The thing about travel is that it is sometimes like a vacation. We found a spot that gave us that feeling in San Juan del Sur.
We stayed at an amazing hostel where we had our own balcony along with a breakfast of fresh fruit and granola with coffee each morning.
We stayed long enough to try several restaurants and return to our favorites multiple times. Joshua found time to make friends with a hostel owner and trade Spanish/English conversation everyday for an hour or two.
Our stuff was unpacked. We were set.
In the mornings we would try to go for a walk or to the park to exercise.
One day we walked all the way up to the fancy resort, Pelican Eyes. They have infinity pools that look out over the ocean and a great looking menu, but sadly we didn’t stay.
Another day we hiked to San Juan del Sur’s miniature Christ the Redeemer, “Cristo” which was erected a few years ago by a man, who beat cancer, in order to protect the rest of the city.
We even tried yoga in a bamboo hut over a garden store which turned into an amazing class ending just after the 6pm church bells.
Some days we planned to read and relax. We found the El Gato Café where they had a wonderful library of books as well as awesome iced coffee and BAGELS.
There was also the Pan de Vida store where we learned to buy day old bread for ½ the price.
We bought one that turned out to be a loaf of cinnamon rolls. We had a hard time eating it because we never, ever wanted it to end.
Other days we surfed at Playa Madera with our friends from Mopes surf shop. We watched locals flip and catch everything in sight. I even rode some white water standing up!
Most days we ate really well for really cheap either at the market or at our favorite place in San Juan del Sur—Juanitas Asados.
This woman makes the BEST chicken in the whole world and fills your plate with rice, beans, plantain fries, avocado, salad—all for about $3.50.
On a special occasion, we found the VIPizza open.
The restaurant is often closed because the owner doesn’t like to be in the kitchen when it’s really hot.
His pizza was so good that we ordered one and waited for it, but once it came (and went) we decided we needed another—the waitress was confused when we ordered a second pizza over an hour into our meal. Joshua joked with her once the second pizza was all gone that we wanted “una mas.” She looked shocked. We both had burned our tongues enough trying to eat the first two that we told her we were actually kidding. She looked relived to be able to give our table away to someone else.
Every night we watched the beautiful sunset (usually with a bucket of beers). It’s amazing how relaxing it can be to sit for a whole sunset which we never do at home. To watch the sun in the last 5 minutes as it races beyond the horizon…only to see the moon appear a few moments later.
The moon and stars…
Everything in San Juan del Sur was refreshing and wonderful, except when Joshua stepped in a huge pile of steaming dog poop on a walk…he had even considered going barefoot until I made him wear shoes. He wasn’t paying attention as we walked and talked and I didn’t grab him in time. The poop made its way up and around the sides of his shoes like it wanted to hold on. He almost turned around and went back home because it was SO smelly and gooey. But we “cleaned that shit up” real quick with a puddle and some gravel and had no other problems to speak of.
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