Some seven volcanoes north of Granada is Leon. A stronghold of the Sandinistas now and in the struggles for Independence from the Colonialists, Somoza and then the Contras. 

It’s still a hot city. We took a shuttle from Granada via Managua..the capital of Nicaragua. It took hours as the driver didn’t seem to know his way and then had no idea where the various  hostels and hotels were. In the end we resorted to a taxi to take us to a lovely Hotel run by a French man (and his wife, who we never met). ( I think I should mention here that the breakfast here was reasonable..not usual French breakfast of dried bread and coffee).

We have been in Leon  before but as always there are new adventures around the corner. The first was the roof of the cathedral…spectacular and the view was terrific too. So taken by it, I forgot to pop into the building itself to see the weeping lion for which the cathedral is famous. 





We visited prison 21. Used by brutal National Guards to hold the Sandinistas to extract information by torture. Disturbing pictures and a young girl explained some of the procedures used.   The mood was lifted a little by an exhibition of some of the legends of the Nicaraguan which seem to include either witches or ugly women taking revenge on errant husbands or similar. Our young guide was serious and funny at the right moments.





Jan and I made a return visit with Tricia to the Heroes and Martyrs Museum in the main square. Taken round by an ex revolutionary who explained using photographs  and newspaper cuttings on the walls what happened. It seems amazing how the Nicas had overcome such odds. 





The weather was getting hotter by the minute north ,,,strange eh. 

So turning east we headed for Esteli to catch up with Janie and her chicas.