My family (mom, dad, and 15 year-old brother - my other brother is in college and could not come) landed in Guatemala City right around noon. Because I've been living here for 6 months and have access to a car, I was able to pick them up right at the airport. The airport is small and straightforward, so it was easy to find them without dealing with cell phones and unnecessary international rates.
Most tourists go directly from the airpot of Guatemala City to Antigua, preferring to bypass the smoggy, polluted capital for the tranquil streets and European charm of Antigua. Because the airpot is only 30-45 minutes from Antigua, this is very easy to do (there are many cabs/ shuttles at the airport.)
If you do want to spend time in Guatemala City, there are a couple of things I'd recommend. One is the Relief Map (Mapa en Relevé) in Zone 1, a gigantic map that is more like a miniature sculpture of the country, complete with mountain peaks, bodies of water, and labels. It is so large that you have to walk around the perimeter or use one of the two viewing towers to get a better view.
Because we were limited on time and wanted to hike Pacaya, we bypassed this Relief Map and headed straight for the Cemetery/ Garbage dump (which border one another) in Zones 3 and 7. The Guatemalan national cemetery is beautiful and, for an entrance of about 37 cents per vehicle, is well worth it. The cemetery is so large that it has a road system to drive along, and tombs ranging from lavish, Egyptian like burial chambers to walls of nearly-anonymous graves populate the place, all adorned in beautiful flowers and touting an amazing variety of stone, seraphs, inscriptions, and painted walls.
The cemetery is also perched on a cliff that overlooks the city dump. The Garbage Dump is epic in a sad, shocking, eye-opening kind of way - people pay a monthly fee and get access to search through the trash in order to find items to re-sell, and they (attempt to) make a living this way. This area of the city is a place where extreme poverty is not hidden in some overlooked corner, but very readily apparent. A great organization called Safe Passage, located near the dump, serves as an after school program for children of families in the area in an attempt to foster education, create opportunities, and break the poverty cycle in the city.
After snapping some photos and taking in the sights of the cemetery, we headed back in my truck up to the suburb where I live (Fraijanes), stopping at my friend's restaurant, and ate at Sunset Grill on km 15 of the Carraterra al Salvador (which I highly recommend, the food has a TexMex/ southwestern influence and is amazing) before dropping our stuff off at my house and heading towards Volcan Pacaya in the afternoon….
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