Mini Vacation – León y las Peñitas, Part 1

OR

How I met Chepito Areas

I’ve gotten to the point in my trip where I’m frantically trying to check off my list of ‘Places to see in Nicaragua’ before it’s too late. Therefore, even though I couldn’t find any travel buddies to accompany me, I decided to take a trip this weekend to the colonial city of León and to the nearby beach area, Las Peñitas.

The journey began Saturday morning after yet another successful batch of panqueques made by yours truly. I took a microbus from the university, and it was a generally pleasant, if hot, hour ride, which, once it finally ended, left me realizing I didn’t have any plans for where to go upon arrival. I had assumed, incorrectly, that the bus would take me to the main part of town and I’d just hop out and start exploring. Instead, it took me to the market, so I quickly found another cab and asked them to take me to the Central Park – the only place I could think of off the top of my head.

Once I got to the Central Park, I began wandering. I found a cute little café overlooking the park and had lunch there. With a bit of time to gather my thoughts, I was also able to formulate a plan for the rest of the visit. First, I went to the museum of modern art that Joe and Kelly recommended, and it was a really pleasant surprise. Museums – especially art museums – can be pretty hit or miss for me, but I was really impressed with this one in León. The setting was beautiful. It appeared to be an old mansion complete with many gardens, pools and fountains. The art was also very cool, with lots of local pieces, a good mix of old and new, and even a couple big names (i.e. Picasso). Plus, since I was with my favorite and most like-minded travel companion – myself – I was able to go at my own (fast) pace.

After the museum, I went to check in at the hotel. It was yet another beautiful, refurbished old mansion, and the rooms were complete with a hot shower (which I used at every opportunity), air conditioning (which I used at every opportunity), cable and wireless internet. The price was also extremely reasonable, though after my sweaty walk to get there, I would have paid anything for the shower and A/C.

By now, you are probably wondering when I’m going to get to the part about how I met Chepito Areas. Some of you who are not ‘hip’ and ‘in the know’ may also be wondering who Chepito Areas is. Don’t worry…I’m getting there.

After perusing countless tour books and brochures, I found a great restaurant for dinner. Not only did it have an awesome outdoor patio with twinkle lights and candles, but it also had Italian food, which I’ve been craving for a long time but especially since I started reading a book about Italy this week. While the creamy shrimp pasta I had was basically to die for, the highlight of the visit was not the food, but the celebrity sighting. That’s right, at dinner I met Chepito Areas, the Nicaraguan percussionist who used to play with Santana! Initially I thought it was pretty cool, but the whole thing was also rather ridiculous. First, the way I met Mr. Areas was by him coming up to my table and saying “Hi, where are you from? … I’m from the States too – San Francisco. I was in Santana.” Then he handed me his business card which says he is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame percussionist and features the band’s logo. Sadly, the business card was previously used, because on the back, there was a long message that went something like this: “My love, I love you and I want you to call me. I love you forever. Chepito Areas, your love. Cell: 3326300.” After I got the business card, Chepito invited me to not one but two parties because, apparently, his post-Santana gig is being a promoter in León. The first party was called “Hot Bling Party” featuring D Money and Baby J and it was the cheesiest invite I’ve ever seen. I also got a personal invite to his birthday later in April – I just have to ‘call him’ to get the details. Maybe that message on the back of the business card was meant for me!

With all the Santana excitement, plus the three glasses of wine at dinner, I decided to call it an early night and just hang out in my hotel and watch some basketball/SNL before bed.

More on day two tomorrow. And in the meantime, pics from León here.