Antigua

We took a day trip to Antigua today. It is a beautiful old city that was once the capital of Guatemala. The capital was moved to Guatemala City after and earthquake destroyed most of Antigua. We toured the Jade Factory first, Jade is only found in a few areas of the world; Guatemala is one of those areas.
We then went to a coffee plantation. They are able to grow coffee in the rich volcanic soil. Coffee trees only produce enough coffee to make 40 cups of coffee a year. They do not tolerate hot direct sunlight so the coffee trees are planted in the shade of larger trees. The beans turn red when they are ripe.
After the coffee plantation we toured an old convent. It is now a museum as the nuns no longer live there.