Guatemala Snapshot: Birdies, Corn, Papaya, Plantain (at Sabe Rico, la Antigua)

I was in Guatemala last week, and passed briefly through the town of la Antigua, where I spotted this little scene at the back door of a restaurant kitchen (photo link). Nothing fancy; an iPhone snapshot. I think the birdies would like you to believe that they are just one of the melons.

The restaurant/chocolateria/pasteleria, Sabe Rico, is superb and I enthusiastically recommend it. Vegetarian-friendly. They have a beautiful, sprawling, verdant terrace in the rear with little tables and canopies where you can sit and enjoy your meal (or a tisane from herbs grown in that garden, or some local coffee, or a truffle from cacao beans farmed a few miles away). It's like eating cake in the garden of Eden: fig and cherimoya trees, fragrant herbs and flowers, and a white rabbit frolicking around in the grass. Here are some snapshots.

If you go, order the chocolate cake for dessert, and tell proprietor Juan Carlos that Xeni from Boing Boing sent you.