Leon-day 2

Tuesday Jan 4^th,

                           It is 5pm and I have just made a retreat to my room. That seems to be the standard feeding time for most of the mosquitos who reside in the hotel lobby. Nearing the end of day 2 in Leon , the last couple of days has been a refresher course in the similarities and differences between the two cities. Leon, while appearing somewhat less affluent than Granada, is far cleaner. There is much less garbage on the streets and there seems to be less “humanity’ i.e. people “swarming” the streets- especially in the market areas. Primarily a university town, Leon has a lot more cheap eateries and very few of the overpriced restaurants that seem to populate Granada.

  It is also home to a number of very interesting 16 to 18^th century churches which add character to their individual neighbourhoods.

  We spent much of the morning exploring these various buildings as well as a small museum dedicated to the poet Rubén Dario. A final stop before lunch at Centre de Arte Ortiz-Gurdian offered a huge display of Central and South American artworks ranging from 16^th century paintings to contemporary abstracts. Located in two colonial houses on opposite sides of the street, the visit was more than well worth the one-dollar admission charge.

 A rather mundane but relatively cheap pizza was our evening meal. There were enough slices left over that I was able to share it with one of the many street people who seem to frequent the darker and quieter side streets of town.

  Tomorrow we will most likely head for the beaches, some 20km west of town to see what deluxe accommodations can be had for $25 a night. The primary concern with most places is not the rooms themselves, but rather, what type of “nature” will be sharing the space with us!