Mila

The other morning in Punta Gorda I asked the chap at the charter office if he knew of anywhere in town where I could get a nice cup of coffee. 

"No" ! 

Mientras tanto, I may sometimes wonder why Antigua Guatemala has an apparently denser concentration of espresso bars than any other location on earth, but a little more locally in El Panorama, we lately suffered the loss of our dedicated coffee shop at the gasolinera — leaving us with El Viejo Cafe Box: very nice almond croissants, but a bit of a schlep, plus a dash across the highway — so this rather intriguing new establishment with its mock ancien regime furniture, copper pots and chinoisserie is a welcome addition to the scene, especially as it has seemingly been named after our matriarchal kitty. 

And right opposite there is a lady selling some of the best refacciones in town throughout the morning: tacos, chuchos, dobladas, rellenitos etc. if you are not entirely into smooties and wafles (sic). 

The whimsy — and expense — that has gone into this garage conversion are immediately appealing, and unlike at certain other places around town (Bocetos...) the mis-en-scène transcends mere Instagram influencer bait. 

Now that the Juzgado has set up in our village (along with Comisaria 74), one suspects that the key target market will be licenciadas/os.