El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America. We began in La Palma [1] just over the border from Honduras. This friendly colourful village has brightly painted murals on almost every wall, inspired by painter Fernando Llort.
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Moving on to the capital San Salvador [2], dominated by Volcán San Salvador, we spent a pleasant evening, sharing a traditional meal with the Massi family, relatives of our friends Gloria and Alfredo. Pupusas, cooked rounds of cornmeal dough stuffed with a variety of fillings and eaten with cabbage salad are the national dish. The family history began in Italy. Two brothers came to El Salvador in 1923. One, Enriquo, created the country´s military flying school but later tragically died in an aeroplane accident. The other, Alfredo, was a pioneer film maker and produced most of the Salvadorian films of the 1930´s, mainly documentaries.
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Staying in Hotel Posada del Rey Primero in San Salvador was more like staying with relatives. The staff are super friendly and the hotel, an old house, has little secluded areas to sit – all tastefully and brightly decorated.
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Suchitoto [3], a colonial town on Lake Suchitlán north of San Salvador is known as “The Cultural Capital of El Salvador”. Founded by the Spanish in 1528 it was briefly the capital in the 16th century. For lunch, we enjoyed the best ever freshly made papusas from a stall in the market.
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