Nightlife in Granada - Local Food, Local Talent

Calle La Calzada  is one of the main tourist streets in the heart of Granada. It is very wide and in the evening the restaurants pull tables and chairs out onto the walkway and the streets come alive with locals and tourists as well as several touring groups of young boys giving street performances in between the passing cars. Sadly there are also a lot of street kids that roam the boulevard at night looking for a handout or selling some of trinket or food (cashews are a big item here along with the infamous chicklets and cigarettes)

This young boy who was selling cashew nuts hung out at our table for awhile checking out our pictures and making small talk (in Spanish). Another night I had tried a traditional meal of Nacatamales which is a type of tamale wrapped in banana leaves. Turns out the banana leaves make a great take-away dish and one young boy scored big when he noticed I wasn't finishing my meal. He scooped up the remains of my meal in the banana leaves and went running - a few other boys following close behind him. It is not unusual to see a street kid (or adult) sit down at a table, usually while the guests are still there, and quickly finish the scraps left behind on the plates.

Speaking of traditional meals or tipico comida - check this one out - chancho con yuca which is pork with boiled yucca and is a specialty in Granada. John laughs at me every time I order something new but you gotta try the typical food right? And you have a 50-50 chance of liking it. This one was a thumbs up.

Another truly entertaining part of the evening is when the local boys come out in the street to strut their stuff - old school break dancing.  Several of them were really quite good.  They would take turns in the middle of the street with their crew standing in the background, clapping and cheering them on.  Every once in a while a car would come down the street - but they would just keep performing until the sequence was over.

Check out the flexibility of this guy.  

Walking Tour Granada - Part II

Next stop, the cemetery.  You might be thinking “why would you visit the cemetery?”  Well on our way into town we had caught a glimpse of it - amazing!  Not only is the cemetery itself huge, but the gravesights are elaborate, statutes of saints, virgin mary, and more.

Some families have huge tombs just waiting for family members to join one another on the other side  There were rows and rows of these - we wondered how much they cost - they were works of art.

But as moved further back in to the “low-rent” district you found simple crosses marking a gravesight. I guess the distinction between the haves and have nots follows you in the afterlife.














On the way back into town we stopped near the Plaza de Independencia. Classes for the day must have just ended as the school kids were filling the streets, on their way home or just hanging out with their friends.  This group was clustered around the monument obelisk which is dedicated to the hereos of the 1821 struggle for independence.                 

Walking Tour Granada

We found ourselves spending more time than we would have expected just roaming the streets of the city.  The best place to start a walking tour is at the heart of the city.  I just love the Latin American central parks.  They seem to be a focal point for the community and everything branches out from there.  Here the Parque Central  is lined with mango trees, street vendors selling trinkets, and horse-drawn carriages just waiting to take tourists on a ride through the city.  Each time we walked through the park several of the carriage drivers would give us their sales pitch - where they could take us, what we could see, all in the luxury of a horse-drawn carriage.

Of course every central park seems to have that key tenant - the Cathedral..  This one was built in the 20th Century using the original foundation of an older church.  The bright yellow bell tower can be seen from all over the city.









The area around the Convento y Iglesia de San Francisco reminds us of Nepal with flags drapped across the streets.  The Convento was burned to the ground by William Walker in 1856 and rebuilt a few years later.















The church is a very busy place both for services and tours for the tourists.  We found a great place to people watch just across the street from the Convento - Kathy’s Waffle House - I know, sounds just like the states right?  We indulged in excellent pancakes with real syrup - John was in was in his own idea of heaven.

The most elaborate church was the baroque Iglesia de La Merced.  Built in 1539 it was a victim of pirate attacks in 1655 and then further damaged by Leonese forces in 1854 before being restored in 1862.  The view from the bell tower was unbelievable!  Picture postcard perfect! 

Here’s a few more photos from the bell tower.

Granada - Vibrant Colors, Restored Colonial Buildings and Horse-drawn Carriages

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!

Final Days in San Juan del Sur

Since the very first day when we arrived in  San Juan del Sur, every time you are at the beach, you couldn't help but notice the huge Jesus statute perched up on a hill where he could look over and protect the city.  So, in our final days in SJDS we decided we needed to make an obligatory pilgrimage up to the statute.  It wasn't really that far, you just followed the road, up along the coast and then up the steepest road to the gate, where you paid your entrance fee ($1) to get close to the sacred figure of fiberglass.  









The view from the statute is impressive - the entire horseshoe bay of SJDS unfolds in front of you.











 Besides this small pilgrimage to the statute, we also manage to squeeze in a few more days of surfing. My ear is feeling better so we decide to check out Playa Remanso.  There really isn’t much swell but we take some long boards out and have a great time   The beach is nice and there is a small little rancho serving snacks and drinks  Our second day out we decide to take a private transport and get there early. When we arrive we are the only ones there.  Unfortunately the surf is small, but we have a blast just the 2 of us with the entire beach to ourselves.  Not like our normal crowded Southern California breaks which are packed by 6 a.m.  

In contrast to our flash travel through South East Asia we had managed to spend almost 4 weeks in SJDS and it was time to move on.  So we said our good byes to our friends, Randy, Brenda and others at the Gato Negro, and of course, enjoyed one last delicious dinner with Jessica, Carlos and Ximena.  We will miss our SJDS friends and family.

Here are some final beach shots of  San Juan del Sur.

Kabinas and Butterflies on Ometepe

We spent our last night back at Playa Santa Domingo in the Kabinas.  A bit of a splurge for us but an adorable little octagon cabina down a cobblestoned path lined with flowers which attracted hundreds of butterflies.

We catch the bus back to Altagracia, a sleepy little town at the other end of the island near Conception..  From there we catch another bus, which actually goes back the way we had just come and then turns to Moyogalpa where we catch a lancha back to San Jorge.  We had been warned about taking these lanchas.  As the wind picks up, these smaller boats get tossed about, rising up with each swell only to drop down the other side.  It was a crazy ride and we were glad to put our feet back on ground.

Hiking the Volcano Maderas

After a few days of relaxing we decide to head further north and look into climbing one of the volcanoes. We catch the local bus to Merida to find out that the normally quiet Hacienda Merida, which was a former ranch of the Somoza family - now owned by the current government - is hosting a summer camp of sorts with about 20 or so teenagers.  Just our luck!  We get one of the last rooms with a set of bunk-beds right next to the dorms occupied by the kids. Right outside our room is a community area where several of the kids volunteer to teach local kids English, or at least that is the intent.  But I’m not sure playing hangman is really teaching them much, especially  when no one seems to understand each other.  On the other hand,  there is a lot of laughter, so I guess its not so bad.

The Hacienda is an interesting place, the walls are lined with information about bus schedules, volcano hikes, and other activities.  In the evening a couple of guides show up to get recruits to make the climb up the volcano the next morning.  We sign up with 3 other travelers,

Isle de Ometepe is comprised of  Volcano Conception (1610m) and Volcano Maderas(1395m). We had heard mixed reports on whether you could actually reach the summit on Conception so we opted for Maderas.  Both volcanos are known to be rugged and we expect the trail to be steep and muddy.  But steep and muddy doesn’t quite capture it.  The day starts easy enough, sun is out, trail is nice …

but it quickly gets steep,  and the trail … well we are just climbing up and over tree roots.
















And then the rain starts, and keeps going for the next several hours.  We expected to get to the top in about 4 hours.  We had been promised spectacular views out over the island and down to a crater lake which we could hike down to and swim if we wanted.  Well, that was before the rain and fog rolled in.












We got to the top, and could have been anywhere in the jungle.  We looked at each other, the 5 of us and 2 guides, and decided to beeline it back down.  Notwithstanding the lack of view, the rain and fog, when it was all said and done, and after washing all the mud out of our clothes, we decided it was a great hike after all and we were glad we did it.