After dining, we went to our gate and waited for boarding. Although the flight from Atlanta to Managua is shorter than the Portland-Atlanta leg, we were not looking forward to getting back on a plane to sit for three+ hours. It had already been a long day for us, after all. Then, out of the ceiling over the loudspeaker, we heard those magical words, the words every traveler longs to hear: "Rebecca Sakarias and David Volke, please report to the counter."
Upgrade!!
We got moved to first class, which meant two-across seating, cushy seats, plenty of leg room, free champagne and wine, (mostly) real food for dinner, coffee and tea, hot towels. It was fantastic. We even got a little sleep, which we both needed.
Soon enough, we were circling Managua. It was dark and the expanse of lights below revealed this city to be large and sprawling. They announced the temp as being... warm - don't remember exactly what it was. Regardless, we had arrived! Being in the front of the plane meant we were first off, so got through immigration super quick. And since we're now married, we went to the counter together! Awwww - cute, right? Then it was baggage claim for our umpteen suitcases (okay, four - but still). After running those through the customs scanner, we worked our way through the sea of taxi drivers, all looking for their next fare, until we saw our driver.
In our research, we got the message loud and clear that Managua was not a city that one wanted to stay in unless one had to. I am sure there are parts that are awesome and parts that are not so much, like any big city anywhere. Since we arrived just before 8 PM we felt we had enough time to get to Granada, about 45 minutes away. I had made a reservation for a hotel there, a place called Hotel Terrasol. At our request, the owners had made arrangements to have a driver pick us up. We knew that after a long travel day neither of us was going to be up to making decisions on the fly, so the pre-planned first night was smart.
Luis had his 'Hotel Terrasol' sign held up for us and we made eye contact. He guided us through the crowd and to the curb, then told us to wait while he went to get his vehicle. When he pulled up, we had all kinds of help with our bags. People will grab your suitcases and load them into the rig, even if you don't ask them to help. Then of course they want a tip. People hustling for a buck. Or a few cordobas, in this case.
We were tired yet excited as we made our way out of Managua and surprised to find ourselves in farmland pretty quickly. The airport is just outside of town and Luis avoided downtown, using the back roads. We couldn't really see anything - dark, remember - unless we were passing through one of the several small towns along the way. We finally arrived in Granada and Luis pointed out some of the sights as we drove through town on the way to the hotel. He showed us the cool churches and government buildings, plus gave us directions to the parque central. He was obviously proud of his city.
One thing we noticed on our drive to Granada and every drive since then was that the roads here are really really good. Having traveled around Guatemala and Honduras where roads are good, bad, worse and/or non-existent, I expected that Nicaragua would be the same. Wrong! In fact, the roads are in great shape, have center lines and yellow striping along the shoulders, turn lanes, road signs. First assumption shot down. It's certainly humbling. Stupid American.
Luis dropped us at the hotel and helped us get our bags into the lobby. The night clerk at the hotel checked us in and helped haul our crap to our room. Thankfully, it was up only a couple of flights. I went back down and snagged a couple of Toña's, Nicaragua's national brewski. We sat on our balcony, across from the spectacular Nicaraguan wiring, drank our beers and marveled that we had actually made it!!
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| Not a bird's nest. |
We knew that in the days to come we would be sweating in the heat and humidity, so we spoiled ourselves with the AC and had a good nights rest after our extremely long day. The next morning we showered and went down to the lobby for breakfast. We were greeted by Viktor and Katya, the owners of Hotel Terrasol. We chatted with them for a bit, then sat down in the dining area for our first breakfast in Nicaragua. We were served a bowl of fruit, a ginormous croissant with butter and jam, and coffee and tea. During breakfast, we talked with the owners more and discovered that Viktor lived in Portland for 17 years, two of those with his wife, Katya!! He was a chef at several restaurants, in fact. So we may have eaten his cooking! His mother still lives in PDX, not far from where we lived in NW. Crazy coincidence! So if you're ever visiting Granada, check out the Hotel Terrasol and find some friends from the NW! www.hotelterrasol.com
He and his wife decided to move back to his home country to start up the hotel as a means of retirement. "Ha!" Viktor says now. The hotel is apparently a ton of work, but they love it none the less. After our great breakfast and visit, we had a little time to kill so we wandered around Granada. We went to the Cathedral de la Merced, a huge old church a few blocks from the hotel. Taking Viktor's advice, we paid the 25 cordoba ($1) fee that allowed us to walk up the tiny little spiral staircase all the way to the bell tower! Incredible views, including Lago de Nicaragua which Bex! really wanted to see.
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| View from La Merced. |
After we got down from the tower, we cut around a few blocks, skirting the edge of the market which is just a crazy scene of vendors and customers and chaos. As much as we wanted to go in, we didn't have that much time. Back to the hotel we went, schlepped the bags downstairs and waited for our next driver, this one arranged through the Spanish language school we had registered for which started the next day. I read, or rather 'looked at', some of the local newspapers while Bex! was actually able to read about the Vuelta de Nicaragua, a multi-day bike race around the country. We had just missed it. Darn! Would have been cool to see.
Ramon was a little late - said he had trouble finding the hotel - but soon enough we were heading south to the Pacific beach town of San Juan del Sur. Spanish school and a home stay with a family for the entire week. We were nervous.
And excited, of course! Travel was done, we were starting the first real part of the adventure!
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