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On my first day in Leon I went for a walk around the city and explored the local market. Louise and Jacob (another guy we met in Granada) arrived late afternoon so we went out for nice meal at veggie restaurant and then for a few drinks at nearby hostel, Chilli Inn. Leon felt a lot safer than the other towns but we were still careful not to have a handbag or anything valuable! The restaurant was lovely and great for me been veggie!
The next morning we arranged to meet early for breakfast at 'desayunos', the breakfast was lovely! With a chocolate banana smoothie and a Nica breakfast we were ready for a day full of sight-seeing. We first headed to the photography portrait museum. Here there was an exhibition of portraits of all the fighters that fell in the civil war. It was quite moving to see all the faces, including numerous women and children who looked no older than 11/12 amongst the men. The exhibition also held original copies of posters and motivational quotes from the leaders. After here we headed to the revolution museum which we had heard great things about. On entering you are met by a guide, all of which actually fought in the war as young men/boys. He spoke in Spanish and took us around different visual aids which helped him explain the history of the whole revolution and the FSLN government party. Luckily I had Louise there as my translator and we had an amazing experience. With a terrible history of corruption, civil war and devastating impacts on people, infrastructure and the country's economics it was hard not to learn a lot about Nicaragua from our guide. He showed us numerous pictures of the process, leaders and one of himself in the fighting. Before leaving the museum, which is in the original building used by the opposition but acquired by the FSLN in the final battle, we got to go to the roof to take photos of the city. Here you could see again the devastating effects of the war upon Leon, leaving only a few colonial buildings standing due to the opposition using these as safe houses! After this we had time to visit a nearby town for the annual festival of their patron saint. St Ana! Which, of course, had to be celebrated! We got a chicken bus across and made it in time for the celebrations to commence. With a parade, the police and army marching bands, fairground rides and lots of stalls and street food we enjoyed been part of the celebrations. After today along with the anniversary of the revolution in Managua I really felt I had learnt a lot about Nicaragua and really did start to love the country and to a deeper level than it just been pretty. It made us appreciate the different cities, enjoy seeing the colonial towns but also the newer buildings, understand the graffiti around the towns and also the current context of the government and the musical gigs we had saw relating to the FSLn. We then headed back for dinner and a few drinks before heading out to hopefully catch up with the bar crawl at the salsa bar. After a relaxing dinner and a few pre drinks we managed to meet all the others at the bar. Here we had plenty of salsa and merengue dancing with the locals and consequently a lot more drinks were consumed to cope with the embarrassment! We did however have a really good time and were looking forward to the final club. We jumped in the hostels minivan and went to the club. It was at this point it was midnight and therefore my birthday. Due to this in the next club I had numerous drinks bought including many just from the barmaids for been my birthday so I had a pretty fun night! We all changed the dancing style slightly to a more western drunken crowd but that was equally as fun! I definitely enjoyed the first few hours of my 22nd year!
After a waking up in a rather drunken haze after only 3 hours sleep I headed for my birthday breakfast! Firstly checking Facebook and emails and reading all my messages which made me happy - thanks again everyone! I then went for the stupidly early breakfast which we did not think through. I did enjoy my feast but then had to head to bed to sleep cancelling the plans of a massage and art gallery! Sleep was definitely more important! So after a lazy morning Louise took me to a bakery to have a cake for my birthday! When walking in to the shop, she explained it was my birthday with the guy behind the counter starting to laugh saying 'I knooowww' and grinning and then Louise suddenly recognised him from the night before where apparently everyone knew it was my birthday! So after that embarrassment we had some lovely cake and then headed to the cinema to see the new Batman movie! We loved it! After the film we went back to the hostel and Louise was so cute, she had prepared me a lovely meal and we all sat and chilled in the courtyard and ate. Some of the guys from the hostel came over to share the photos which were awful and invite us out. We went for a few drinks but at my old age I couldn't manage it! So went to bed happy and full!
After a refreshing sleep I woke up nice and fresh, packed all my things then headed to the art gallery to squeeze it in before leaving! It was a really good gallery if you like that sort of thing, which I do luckily! Nice building, with sculptures, ceramics, paintings and garden spaces showcasing work from artists all over Central and South America with some classics like Picasso, Henry Moore and Chagall. After this we all headed back to the bus station to make our way to Laguna de Apoyo. Laguna de Apoyo is a beautiful lake in a volcano crater. This was quite a long journey so arrived late afternoon. Here I just chilled by the lake had my dinner and my finished book. I think I was still recovering from my birthday night out, definitely a sign of getting old.
After an easy night I had a slow morning and watched the Olympics opening ceremony. I loved it! Was a bit gutted to have missed it and be watching it on a laptop with the slowest internet connect ever...I officially hate buffering! But it was worth it! I then had a swim in the lake on the rubber tyres and laid on the wooden islands docked up. When Louise came down we played more in the lake and had chilled evening with dinner and a film.
The next morning it was pretty dull so we headed back to Granada early ready to get the next big bus journey to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. When I arrived in Granada I bumped into a guy I'd met in San Juan and then again in Ometepe. Travelling here is such a small world, constantly bumping into people you know in every destination! I like it though, makes you feel at home! So meeting people who were still in the hostel from last time I had stayed we all had dinner together and chilled with a few drinks round the hostel.
The next morning I woke up early for the famous (amongst the few travellers I met in Granada) buffet breakfast at the chocolate museum. I arrived at 7am to get maximum time before the bus. It was amazing! Waffles, eggs , gallo pinto, milkshakes, chocolate banana pancakes and fruit! I then, slowly due to been totally stuffed, made my way to the bus station. I then waited a while for the bus, which is never a surprise over here but still just as annoying, especially sitting at a bus stop for over 2 hours when I could have been at the buffet! After the bus arrived, which was lovely and luxurious, it only managed to make it to Managua before a gas leaked. This delay added another hour or so to the journey but I didn't mind so much! Just read in the sun and chatted to the other travellers on board. However by the time I got in to Teguigalpa, one of the most dangerous cities in Central America, it was dark. After being greeted by a police man with a gun at the door of the bus, being guarded with my bag till the taxi had drove off, I definitely wasn't so keen on the city. Once at the hotel, with the cab driver waiting for a while and getting a policeman to monitor me while I stepped from the car to the hostel door (again not another great sign!) I was greeted by Louise who was panicking due to the 3hour or so delay and thoughts of me been lost in this place! Once we caught up we both went straight to sleep as it was after 12am and only had the next day to explore the delightful city!
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