6 February, rose early to catch earlyish flight. Left home at 7:15 – same Ethiopian driver as took us to Kim and Mickey’s recently. He’d forgotten the conversation we’d had with him that time about our visit to Ethiopia 10 years ago, although I don’t suppose he has that sort of conversation very often.
Enjoyed the benefits of the Virgin Upper Class check in and security check, then the benefits of the lounge. Last time we were in this lounge was 9 years ago (flying Air Jamaica to Havana) and I was not too well that day; this time I was able to enjoy the benefits of the place. Enjoyed breakfasty stuff such as yoghurt with granola and smoked salmon bagels,
Soon enough we were in the air on our way to Atlanta, where we are to pick up our ongoing flight to Managua.
Daisy tucked into the grub more than I did, having a sort of marinated beef dish, which she enjoyed. I just had the soup and the cheese/biscuits without a main.
Daisy slept a fair bit more than I did (probably all that food and wine) but I took advantage of the time to read about Nicaragua and watch two movies; Mistress America (on Nigel Hinks’ excellent and reliable advice) and then the Minions movie (following my own heart to the animated stuff). Both wonderful.
Change at Atlanta – the usual US nonsense of having to enter the country merely to leave it and all the paperwork and queuing that entails. At least the officials in Atlanta seem to have been trained to try and deal with vistors nicely, rather than the “illegal migrant” treatment we experienced transiting in Miami all those years ago.
The Delta lounge was very pleasent, not least because we could enjoy a glass of wine on the sun deck, check the cricket score to discover that England won the second ODI today and try cheese grits – perhaps the blandest savoury dish in the world.
A bit of a delay for the Managua flight, despite the “on time” message right up until we went down for boarding. In the end, about 1 hour delay but irritating and at the end of a long journey not exactly fun. The flight was mostly/populated by US churchy-folk off to do missionary/charity work and it was clear that some of them were known to the crew. Our cabin attendant was very friendly and attentive.
We were met by Edgar who took us straight to the hotel, which seems lovely on reflection this morning, but last night seemed a bit dingy and we struggled to get a room with double bed and air conditioning that works properly, In the end of course we achieved both.
The breakfast was a little uninspiring, not that we needed inspiration this morning. Daisy got excited at the sight of an espresso machine much like mine, but we were told it doesn’t work so had to make do with some fairly stewed stuff. Daisy had bread and banana, while I tried some cake and a cinnamon bun that was pretending to be Danish. We both had a fortified pot of yoghurt made palatable with honey.
In fact, Los Robles is a beatiful hotel and we are retrospectively pleased we chose to stay locally, avoiding yet more travel late last night and providing an opportunity to see Managua and Old Leon on our way to Leon today. Exciting prospects indeed.
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