Roxette: It must have been love (Unfortunately it was not over now...guess we have the Swedes to thank for that one!)
Laguna de Apoyo is the place Granadans get away from the city and where I spent a great weekend with Lisa, Shannan and Andreas and Dominic, the "practical german guys". The lake itself is set in a crater and with a high sulphur content my body was soon rid of three months of travel grime in no time. Despite an earthquake sending homes sliding into the lake seven years ago I was confident our accommodation at the Monkey Hut was a good thing. So what was there to do besides escape the noise of Granada for the serenity of the laguna...kayak, swim to and dive off a pontoon, float in inner tubes, throw a few hoops and lie in a hammock when it all gets too much. However if you are Andreas and Dominic, "the practical German guys" you will do all the above at great speed and throw in a few walking handstands for good measure. These guys were a laugh and walking, talking advertisements for Red Bull.
In terms of unique meals the one at the Laguna takes the cake. Deciding to eat out Lisa, Shannan and myself opted for the local pulperia, kind of like getting a counter meal back home. And before you could say 'Where the hell did the power go?' the lights were out and we were sitting in darkness surrounded by 5 drunken locals (including the restaurant owner), a couple of dogs and a pig on a leash except the leash was not attached to anything. Talk about romantic, 'Casanova' the slightly intoxicated owner was coming with candles to give us all some mood lighting (along with the smell of alcohol seeping out of his skin) and to inform us that dinner would be one choice only...I know when I am a wooing the women I always opt for beans, eggs, rice and a beer to wash it all down with...and so it was! So as we tucked into our meals (the dark made it better because it kept you guessing what was on the fork) the sounds of three guys pissing about 2 meters away, two dogs rooting out to the left (not quite but nearly) and a pig on an unattached leash doing circles of our table we all agreed that at that moment there was no other place in the world we would have wanted to be. You better believe it!
And there can only be one way to complete the night and that was with a bottle of Flor de Cana rum and dominoes. Yes, dominoes and who would have thought that dominoes could be so much fun. Sure the rum helps kickstart things but once you know how to score, talk the lingo (tiles, houses of 50, multples of 5) it takes on a whole new dimension. Right up there with backgammon...and thanks again for the lessons Lisa, even though Shannan the first timer well and truly pulled out the can of whoop ass and aimed it directly at Lisa and myself...spraying from start to finish!
The next morning (after the best nights sleep in months,,,thank you mattress and thank you rum) we decided to cook our own breakfast after purchasing supplies from the little pulperia down the road, not the scene of last nights romantic dinner for three though. And to give you and idea of how cheap it is to eat here, we got 6 eggs, potatoes, tomatos, bread, onions and a mother of a pineapple for about one dollar. I decided to give the poached eggs a go after months of fried and I think I got a 50% success rate with the star being Shannnan's potato, onion and tomato mix. Glory days indeed!
Stevie Wonder: I Just Called to Say I Love You (And no-one was frickin' home!)
So what else did I do in Granada...I ate some really great food such as:
Malaysia Fish Curry at Asia Latina with impromptu guitar gig by a couple of art and tile selling locals
A three course meal at Tercer de Ojo with Lisa and Shannan for my last night (even though it wasn't..minor detail) where we downed a couple of pitchers of Sangria and I opted for Gazpacho Soup, beef fillet covered with gorgonzola cheese (my arteries are only just recovering from the experience) and who can pass up the crepes with nutella and icecream for desert. And I even managed to buy a couple of paintings from the same local artist who was doing the rounds again with his guitar...so he threw in a couple of tunes as well given we were the last ones standing in the restaurant)
Deciding to share the leftovers after another breakfast serving of eggs, rice, beans and plantains with a young local kid who we managed to sheild from the waiting staff lest they boot him out of the restauarant. With six of us for breakfast this kid sure could eat and I doubt any of the food hit the sides on the way down. The hardest bit was trying to kep the waitress from coming over to our side of the table and discovering a kid crossed legged on the floor scarfing down what she thought we had taken the time to eat. The kid was happy and so were we.
Eskimo icecream...cheap and tasty
Not classed as food but almost as good Flor de Cana 7 year aged rum in the form of Nica Libres (rum and coke)...the beer as with most Central American brews lack in flavour, have a big bloat factor but generally are served at sub-zero temperatures, hence the lack of flavour.
And that brings me to the end of my stay in Granada, a city that provided me a great, fun 9 days thanks to Lisa, San Fransisco´s travelling El Criple, and Shannan, Perth, Australia´s #1 ambassador! Lara Bingle eat your heart out!
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