Lovely Spanish Colonial City

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  Granada, Nicaragua
Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Granada is a lovely colonial town nestled on the shore of Lake
Cocibolca (commonly known as Lake Nicaragua). When we arrived it was
hot and only got hotter the longer we stayed. I´m sure it was about 155
degrees farenheit when we left. The city is like a smaller quieter
version of Antigua in Guatemala and we really liked it. We checked out
a few places to stay and ended up at Oasis Hostel. Let me tell you this
place is an Oasis. They have large dorm rooms with fans(ask for a
top bunk), free coffee and tea, free Internet, a free 10 minute call
anywhere in the world and a pool. The pool is not gigantic but it makes
a difference when it is 155 degrees farenheit outside.

We
spent our couple of days wandering around the city, eating at different
places, updating this site and checking out the market.

I
was very excited when I walked through the market and saw about a dozen
shoe repair guys lining the street. We had not seen this since Mexico
and I needed to get my hiking shoe fixed. Somewhere along the way the
leather seam on my left shoe came loose and now I can see my sock from
the outside

Brightly colored building in Granada

. Not so good it kind of cuts down on that whole water
resistant thing. One morning I took the shoe to the market and handed
it to the first guy I saw and asked if he could repair it. He said come
back in 30 minutes. When I came back my shoe was completely repaired
and it only cost 50 Cordobas ($2.75) for the fix. Amazing how your
mentality changes as a budget traveler. Back home I would have seen
this as an opportunity to go out and buy a new pair of hikers and would
have probably dropped a $100 bucks or more. Now for less than $3 bucks
I have my shoes fixed and I get to keep walking in my 4 year old well
broken in shoes. I am now on a mission to see how long I can make these
last.

While I waited for the shoe to be repaired I got my
haircut at the Gran Sultan Barber Shop for $1 buck. It feels so great
in this heat and humidity to have a shaved head. It made Kay so jealous
that she looked for a salon and got about 4 inches taken off her hair.
She said it feels great but she wants to take off more. Just like in
the states most things for women cost more, her haircut was 40 Cordobas
($2.50).  I told her I would cut it for free but she wisely
declined.

We walked around the town looking at the churches,
every town has churches and they are all starting to look alike, and
wandered down to the lake. The lake was a little sad in that it was
full of trash and very low. We were also told that the fishing is no
longer good in the lake because they have been dumping all kinds of
waste into it for years

Central Plaza and Church

. The lake was only 6 blocks from the center of
town but because of the heat it felt like six miles. Our shirts were
more wet than dry and the sun was handing out beat downs left and
right. On the way back to the hostel we saw a little cigar shop that
was hand rolling cigars. We went inside and checked it out. It was very
impressive to watch them expertly roll cigars one after the other with
ease. I bought a few to take home and one to smoke that night.



One night we went to happy hour and dinner at a different hostel, the
Bearded Monkey.  (Food not good - but drinks are great!) 
While downing as many 20 Cordoba Double Rum & Cokes (about ¤1.25)
as possible before the happy hour ended, we ran into a couple that we
had previously met all the way back in San Pedro (Lake Atitlan,
Guatemala).  Over two months had passed.  It was great
catching up with Daniel and Anica (from Argentina and Uruguay). 
They recently graduated from medical school and are taking time off to
travel.  They are currently going through Central America,
supporting their travels by making jewelry to sell in the streets and
markets.  Since the last time we saw them in Guatemala, they had
travelled to Cuba, Costa Rica, and Panama.  Which is funny because
those are the only three countries we have not visited yet - which
explains why we had not run into them before!



It is a very small world on the Gringo Trail through Central America.

The
heat is too oppressive and we have decided to go to Laguna de Apoyo, a
crater lake outside of town, to cool off before we head out to the Corn
Islands.

Cheers
Frank

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Central Plaza in Granada	church and carriage	Church and locals	colorful juice stand
Eagles fan in Granada	Hand rolling cigars	Horse drawn carraiges in the park	One of the many brightly painted buildings
One of the many old churches in Granada	Plaza	Plaza near the shore of Lake Cocibolca	rolling some more
she made these so fast it was amazing	shoeshine anyone	side view of Church	Sultan Cigar shop

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