Córdoba. Time has not been kind to the “Great Sultan,” named in honor of its Moorish namesake in Spain. The city has suffered the slings and arrows of fortune, ranging from devastating earthquakes to the likes of that infamous pirate Henry Morgan, who sacked the town in June 1665.

text and photos by Michael Sherer
Haunting sinuous melodies interwoven with cañas and Peruvian pan pipes, punctuated by a perfect blend of voices backed by guitars and 10-string charangos, peppered with conga drums and a professional quality home-made bass drum fill the green-and-white room at the La Peña de Sol Latino restaurant and bar five nights [...]

Five blocks south of el Parque Central in La Antigua, located at 4a avenida sur #2, sits a local treasure: the Steve Skelton Memorial Library, operated under the auspices of the local American Legion post. Behind the vivid blue stucco walls and through the black iron gates lies a reader’s dream, set in two overcrowded rooms stacked from floor to ceiling with over 30,000 volumes and the most unusual assortment of books in town.

The EcoFiltro has won awards for sustainable technology, now there is a need to make many more of them
written by Michael Sherer
On the outskirts of La Antigua Guatemala, set back in a corner of the 22-acre, lushly planted Finca El Pintado, is the factory that churns out daily miracles: clay pots, crafted from the best [...]