León, Nicaragua

Next stop on the tourist trail was León, famed for having the biggest cathedral in Central America and being the grittier sister city to Granada where I'd just been staying. This is a picture of the roof which for about $3 you can walk on. Not everyday you get to do such a thing so I took the opportunity. 

From the roof you can also see the local volcanoes. Or mountains. They all look the same but I'm sure there's at least one  volcano there. 

Here's what it looks like from the ground too. Mid-restoration.

Oh and oh course there's rules. Shoes off, don't ring the bell and no standing on the domes. After leaving, my feet plus anything that accidentally touched the paint was covered in white dust. 

Here's some more snaps from my wanderings around the city. 

This was my beef soup I had for lunch which came with a wooden paddle for a spoon and all of a sudden I found myself in tortilla land. From here until Mexico I'd say. Good riddance arepas you cold horrible inedible corn things. Welcome tortillas, thank you for at least being served warm.

Here's a shot from the main plaza. I missed something about a local legend involving a giant woman, but here she is. Yes I agree, she looks more like a cross dressing man. Further research tells me there's also some other characters in the tale and they dance. The woman represents the Spanish apparently and a short man with a large head represents the locals. Shame I didn't manage to catch a show.

The next day I visited the museum of the Nicaraguan revolution but I will admit I'm none the wiser really and my brain hurt just looking at the Wikipedia article on Nicaraguan history (please don't judge me, I hate history). There's a lot of photos and you get given a guided tour by some old boy who was part of the history. My guide was even able to point out his 20 year old self in some of the archival photos. Good experience if you like history and your Spanish is up to scratch. I failed.