Day 44-45 Leon

Having gotten a great night´s sleep, we were welcomed by a fantastic breakfast at Hotel Real. The three of us were looking forward to exploring the city of Leon. We wandered around and viewed the many churches and markets while taking pictures with all of the murals we passed by. In the afternoon, it became very hot and we decided that the beach was in order for the following day. The city of Leon itself was beautiful and we enjoyed being there, however one day was just enough to satisfy us. We had a great dinner back at Via Via and called it an early night.

The next day, we got up on the early end and headed to the market just outside of town to catch the bus to Las Peñitas, a beach about 45 minutes away. The bus was packed and still, there were vendors walking through the aisle attempting to sell juice, ice cream and snacks. We ended up having to stand the entire way to the shore. Once we saw the coastline, the three of us jumped off the bus and headed to the beach. It turned out that we were at Poneloya, a more private beach lined with gorgeous homes. We realized this when on the way back, we picked up a slew of folks from Las Peñitas. Sarita pointed out that on the way back, there were what looked like scare crowes on the side of many lawns. These were the años viejos...manequins dressed and surrounded by vices to be destroyed upon the break of the new year...a tradition similarly implemented when she was living in Colombia.

Once we got back to Leon, it was time for sunset which we were able to view from the roof of our hotel. Shortly after, we went out for our New Year´s extravaganza. We went to a great restaurant on the other side of el Parque Central called Toquezal which had traditional Nicaraguan dishes as well as a variety of other options. It was great because the interior was typical of Leon as were much of the clientele. We were greeted by some street boys who paraded around with an año viejo and a drum. We gave them some change and they demanded we dance with the año viejo as they drummed around us. It was pretty hysterical.

After dinner, we walked around the park where there was a carnival and fireworks as well as several random backdrops where families were taking portraits with Santa and toy cars...we decided to join in as well. We visited a few other spots that night in Leon, and when the clock struck midnight some children set off fireworks in the middle of the square. It was a great cultural experience.