Takin´a Break: Granada, Nicaragua

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Well we´ve been lounging around, taking in all the sights, smells and sounds in this old colonial town of Granada. After spending a few great days checking out the sights with our friends Jenny and Nate, it was time to bid them ¨adios¨ as they had to head back home. We decided that this was a good place to stop for a couple days and take a few spanish lessons. Our feeling is we need to at least be introduced to the basics of the spanish language so we can comunicate effectively.

Granada is a colonial town that is 400 years old. Being a colonial town, all the buildings are constructed connecting each other which gives it a very maze-like feeling when attempting to navigate it. All the buildings have an inner courtyard that sports a little garden, ideal for that tranquil afternoon siesta on a hammock! The middle section of town is quite beautiful, with no shortage of colourful walls and lots of old colonial architecture. There is a bustling morning market near the downtown core. On a little foray one day out into the outskirts, I realized that most of the residents of this town actually live in poverty, with little more that four walls and a tin shack over their head. Nicaragua is the second poorest country in Central America (after Haiti).

Some major highlights of Granada:
A boat cruise to Las Isletas - an array of hundreds of tiny, one house islands that are scattered just south of Granada on Lake Nicaragua.
Tasting the local delicacy of the area - ´Vigaron´ consists of deepfried pork skin served ontop of a heaping portion of boiled yucca (a type of root) mixed with cabbage salad. Probably one of the worst things I have ever tasted, Nate and I had to choke it down (purely out of curtesy) while the girls wouldn´t come near it!
A day trip out to Laguna de Apoyo - a crater lake that I will add a post about soon. Awesome place.

So with five days of spanish classes under our belts, we are now ready to go out there and takle the yet be discovered. I think we have the rules and basics down. Our next step now is to add some vocabulario and practico, practico, practico.

But I´ll stop rambling in words and let the attached pictures do the rest of the work for me.

Adios amigos!

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