Our Honeymoon Recap Part 7: Saying Goodbye

Dave and I returned from Italy one week ago!  Our trip was amazing and I took over 2000 pictures.  I promise I will not take over a year to post about the highlights of our trip.  However, I need to finish out Nicaragua first!  So finally after almost a year and a half, here is the final installment of Our Honeymoon Recap!

The rest:
- Part 1: Traveling to Nicaragua
- Part 2: Fresh Fish & Adjusting to Island Time
- Part 3: The Mineral Springs, Hitchhiking, & Horses

- Part 4: Traveling to the West Coast

- Part 5: Monkeys, Massages, and a Sunset Cruise

- Part 6: Exploring

We woke up the next morning intending on doing yoga one more time, but after sitting on the platform for a few minutes we realized it didn't take place on that day of the week.  Bummer!  We decided to drink some champagne instead...

After hanging out on the beach for a little while, we grabbed some snorkeling equipment and decided to explore a little.  I had never snorkeled before and I found it to be super uncomfortable.  I decided I wasn't into it and had a smoothie on the beach instead.  I'll figure out how to snorkel when we go to Hawaii...

Eventually it was time to leave, so we packed our bags and hopped in our cab along with our new friends Glen and Andrea since we were both headed to the capital, Managua.  But first we went to check out a giant market in Masaya.  When we pulled up to the market our car was surrounded by a crowd of men wanting to guide us around the market.  At first I was very turned off, but eventually we ended up with one man, who in hindsight was very important since the market was like a maze and none of us spoke Spanish very well.

We wandered around the overwhelming market and found some beautiful souvenirs.  I wish I took some pictures of the market, but I think I was just too overwhelmed and trying not to draw any more attention to myself.

After we were finished, we headed into the capital.  Soon we were saying goodbye to Glen and Andrea and promising we'd stay in touch (spoiler alert, we didn't do a good job).  After we dropped them off, we headed to our hotel.  The city wasn't quite as scenic as the rest of our trip and I started to worry that we may have made a mistake staying here for the night.  I was relieved when we arrived at our hotel and it was both secure (hello giant wall with barbed wire on top) and beautiful.

I was pretty exhausted from our travels, so I resisted Dave's request to go out for dinner.  When he took a lap around the block and found multiple casinos and a few people trying to sell him drugs, he agreed and we ordered some mediocre delivery.  I was ready to go home!

The next morning we had a nice breakfast and headed off to the airport for another long day of travel, made longer by an awful experience in the Miami airport.  Let's just say I had something we now refer to as the Miami Meltdown... but my husband still loved me afterwards! We had a wonderful honeymoon and I would recommend Nicaragua to anybody who wants a little adventure off the beaten path!

The end :)

Our Honeymoon Recap Part 6: Exploring

Well I should be packing... or sleeping, but I felt compelled to drop some pictures into this post and get it online!  I feel like I should probably finish recapping Nicaragua before we go on our next trip ;)

Catching up?
- Part 1: Traveling to Nicaragua
- Part 2: Fresh Fish & Adjusting to Island Time
- Part 3: The Mineral Springs, Hitchhiking, & Horses

- Part 4: Traveling to the West Coast

- Part 5: Monkeys, Massages, and a Sunset Cruise

The 6th day of our honeymoon started with another delicious breakfast buffet.  Dave skipped yoga, but I went and enjoyed another class with a view.  We spent the rest of the morning on the beach at the resort before deciding to hike into the neighboring town with our new friends Glen and Andrea.

The hike into Playa Gigante was fairly easy, on a path through the woods.  When we got into town the beach views were amazing.

We walked around a little when we first arrived.  The town was small with a few restaurants and bars, full of a mix of locals and gringo surfers.

 
We stopped and had a few drinks at a random bar and happened to run into the fun bartender from our resort on his day off.  I really wish I remembered his name.  We ended up hanging out with him all day!  Dave also struck up a conversation with a gentleman who turned out to be a former diplomat who gave him some really nice cigars.  There was a taco stand right next to this bar that our friends got food from, but I wasn't hungry.  I still regret not getting those tacos!

We wandered around some more and went to another bar where we met up with another couple we had met at the resort.  We stuck out like sore thumbs there so we didn't stay long.  We ended up at a really neat bar right on the beach.  A bunch of locals and surfers were all gathered to watch a soccer game on tv and the drinks were flowing!

Andrea and I spent a bunch of time on the beach.  The sand was super hot but the water was very rough, so we spent our time alternating between.  They had a slack line out front and a few of the surfer guys came out to show us how it was done.  I couldn't walk across that thing if my life depended on it!

After we hiked back into town, we got seriously close to some monkeys!

Next we freshened up and got ready for our dinner at Mukuls.  The hotel had arranged a taxi for us for the 15 minute ride.  When we arrived at the resort, it seriously felt like we were at Jurassic Park because of the large extravagant gate at the entrance!  They took our IDs at the gate and we rode up to the front of the resort.  As soon as the car door opened, we knew we had arrived in the lap of luxury.  The resort was breathtaking.  We were lead through the entrance, each staff member more polite than the next.  The dining room hadn't opened yet, so they sat us in a beautiful lobby area where we ordered some delicious drinks.

Soon after we were sat in the open air portion of the restaurant with a wonderful beach view.  Our waiter was fabulous.  He was extremely nice, made great suggestions, and brought us a bottle of wine on the house.  We started our meal trying not to fill up on the tasty bread.  Next we ordered appetizers.  I had a cold dish with scallops from the bay served with red onion and goat cheese.  It was unique and delightful.  For my entree I enjoyed a medley of shrimp, clams, and crab meat in a rich sauce.  It was so decadent!  The meal was just wonderful.  I'm so glad we received the tip to go there.

After we wrapped up our dinner, Dave wanted to take a peek in the cigar shop.  I sat in the lobby and decided to take advantage of the wifi.  A friend had let me know that the PE (professional engineering exam) results were in for April.  I took the 8 hour exam a month before our wedding, like a crazy person, and I really wasn't sure I had passed.  I debated whether I actually wanted to know the results, but then curiosity got the best of me.  When I finally got my log in and password right, the webpage surprised me with a little green PASS.  I couldn't believe it!  I was seriously in shock.  Did I really pass?!  I took a screen shot of the results so I could pull it up at any point, just to be sure that sweet little PASS was still there.  What an incredible discovery on such a special night of our honeymoon!

Unfortunately, after dinner something did not agree with my tummy.  I honestly think it was most likely the ice from my cocktails in town during the day.  I could not imagine the food at that amazing resort making my stomach so upset.  The rest of the night was a little rough, but it could've been worse.

One more recap left... Part 7

Our Honeymoon Recap Part 5: Monkeys, Massages, and a Sunset Cruise

Catching up?
- Part 1: Traveling to Nicaragua
- Part 2: Fresh Fish & Adjusting to Island Time
- Part 3: The Mineral Springs, Hitchhiking, & Horses

- Part 4: Traveling to the West Coast

Our first full day at Aqua Wellness Resort started with monkeys!  We woke up hearing them coming down through the trees and ran outside with our camera.

I can't remember if we ran into them at the bar the night before or on the beach that morning, but the couple we met on the very first day of our trip at Laguna de Apoyo was staying at our resort!  They actually spotted us on Ometepe too, but I was completely oblivious at the time.  After we were done hanging out with the monkeys we headed down to the restaurant and ended up eating with Andrea and Glen.  The bfast turned out to be the best food at the resort complete with an omelet station, rice and beans, fresh fruit, and all the bacon I could stuff in my face.

I probably should've gone a little lighter on the bacon, because immediately after we went to do some yoga overlooking the ocean.  The views from the platform were beautiful.  It was a little hard to hear the instructor over the sounds of the surf, but who could complain?  It was Dave's first time doing yoga and he made it through almost the entire class (which was longer than the two other newbie dudes in the class).

After yoga, we hung out a little on the beach before heading to our couples massage.  It started with 30 minutes of an exfoliating scrub, then we showered, and the last hour was an amazing massage with oils that we had picked beforehand.  It was a wonderful experience!  We left with fresh juice and a fruit platter that we enjoyed on our little deck area.

Then we spent some more time on the beach.

And in the late afternoon, we boarded our sunset cruise!

Everything was kind of barren since it was almost the end of their dry season, but it was still so beautiful!  We had to laugh since there was a cooler on the boat with only 4 or 5 beers that we crushed in the first hour of the two hour ride and then asked where's the rest?  On our way back towards the resort, I got to use the only Spanish I remembered from many sessions of Spanish Behind the Wheel to ask if we could swim... since those beers went right through me ;)

Here's what our resort looked like from the water.

We went upstairs to freshen up and caught more amazing views.

Our night continued with a mediocre dinner at the beach bar.  The food at the resort just wasn't great.  While we were eating, we met a couple who told us about this amazing resort down the street that we just had to have dinner at.  The final piece of our romance package (which included the couples massage and sunset cruise) was a candlelit dinner on the beach that we had scheduled for our last evening at the resort, but they insisted we skip it and make reservations at Mukul's.  We thought about it for a little while and decided to do it!

Our evening ended with a bonfire and some dance lessons on the beach with our favorite bartender, who was trying to teach all the men to move their hips, it was hilarious.

To be continued... Part 6