Sitting on the coast of Laguna Nicaragua, Granada is a picture perfect colonial town - a photographer’s dream with vibrant, sun drenched colored colonial architecture, elegant churches, horse-drawn carriages trotting down wide cobblestone roads and surprising interior garden courtyards which come into full bloom once entering the arched entryways.
Granada is Nicaragua’s oldest colonial city - founded in 1524. Located on the northwestern shore of Laguna de Nicaragua and with access to the Caribbean Sea via the lake and the Rio San Juan, Granada was an important trade center - which also made it a target for English and French buccaneers who made several runs on the city. Conservative Granada and liberal Leon were bitter rivals and the 2 cities entered a full blown civil war in 1850s.
Although Granada suffered huge destruction in those times the city has recently undergone a restoration program resulting in the stunning city we encountered.
We spent our first night at the Hospedaje Cocibolca located in a prime location on Calle LaCalzada a beautiful pedestrian street, with a great view of the Cathedral over the red tiled roofs. Unfortunately the room was quite small and unbelievably hot - then again it was only $15 a night.
As we planned on spending a few days in town and we had been sticking to a tight budget for awhile we decided to splurge a little and we moved down the street to the Posada San Juan a renovated old colonial building with a friendly staff, AC, TV and breakfast. Ok it was more than double the price at $35 a night but sleeping without the fan blowing on my face like a hot blowdryer was worth every penny!
