I’ve just spent a week in Honduras and have to say it was quite a wonderful trip. Prior to going we had been warned of possible security concerns and found out that San Pedro Sula (our destination city) was just named the more dangerous city in Latin America. After taking some security precautions we figured it was safe to go and so the adventure began.
As usual I won’t talk about anything work related, but I assure you I’m not on secret assassin assignments…
We departed Memphis at 6:00 a.m. which meant my ride (and fellow coworker/traveler) was at my house at 3:45 to pick me up. She arrived about 5 minutes early, but I was surprisingly ready for her arrival. We parked at my favorite parking place in Memphis (Park it Here) and took the shuttle over to Memphis International. I spend a lot of time at MEM. Today FourSquare informed me that I’ve been there every week for a month. It’s a second home and I get very defensive when people talk bad about it or call it a bus terminal with planes. However, this trip I was forced to confront my subjective love and admit that my beloved airport is a bit dated and cramped. We are out of step with the current trend of soaring ceilings and miles of moving sidewalk…but I’m okay with that. Overall, I think we do a good job of staying modern and I think the smell of BBQ wafting through the concourse helps mask some of the other shortcomings.
Back to San Pedro Sula…we had to go through Atlanta (uneventful) and arrived around noon. The immigration process wasn’t bad and I was able to practice my Spanish with the official at customs. The airport itself is nothing special. It could use a bit of sprucing up, but was fine. They have free wi-fi so I can’t complain too much. One noteworthy thing was the stark contrast between the duty-free shop (bright lights, sleek display cases, modern shelving) and the rest of the airport. It’s a pretty common occurrence, but still manages to jar my senses a bit every time I see it.
After meeting our coworkers we headed to the Princess Hilton San Pedro. We were greeted by scaffolding as they were repainting the ceiling. I think it’s supposed to be an old-world European (French?) themed hotel. It’s cute and pretty nice, but nothing exceptional. The pool is quite lovely, but I think if you’re looking for a hotel in San Pedro Sula I’d recommend the Intercontinental.
Sunday afternoon our hosts took us to the Fortaleza de San Fernando de Omoa which was pretty cool. From the top of one of the walls you could look directly down onto a soccer field where some local club teams were playing a match.
Beforehand we stopped by a little restaurant that had tables on a pier. I think it was called The Dolphin and it was on a public beach that is popular with the locals based on the amount of people we saw enjoying the water.
The rest of the week we worked and ate and worked some more. I’ll talk about particular restaurants in Part 2.