Our adventure today was a trip to the colonial city of León. We were informed that of the two large colonial cities in Nicaragua, León and Granada, León is the less touristy one. This proved to be true as we did not encounter any other Americans all day.

The drive took about 90 minutes which seemed like 90 hours in a van with little to no air conditioning and ten people. The heat is really oppressive when you aren’t near the water so the ride both two and from León was not exactly the most comfortable. When we arrived in town, we were dropped off at the main plaza and given 4 hours to explore on our own. Kevin and I chose to walk to the roof of the Cathedral-Basilica of the Assumption, a beautiful white-washed church where no shoes were permitted. The views from the roof were beautiful, but it was really really hot!

After the cathedral, we stopped for short visits at Nicaraguan Poet Rubén Darío’s home/museum as well as the Ortíz Gurdián Foundation Art Center. While both museums were outdoor museums, I was really impressed, especially with the amount of art on display at the art center. We saw two Picasso’s and many other very impressive works of art. All were placed beautifully in multiple garden spaces with fountains and seating areas. It was a great museum to wander through casually. The traffic in the streets was chaotic so we had to be very careful when we crossed streets. There are no traffic lights or cross walks.

After our museum experiences, we stopped for a quick bite to eat at El Desayaunazo. I enjoyed a cold beer (one of the few safe things to drink when you haven’t had a chance to research your options) and a BLT with fries. It hit the spot after so many days of rice and beans. Our bill for three people with drinks including a sizeable tip was $29. We stopped for a quick ice cream at Kiss Me, did some thrift shopping and then returned to our van for the ride back to El Tránsito. We were hot and exhausted so the rest of the day was spent lounging in the pool watching the surfers. We said goodbye to our hotel staff and some of our hosts as we will be departing in the morning for our next city, Granada. Good bye for now, El Tránsito. I hope to come back. Stay just the way you are.