Hot and Cultured
Day 70
When we decided to go to El Salvador it meant that rather than backtrack to see the rest of Honduras we would just tuck into the country and then head south to Nicaragua, where we planned on spending more time. So we caught a bus south to the capital Managua from Tegucigalpa, our final destination being Leon but since it was faster to take an international bus with King Quality we did so. Oh and much more comfortable, this was sort of like when you splurge on a nice hotel to spoil yourself. We splurged in a nice bus company to spoil ourselves. Double decker, food service, movies and good washrooms. This was a nice change from the usual chicken bus, it´s also something we don´t want to make a habit of since at $35 the cost is close to 5 times the price of a regular bus. We spent one night in Managua, a night where I didn´t sleep for more than 5 minutes. I really don´t remember the last time I was this sick, severe stomach pains and non stop diarrhea. It was not a fun night. Regardless in the morning I felt better and we caught a bus for the 1 hour trip to the intellectual centre of the Nicaragua, Leon.
We both took an immediate liking to Leon. Its a beautiful colonial city that has not been restored extensively, there is a rough but romantic grandeur about the city. Besides the fabulous architecture the seems to have a beautiful church on every corner, great museums and even good vegetarian food. One of the first things we noticed about Nicaragua is that the cost of things is lower than the neighbouring countries. A good measure of the cost of a country is usually the cost of beer. It is common to find a bottle of beer in Nicaragua for about 75 cents, and the beer Victoria is some of the best I have had. We did a lot of wandering in Leon as that is the main attraction, and really not much else. So really I don´t have much of anything to entertaining to write about our time here. It´s damn hot here, although it´s a dry heat the temperature is around 35 Celsius everyday. We wandered to the main square in the city, which is a great place for people watching. Directly in front of the square is the largest cathedral in Central America, Cathedral de Leon. Apparently when the city leaders submitted the building plans to the authorities back in Spain they drew up more subtle, bogus plans for fear of being rejected. Even though it is the largest cathedral in the region it´s not as big as you would think. I assume due to the large amount of earthquakes in the region. The other main attraction in Leon was the suprisingly immpresive Fundacion Ortiz-Gurdian, a beautiful art gallery set in two restored colonial buildings. The collection inside was just as impressive as the building with works ranging from Picasso to the latin American greats. Diego Rivera and Rufino Tamayo and more. I don´t know much about art but those are two Latin American artists that I am familiar with. In fact since we began the trip we have seen a large amount of Tamayo´s work, it´s really great stuff. We left the museum that afternoon very impressed, it was one of the finest we have seen anywhere.
From the art gallery we grabbed a quick coffee and then headed to Gallery of Heroes and Matyrs. Leon has always been the most liberal city of the country and it was here that the FSLN rebels drew their largest support. During the revolution the entire city fought against Somaoza´s army. Inside are photos of over 300 men and women who died in the fighting against the U.S. backed Somoza regime. The centre is now run by the mothers of the fallen soldiers. It was a very interesting and touching place however with our lack of Spanish we didn´t get all we should have from our visit. Regardless it was something that we had to see. Another must see sight, although a short one was the building where Rigoberto López a poet who dressed in waiters clothing entered a ball and shot dead the dictator Anastasio Somoza García. It´s such a great story and I beleive would probably make a great movie. hmmm maybe that´s what I can do for work when we eventually get home. Well any ways today the building has a small plak commemorating that night and is covered with FSLN campaign ads from the recent election.
I f I spoke Spanish Leon is one of those cities I could see myself hanging out in or living in for awhile. The liberal vibe, poetry readings in the park and beautiful squares all make it a very livable city. Even as the second largest city in Nicaragua it seems devoid of the snarled traffic found in most Central American cities of it´s size. We however are going to head 25km west to the coast in the morning to beat the heat and spend a few days on a beach.
Tags: FSLN, Leon, Nicaragua, Sandinista
Michael Coroneos
Best blog yet!!!!!! first mention of the word diarrhea!!!!!!!!!