October 11th, 2012
Part of the view from our balcony
The next day we were enjoying being slow. We made it out to a spa at one point. I had a blind guy wind up doing my massage. He was okay, but a little lame. Having a physical therapist fiancé kind of spoils things. I got a sports massage because of all the running I do. I felt little difference once I was done. Sadly, I know exactly where people are screwing up now and I feel it later.
The spa we got the massage in was pretty nice. It was called literally the Hotel Spa. The place brags about having the largest pool in Granada, but you have no idea whether that’s true from looking at it. They give you free access to the pool with the purchase of a $28 massage, but the water looked dirty and the pool was packed.
There was some cool metal work. Long wires were molded on the walls to form 3D ants. One wall was coated in moss and leaves like The Secret Garden. It was pretty to look at, but the proclamations of how nice the place was by the staff were really overblown.
Naty and I came back home and had some sesame sticks with orange juice, watching Dexter. We’re catching up on Season 6. I’m really enjoying this season more than Season 5. You get the idea with Season 5 everyone wanted to hammer a paycheck, and they just filled in the blanks with the standard Dexter season components. Colin Hanks so far works okay in his role, and the Doomsday Killer is well-written and psychotic. Other than the Nebraska detour episode, which made no sense to me as far as necessity (so far), the whole show has been solid.
My girlfriend drinking a cappuccino from the cafe attached to our hotel. Asked why in the world it was in a cereal bowl they told us “that’s how a cappuccino is in Italy.”
One of the nice things on this visa run is that Naty and I did most of the touristy stuff here before. We try to get out and hang out but at the same time we’d been working 60 hour weeks at home. It’s fun to chill by the pool and also watch movies and shows on the laptop.
We eventually passed out. The great thing about Hotel Plaza Colon is their colonial rooms can be completely dark if you want them to be. It was relaxing to pass out completely for an hour in a room with no sunlight. Then, when you wake up, you can open up the heavy wooden colonial door to the balcony, pool, and garden.
I took Naty to El Zaquan here. The place had hundreds of great reviews, but I wasn’t all that impressed. The food was expertly prepared and very delicious. The te frio was incredibly well-prepared, and I’m a snob with my iced tea.
The food wasn’t the problem. Maybe it’s a Nicaraguan thing to be gruff and pissed off but the service was just awful.
I at no point felt like I was being really waited on. The waiter never really talked to me about anything, even when I stupidly tried to crack a joke with him. I asked for a recommendation and he blew me off. He was more concerned with watching TV. I thought it was laughable this place was so recommended.
Naty was in a good mood and liked the food, which was enough for me.
When we got home she opened the door to champagne on ice and roses. I opened the balcony door to let the moonlight come in. I told her how I’d felt about her for a long time, and asked her to marry me. She cried and said yes, hugging me with all her might.
That’s the version I’ll tell my kids anyway. In reality when we came in Naty looked stunned at the champagne and roses. She later admitted she initially thought someone had been told it was our honeymoon and had left them for us. Why my girlfriend could not conceive of me surprising her is beyond me, but (laughing) okay.
I tried to open the balcony door so she could see me. The door wouldn’t open. I finally did and I got down on one knee, reaching for my pocket. She thought I was going for the camera. She grabbed a rose and posed for me, then when she saw the ring she looked dumbfounded. She was kind of expecting me to propose for a while now. I felt good I’d still managed to surprise her.
I popped the cork to the champagne over the Spanish villa-esque hotel’s roofs, the moon shining down on the pool. The hotel staff came out to the courtyard and started clapping for us. We waived with stupid smiles on our faces.
We finished the whole bottle of champagne in one go, then watched Meet The Fockers. Seemed appropriate.
My Plugs: Check out my vids at Pocketfives Training, contact me for lessons at assassinatocoaching@gmail.com, see other stuff I write with my friends at www.pokerheadrush.com, and follow my Twitter at TheAssassinato