Entries about music

We beat the most recent soaking tropical depression by hitting up the famous Albrook mall yesterday. Our real reason: to see the latest Justin Timberlake sci-fi flick (I mean, is there anything this guy can't do, with or without a box?!).

The city's water supply was shut off all day and night so most of the city's half a million residents came to the mall to use the restroom I reckon.

Most of them rode this Franklin County school district bus with us.

After I grew tired of marveling at modern plumbing at the mall, Liz got some free hugs. Abrazos gratis!

Then last night, to celebrate the birth of my niece and our second month abroad, we took a trip down to the happening Calle Uruguay to the Hotel Manrey, where we promptly partied like manroyalty

with the freakin' Gipsy Kings!

I killed the batteries on my camera taking movie after movie of the concert, the best of which is probably this section of Bamboleo.

We didn't leave till the last string broke.

Over the last few days we have had fun listening to the sounds of Granada:

local marching band
jazz night

Our hostel (The Oasis) had beautiful wall murals that we wanted to show everyone:

We had an excellent breakfast buffet three mornings ago at the Chocolate Museo. We were satiated until dinner with the delicious crepes, omelets, and homemade organic coffee!


I think the cooks of the restaurant were amazed at how much we packed away.

Let's move on from our obvious gluttony!

We continued to roll, I mean walk, around the city during our last few days in the city, enjoying sunsets and the local architecture.

Then the big night came...Kevin's birthday!

I had a huge task ahead of me: find a cake, balloons, decorations, a venue for the party, and a wristwatch that would work for more than one week.

After searching the entire city of Granada (and I really did) I was successful in only one of these tasks... Apparently the people of Granada like raisins in their cakes which is a big "No Bueno" for Kevin. Luckily for me, I found a great chocolate cake and with the aid of several street children I was able to remove all of the raisins!

As you can see in the picture, Kevin found out about the raisins.
We had a great time celebrating his birthday with a lovely Australian couple as well as our kick-ass yoga instructor!
I will upload the videos in the next few days.

On the morning of the 27th, we bid Granada farewell and took the express bus from Granada straight to San Jose, Costa Rica. It was the first time we had felt AC in two weeks. What a glorious sensation.

We spent one night at the Molino Rojo (Red Windmill) in San Jose and then took an early bus to San Isidro in southwest Costa Rica. Once there we made the connecting bus to our final destination, Dominical. We will be here for the next week, soaking in the sun and the atmosphere of this quaint town which is known for its great surfing waves.

More to come on our wild and wacky ride!

We've settled for a bit in the picturesque colonial city of Granada, Nicaragua.

We arrived on Tuesday and suffered another full day of rain but the weather has progressively improved with ample sunshine today. One of the best aspects of this city is the bright and vivid colors of the exteriors of buildings in the old section.

The well-appointed Hostel Oasis is our host, and at $20/night it's a much better deal than a Costa Rican hostel with similar amenities: wifi, computer room, huge communal kitcehen, pool, movie and book library, do it yourself laundry (with a rooftop clothesline), and a hungry cat that visits the courtyard around 3 am and wakes everyone up.

We have settled into a nice routine of cooking delicious meals, ingredients bought at the sprawling outdoor market one block from our hostel, working out and doing yoga daily at the Pure Gym and strolling the main tourist street trying to avoid the children selling flowers and animals made of woven palm frond leaves.

Liz started a 20-hour intensive Spanish class this morning at the well-recommended APC school, located on the main square, in the heart of Granada. Kevin has started a campaign to rid the hostel of cats.

Tonight marks the end of the inaugural Granada International Jazz Festival, an event we have tried to take advantage. Here's proof that we still splurge every now and then on dates.

Liz is wearing a new dress, new shoes, new necklace, and new earrings. All for the low, low price of $28. Kevin is wearing a shirt for once.