Day 12 - Contemporary or freaky art?!

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Today is a relaxed day. No alarm, no rush, no plans… other than visiting the city.

There was a city walking tour plan in the Lonely Planet so we decided that it would be a good starting point. For a population of about 200 000 inhabitants, the city of León counts not less than 16 churches. Some are very humble and don't really look like a church, some others have a certain charm, evidence of a long gone magnificence and some are still splendid, solid and majestic. 

We also visited a huge semi-interior local market where we shared a very good lunch and had fresh orange and nectarine juices.

When we visit a city, we like going to the local market but I also like visiting a grocery store. I like to see all the different products, see the prices and also compare what we have in common. Well, I was very surprised to see that, in Nicaragua, they do have maple syrup. Not from Canada but directly imported from Vermont! But if, in Nicaragua, cane sugar, bananas and avocados cost nothing compared to us, maple syrup is the equivalent of CA$22.34 for 250 ml!!!

We finished our tour in the Contemporary Art Museum. Just like almost all the other places we visited in Nicaragua so far, it looks like a normal building from the outside but it's actually HUGE!!! And the museum has 2 parts. The first building was more for Nicaraguan art and was a reasonable size. The second part was across the street and this building was like a never ending maze! I love art and it was very interesting. And the actual buildings themselves were true work of arts.

But the more we plunged into the art labyrinth, the more it became dark, weird and strange… at least, in my humble opinion. 

I have a lot of respect for art but sometimes, I don't get it… 

But we got to see original paintings from Pablo Picasso!

After a couple of hours in the museum Steve's legendary patience was burning like a bush fire and it was time to find the exit. 

We had dinner in a good typical restaurant and went to bed early because we had to wake up early the next morning.

Oh, I forgot to mention that we must have showered 4 times today! It was another incredibly hot day!

Day 11 - Freakin' hot day in León

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This morning, I woke up, looked at our room, and started laughing. For the ones who know Steve and I well, it's not a surprise if I say that Steve is the organized and structured one and, most importantly, he doesn't like when his stuff is dispersed and messy. Steve likes things clean and tidy. Even when he travels...

Knowing that, for the past 15 years, I've always made a big effort to do the same too because, let's say, it's less in my nature… when we backpack and travel from place to place without staying in the same room for more than 3 nights, I do my very best to stay structured but it's not always a success. I call it my "kinda organized" chaos.

But, believe it or not, when comes the time to pack my stuff, it transforms into a work of art… at least, according to Steve standards!

So, after this little magic trick, we went for a very good breakfast and coffee and then headed in to the bus station. Next destination, León… 

To get to León, we had to take what they call a minibus, which is more like a big van with 5 rows of seats. But the thing is that you sit in the van and wait because it only leaves when it's full. It was missing 6 passengers… and it took 1 hour before we finally left, at noon. As you might know, Steve is as patient as I'm tidy so it was interesting. We were at the very back of the van, in the 2 center seats, nobody would open their window so it was hot as hell and the guy sitting next to Steve, to see how he spread his legs, thought he had balls the size of a soccer ball. I thought Steve would actually burst his neighbor's balls or push him by the window. But the ride wasn't too too long so he behaved relatively well. He had to take a few deep breaths here and there but he was good.

Jeez!!! Why is it so damn hot in León?!? It's less than 150 km away from Esteli, mostly West and it's more than 10°c warmer. Now, I can totally hear you guys, from Canada, saying "Ok, stop complaining, here it's like -20°c. We don't feel sorry for you!..." and I get it. But walking the city at 40°c is still pretty intense. And it's not a "fells like 40", it's a "it freakin' is 40°c plus whatever humidex factor". In fact, I'm sure that in the first 5 minutes that we were in León, the humidex actually increased by 10% just with our sweat!

So, instead of walking the 3 km to our hostel, we took a rickshaw. I know, it looks very heartless but it's actually very popular in the city and not just for tourists. And it's how they make a living. 

We got to our super nice hostel. It was a very cool and cozy place with a tiny but refreshing swimming pool and adorable friends. 

We went for a walk in the city, found some food, walked in the local market and stopped for good chocolate and banana smoothies.

Then we went to the Cathedral-Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The particularity that distinguishes this cathedral is its roof. You can actually walk on the white roof and admire the very impressive volcanic chain that never seems to end.

After a couple of hours walking down the streets of León, we needed to shower, for the second time since in the city so we went back to our hostel. Of course, Steve stopped for a dip in the pool.

We cooled down in a cold shower ( it was our only option anyway but we didn't bother at all). And after 5 minutes, we were still all sweaty, but with a few less layers. 

We went out for dinner on a rooftop patio with the view of the city and a nice and fresh breeze. 

We got back to our hostel, had a 3rd shower and went to bed, with no A/C. We had fans but no breeze from the outside and it was more or less a slightly windy sauna. It was a hot but happy night. After all, hot nights are often the most memorable.

Day 10 - Cigarros y Español

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After a good night sleep in Somoto, we had breakfast at the farm and relaxed for a little while. 

Bryan gave us a ride back to the bus station. He was even kind enough to reserve our tickets for us so we had assigned seats on the 7:40 AM bus.

On the bus, we made research to find where we would sleep that night. We found the hostel on Google Maps and jumped off the bus at a stop that was maybe 500 meters away from there. We walked to the hostel but it was not even 10 o'clock so we thought it wouldn't be possible to do our check-in but they gave us the key and we dropped off our bags in our room. 

The goal for the day was to visit a local cigar factory and apparently, the best way to do it was to show up to a little café that was also offering tours so we went there, had a delicious coffee and shared a very yummy brownie. Then we asked the waiter about the tour and he said we just had to come back at 1 PM and our guide would be there. That was easy!

So we went back to our hostel and sat in the inner courtyard to decide what we wanted to do next in León and where we would sleep. We are well organized! I searched online for lodgings, Steve searched online as well but for things to do and Youppi looked for options and tips in the book.

We also had a look at the weather forecast for León as it's the city with the highest temperature in Nicaragua and we wanted to have an idea of what it would look like and it will be between 37 and 39°C! And we are supposed to walk the city and hike volcanoes! Wow, we really need to find a laundromat or something to properly wash or clothes after that otherwise, I think that people will stay away from us!

We went for a bite at lunchtime and went back to the café for 1 PM. Our guide was there and, of course, he didn't speak English… but I told him we were not too bad at understanding Spanish but we couldn't really speak the language.

I asked him his name in Spanish and said a few things. He saw we were making an effort and, the entire day, he was very kind, helpful and patient with us. He spoke slowly with simple sentences and we were able to understand most of what he explained.

So he started by explaining that the factory is a small but renowned workshop using traditional authentic Cuban techniques to create perfect cigars, entirely handcrafted, from the fermentation of the leaves to the packaging. And I trust him because we saw the entire process and it's very serious and each step is cautiously inspected for quality control. He also said that depending on the aroma they want, the origin or the leaves as well as the texture they need, the leaves ferment, in different rooms, for up to 8 months and finally, the step of rolling the cigar is an art that is mostly mastered by women. 

After this interesting introduction, we walked a few meters to get to a first building. On our way, I found this gigantic beetle! I never saw something that big on a sidewalk! Even Nelson, our guide, seemed surprised! He picked it up and started teasing a little girl and her mom who were passing us. I could only imagine the reaction that Steve's mom would have had if someone had done that to her! Rachel, if you read this blog, I'm sure you will agree with me!

We entered the building and the smell of fermented cigar leaves was quite strong. In the rooms where the leaves were resting for months, it was so intense, it burned our eyes, nose and throat. Nelson made us smell different leaves with different level of fermentation and the difference was very surprising. We could smell some that had more of a floralish aroma and others that were very bitter and strong. There were several rooms for the fermentation process and the main area is where the leaves, once ready, are carefully unfolded, the stem are meticulously removed and they are triaged by color. 

Once leaves are ready, they are pressed and packaged. Here, they don't have an hydraulic press, it's all muscle powered. Nelson wanted to show off a little bit so he took the place of the young man who was in charge of the press but the thing is that the handle is quite high and our poor guide was particularly short. So instead, he ended up being laughed at.

Since boys will always be boys and his ego had taken a shot, of course, it turned into this…

I can't tell you who won, they stopped before anyone was pronounced champion...

We then walked a few blocks to the cigar factory. It is a very serious process and it's very impressive to see how fast they can go. They are all working in pairs. The man is in charge of selecting a precise mix of dry and moist leaves and form the interior of the cigar with a magic quantity of leaves for the cigar to have the perfect density. Then he puts the cigar, that all look exactly the same size, between 2 pieces of wood to press and shape it. It rests for at least 20 minutes. Then the woman inspects the cigar to see if it's ready and measure the circumference with a stencil. If she is not satisfied, she discards it or puts it back in the press. Otherwise, she rolls the cigar in a perfectly uniform leaf. In about 1 minute, she forges the ultimate cigar.

Then, a supervisor walks around and examines the cigars one by one and removes those that he thinks are not good enough. He brings all the ones that passed his inspection to a general manager at the front. This person is in charge of the 3rd and final inspection.

And, the final step in this room is to separate all the cigars by color to have perfect packs of cigars that are all the exact same color and split them into piles of 25. It will then be sent in another room and sealed or put in boxes, depending on the quality... and price.

Nelson, our guide, asked the manager for a cigar that didn't pass the final control and offered it to us. It was actually quite good! But you can totally tell, by the way I smoke this cigar, that I'm not a smoker. 

Neither Youppi!

After the visit, we went back to the café with Nelson and had a beer with him. We had a very good time with him. He made me practice my Spanish a lot and we had great conversations. I was very comfortable talking to him in Spanish even though I knew my sentences were very goofy and not sophisticated at all! It was rewarding to be able to "chat" with someone in Spanish. 

It was too early for dinner but not for a beer! We found a cozy bar so we spent a couple of hours there and enjoyed a few beers.

This is how you chill out in Nicaragua. A good beer, loud Spanish pop music and Shazam, the application to identify songs and show lyrics. With our tan getting darker, our big Toña and with us singing those songs in Spanish, we looked like true authentic Nicaraguans! At least, that's what I thought after drinking our first Toña!

We finished our night in a restaurant we saw earlier. After all, drinking beer is nice but our bodies needed food too!

You know the expression "Don't judge a book by its cover"? Well, the restaurant we chose that night was the exact definition of this expression. It looked cool and cozy and definitely seemed like a place that served yummy food. In fact, there was no alcohol at all, just commercial drinks, like this little juice box that Steve got after he ordered his drink, and the food was very average… and I'm being kind.

But, no matter what, it was another wonderful day in Nicaragua!