Another stunning day in Leon! Matt wasn’t able to join the volcano boarding group last minute, so we wandered into a local breakfast buffet near the tour place. It was very intimidating to see a huge selection of food I didn’t recognize except perhaps at its most basic: “something with beans” “something else with beans” “might be boiled plantain” “meat in a gravy.” We abandoned ship and went back to Libelula, whose menu we now knew was filled with appetizing and relatively cheap options. I had a papaya crepe, and Matt got the Nica breakfast special.
A typical breakfast in Nicaragua features gallo pinto (guy-oh peen-toe), which is red beans and rice fried together with some onion and a bit of garlic. It is usually accompanied by an egg or two, some tortilla, maybe some fruit, and if you’re extra lucky, some cheese. Matt and I both really enjoyed this type of breakfast, and the first morning after we came home we actually cooked up a big batch of gallo pinto, scrambled some eggs and sliced some cheese for desayuno typico.
Torre was very busy while we ate our breakfast, climbing in the booth, crawling under the table, and using cutlery as drum sticks, but it was nice to share a meal with Matt because I’d been preparing myself for a morning alone if he did the volcano tour. We had the same waitress as we’d had the day before, and she was so patient and kind as we laboriously ordered our food, asked for coffee refills, and got the bill.
We spent the rest of the morning at the hostel. Matt went to the town square to exchange the rest of our American money – many cities have unofficial money changers who hang around high-traffic areas fanning huge stacks of of bills to advertise their services. While unofficial, they are legitimate, and they often offer as good a rate as the banks or currency exchange without charging any fees. It pays to know what a good rate is, because as with everything in Nicaragua, the first offer they make you may just be to test the waters and they’ll expect a counter-offer. The man Matt dealt with gave him a great rate, and since there were no fees it ended up being a better deal than the money we exchanged at the airport when we first arrived. Matt was happy, and the money changer was extremely happy to get a big piece of business. Continue reading “Nicaragua Day 3: Leon”