Perhaps Elizabeth Bell should be called the accidental urbanist.
That
she would spend more than three decades as a leading voice for preservation of
Spanish Colonial Architecture and urbanism in Antigua, Guatemala
is a destiny that happened by chance.
Born
in Burlingame California
and raised in Palo Alto until age 14, Bell came to be the bilingual voice for Antigua’s
preservation because her dad was an accidental traveler.
“My father was working with Sunset Magazine in Menlo
Park, California and took a
trip to Costa Rica and Guatemala and fell in love with Antigua. He decided to move there with my mother and
me!,” Bell
explains.
For the uninitiated, Antigua is a grand city that once served as
capital of Guatemala in Central America.
Ravaged by earthquakes, most of the inhabitants fled to what is now the modern capital of Guatemala City. Thankfully there wasn’t enough money to spend on tearing down the old colonial city and a few folks never moved from it.
Elizabeth Bell profile continues tomorrow Dec. 21
Ravaged by earthquakes, most of the inhabitants fled to what is now the modern capital of Guatemala City. Thankfully there wasn’t enough money to spend on tearing down the old colonial city and a few folks never moved from it.
Elizabeth Bell profile continues tomorrow Dec. 21
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