San Salvador

San Salvador, born and raised, making living in the middle of the mid west a nightmare. But enough about me, hey guys I know what you're thinking "What happened!?!? Where was the post on Sunday ... last month" I know, I know. I'm not gonna make any excuses, I forgot that I started this blog a month ago.

So today I'll be talking about San Salvador the capital of El Salvador and the places that are must sees in and around the city.


Monumento al Divino Salvador del Mudo - "Monument to the Divine Savior of the World " This is a statue of Jesus Christ on top of the world on top of a 18 meter tall pillar. This was built in 1942, its on Paseo General Escalon, I am not that great with directions so Google maps comes in handy. It was recently remodeled. This is the trade mark that describes and gets El Salvador recognized.

This a picture before remodeling during Christmas.

This is after, remodeling was finished this year.

Close up at night.
















Palacio Nacional - Built in the 19th century it's design was influenced by European architecture.

Catedral Metropolitana - Construction was finished in 1954, the entrance had a mosaic made by artist Fernando Llort.  This is one of the most history rich place in the city, large collection of Roman Catholic paintings and monument to archbishop Romero I'll give more information on him next week. This was recently remodeled like the Salvedor del Mundo, and no longer has the mosaic, but here are some pics of what it looked like before and after.

Estadio Cuscatlan - Watching a game is a very nice way to get the feel how we love the game, not that good at it, but love it. You'll most likely see it if you're on your way to see El Salvador del Mundo, right at the beginning of Paseo General Escalon, this street is also famous for the main buildings to many businesses and good restaurants.

Metrocentro - Is one of the biggest malls in the country if not Central America, whit over 300 stores, restaurants and attractions this is definitely one of the places you wanna go to, to get souvenirs, and hang out.

Torres Futuras - Is the world trade center in El Salvador with an outside mall, located in the heart of the city that is lit up with neon lights and water fountains.

Los Planes de Renderos - That is the full name, I've mentioned this place before, this more in the outside of the city but this a great place to get a feel of what El Salvador is really like. It's on the side of a hill on the west side of the city, full of places to get authentic Salvadorean food, and souvenirs.

Only pics I could find are from Los Planes

But it's a great way to see the whole city, and some neighborhoods










La Puerta del Diablo - This place is on the same hill as Los Planes, its a large formation of rocks that goes about 2-3 kilometers down, and about 30 meters high to the top, these measurements are from the level on the hill were you can go up or down. It's a great place to get close to nature.

This is between the rock formation.

This is a cave on the side of the hill.

This what it looks from the ground on the other side.

This is from the highest point.










El Nacional Parque Balboa - Is one of the biggest park on the hill (cerro - in Spanish), it's a really nice place to be with family. This place also has monuments to the native Pipil (name of the tribe) that lived in this area before the Spaniards arrived. Now ,stick with me here, this place is huge and I'm taking about the hill, it's big enough to place this giant park, a cliff, market place and a balcony with a shop underneath.

The park is much bigger and you can even drive around.






El Mirador - This were you can see the whole city from. It's a giant balcony with a shop underneath.

Colonia San Benito - This is an area on the South East side on the city, this used to be the area were the richest and most powerful people lived, but now this is very public area were the Anthropology and Art museums are, the National fair grounds, and art market. Avenida De La Revolucion is the main street that leads to the Art Museum.

Museo Marte - The National Art Museum, full tours are available, that show the history of El Salvador with a deep illustration. I loved this place when I was younger, my sister and I used to go every weekend.
*Disclaimer I don't get paid for @!#$, I a only informing to whomever reads it and cares for this*

Museo Nacional de Antropologia - The National Museum of Anthropology, this has the largest collection in the country with the last artifacts of the Pipil culture (will talk abot folk lord and people before in future blog).

La Feria Internacional - The International fair grounds, normally closed to the public for most of the year, but during the Fiestas Patronales (August Fair) it's one of the busiest spots in the city, it also holds many conventions like the  and . Great place to be during the August Fair.

El Mercado de Artesanias - The craft market/flee market, here is one of the best spots in the city to get authentic, hand made craft and arts that have traditional colors and designs. You can get anything from clay figurines to hand woven hammocks, or sandals and clothing to stone carved statues. Now just like the International Fair grounds this is a large place, there are rows of stands with many options to choose from.

Well guys that's all for this week, I'll be talking about the natives that used to live in El Salvador and some of the folk lord that is still with us to this day. Also sorry I forgot to post for a month ... again. I'll talk to you guys soon, and let me know if there's anything specific you want to know, I'll cover all I can think of, but you guys are the ones that read this for fun or to learn son  let me know.

Food Part 3

    So part three, geez this took longer than I thought it would, so guys I think this will be the last part for food ... for now. I'll probably remember more stuff later. Ok enough beating around the bush, I'll be telling you today about restaurants, fast food chains, when food is served, and the deserts I forgot to post on the last blog (my bad).

    I'll start with deserts, restaurants, fast food chains and finish with when the food is served.

Deserts everything sweet hot and cold.

Empanadas - Are plantains that are mashed and mixed flour, that are then filled with cream or re-fried beans, then deep fried and sprinkled with sugar. Now I know what you're probably thinking "How is this a desert if it has re-fried beans in it?" I can't say if being turned away from it is cultural or just personal, but please don't judge them before you try them. The beans give a salty taste, but it compliments the plantains. Think of them like the Salvadorean version of chocolate covered pretzels, sweet but yet salty.

Cream filled

Bean filled








Paletas - The Salvadorean version of pop sickles (by the way when I say "version of" I'm compering it to the American version of things) the difference is this is natural, I'm not like saying you should eat it. When I say natural for something back home, I really meant it, El Salvador is a small country so production of food for the country is at a level were steroids and chemicals are not needed and/or massed produced. Back to topic so it's like frozen juice, with fruit in it sometime. The list of flavors is ALL of them.\

The fruit in the pic is called zapote, I'm not sure how to explain how it taste like nut it's good.








Minutas - This is shaved ice, but we took it to a whole new level, natural syrups that are loaded with sugar, then you can choose as many as you want, fruit, and caramel or a cream, not whipped cream but like more like condensed milk. It's good don't judge.

Arroz con leche - Milk pudding, I don't understand how this makes sense in English but whatever. So this is boiled rice with condensed milk and cinnamon. Can be served cold or hot.

Tres leche - Is a cake that has tree types of milk: condensed, evaporated, and half and half. This is use for as topping then soaks the cake, making it super sweet and moist, and sometimes topped with cherries.

Semitas - A pastry filled with fruit jam, of different types of fruits like pineapple, guava, and dulce de atado or panela if you're familiar with that term. Now dulce de atado is refined cane sugar that is boiled then harden. The pastry it self is sweet and flat, in a way it's like a strudel, sometimes it's also covered with sugar on top.

 

Torrejas - This is a dish that is served during Easter, El Salvador like most of Central America is mostly Catholic so different holidays have spacial food like any culture. Torrejas are a from of simple tasting French toast, covered with a syrup made from the dulce de atado, that I mentioned on the semitas part, and cinnamon.

Nuegados - They can be made from yuca: these are soft and need to be eaten hot, corn flour ones are toasted, or egg that are big and soft, they all have to be eaten with the syrup, that is made from dulce de panela/atado

This is nuegados with chilate: a corn based drink, that has no flavor but balances out the sweetness of the syrup.






Hojuelas - Is a large but thin and light fried dough made from grain flour, when it's fried air bubbles are made. They are covered in syrup, that is made from cinnamon. These are mostly served during the Day of the Dead in El Salvador November 1st, this day is like Halloween in the USA.

Orejas - These are a flaky crust type of pastry that is covered with sugar, the best ones are when the sugar caramelizes on the crust. Orejas in Spanish means ear and that explains the odd shape of the pastry.

Espumillas - Eggs yolks whipped with sugar and cinnamon, that's dried and harden.

Quesadillas - These are not like Mexican quesadillas, these are our version of corn bread but more sweet, and covered in sesames seeds.

Budin de pan, budin de banana - Is bread and banana pudding and if you haven't tasted one ever, I feel bad for ya. But back to food there's no big difference from other types of pudding ... so yeah.

Flan - Most people know what it is, and I have no idea how to describe it.

Poleadas - Milk with eggs, cinnamon, and maizena: a corn powder, sometimes raisins. A hot desert that's served in the afternoon.

Frutas tronadas -

Suspiros - These are like our version of wafers but sweeter, I know cause I've tried them and suspiros are sweeter whether they're manufactured or freshly baked.

**Disclaimer I do not work for, own, sponsor, or get paid for talking about these restaurants and fast food chains. This blog is only to talk about things that are in El Salvador.**
 
When I talk about restaurants I'm talking about places that are only in El Salvador and/or Central America.

Pollo Campero - Our version of KFC, so fried chicken, french fries and coleslaw, one of my favorite restaurants back home. If you live in the US there are some places where there are Pollo Campero, but it doesn't taste the same as in El Salvador.

Mister Donut - This place is a doughnut place, but also serves breakfast, lunch and dinner that uses dishes from El Salvador and if you go to other countries in Central America they'll use that county's foods.

Fun fact: this pic is From El Salvador, the building on the right hand corner is the Stadium Cuscatlan.

The green frosted ones are my favorite.






Los Cebollines - A Mexican food chain, really good tacos.

Biggest - A bugger place, really good chicken sandwiches and curly fries.

La Neveria - Is an ice-cream shop with everything and anything on ice cream that you can think of.

Pollo Real - Roasted chicken and other things, sorry guys I don't really like this place but everyone else I know likes it.

sorry for no food pics.





Lido - Is a bakery with a lot of manufactured products. This is the one place I know it's only in El Salvador.

Fast food chains, just insuring the obvious here also I'm sure some people are scared to try new things so this part is just to let you know that you can find a little bit of the usual in a different place. You can find them everywhere.

McDonald's, KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Domino's, Little Caesars, Wendy's, China Wok and  there are probably more since I've been there.


Now when what is served, this is just to let you guys know what you can find at most restaurants.

Pupusa: All day long, you can have them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Pasteles de carne: lunch and dinner
Tamales: dinner and breakfast, but you can have it for lunch too
Sopas: lunch only
Yuca: lunch only
Panes con chumpe: Most places will only serve them for lunch, maybe dinner, but there are places that served them all day long.

and that's all I have for now, sorry guys that it took me a month to finish this hope you like it and I'll see you this Sunday with places around the capital that are must sees.