Evening traffic.....
Lakeside activities.
I arrived back on the mainland and was met by Renee my guide from Granada. It was a long day, stopping at Massaya market and volcano. I only managed to eat at the market as service was soooooo slow. I think I arrived just after a coach party. My attempt to have a little snack of fish soup failed as what arrived resembled a very large boullibaise in a dish the size of a mixing bowl, with tortillas,salad and a plate of rice, all a bit overwhelming. There was enough fish for several days meals. All meals are accompanied or preceded by a tea plate of salad, always exactly the same, and whatever accompaniments you choose, all seem to arrive! But the food is plentiful and tasty.
Our stop at the volcano was more interesting ( artesan markets can be a bit samey, so I wasn't too worried not to have had much time there). And I can't buy anything til my 'light ' flight is over!
Here I was given a set of evacuation instructions and guidance on how to conduct myself. We drove to the crater, where we could smell the sulphur and peer into the bubbling magma, quite an experience. And then when we looked outwards, could see two further edges of old craters. So we were standing at the edge of a new crater within two old craters. It was like a very large witch's cauldron!
We arrived in Leon late afternoon and went straight out to explore. It was very hot and I couldn't see how I was going to cool my room, but found later that the ac and fan did cool it significantly later. There were lots of Christmas activities with stalls and tableaux so I haven't quite avoided all of that. Also the Gigantes that they have in Spain were in evidenceand here they were trying to beat the Guiness book of records with the tallest one ever.
Tableaux at the hotel, one of its better features!
The hotel reception here was a bit 'frio' and poor in many ways, although there were nice open landings which I did sit on to sew on Sunday afternoon as it was cool there. There was no safe, no fridge to keep water cool, no hairdryer, rather dangerous looking shower with electrical wires going into it but It barely heated the waterand breakfast was pretty sad too! I did manage to circumvent the system one morning by ordering my juice, then asking for hot water for my tea bag ( it was juice or coffee), but the local juice bar more than made up for it. But it was really really hot in Leon and being a city quite intense heat.
On Saturday I had a city walk with a lovely young man who gave me a big hug when he left me. We visited the market and tried some sweets. There were all sorts of products, some food looked more appetising than others. It was the large slabs of meat and dubious looking fish, I had to hold my breath and walk past quickly! This lady in the photo has lots of pottery products including money boxes. They were all very friendly, I think because my guide chatted with them and was also talking to me in Spanish.
We also visited sites of the revolution and I was given a complete run down of the country's history and a lot of background about the revolution, General Somoza and the Sandinistas, in which Leon was at the forefront. It's amazing how real these things become that have been vague bits of knowledge, when you visit a country and hear it from the people. There are a number of Revolution murals and memorials around the city and the Myths and Legend museum we went to which had been a jail, had a lot of rather graphic illustrations of torture on the walls.
The cathedral, of which I had stunning views from my window, is the largest in Central America. We climbed to the top for views of the volcanos and also so as see the structure and the place where unmarried mothers used to have to go to worship separately! I got a rather interesting picture of a little boy peering in, in the evening when there was a wedding underway too!
My guide left me in the Ortiz Gurdian gallery, which was housed in a beautiful old colonial building across two blocks. It had a stunning collection of 20th century art including Warhol, Jasper John's and Diego Rivera and many Central American artists that were new to me. By this time I was exhaunted and my head full to bursting with new information.
After a quiet cool afternoon at the hotel I went in search of a restaurant for which I had been given a drink voucher. I seemed to be going further and further from the centre, into little streets like a rabbit warren! Then a lady called out to me with the name of the restaurants and said its round the corner! It turned out to be a little gem, so I had a lovely vegetarian meal and my free lemonade, and I mean real lemonade, really tart and refreshing! On the way back I saw glimpses of everyday life. There were people sat in the road on plastic chairs round a doorway, watching some kind of concert ! They appeared to be having a great time. Then outside one of the churches a man was letting off one rocket after another! The whole city was a complete buzz of activity. This morning a I had a look round some more of the markets before travelling back to Managua.
I am now trying to use all the mod cons of this rather nice hotel before I leave at 6 am, as I will be in a forest lodge tomorrow which doesn't have 24 hr electricity!
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