Blogs from Northern Pacific Coast, Nicaragua, Central America Caribbean - page 26

Central America Caribbean » Nicaragua » Northern Pacific Coast » Leon February 13th 2006

The church bells started clanging at 5:30 AM. It was Sunday morning in Leon, Nicaragua home of at least 17 churches including the largest cathedral, actually a basilica, in Central America. Construction was started in 1747. It is so large that the story told is that a bogus set of design plans were submitteed to the Spanish imperial authorities because they feared the real plans would be turned down. And, like the Santa Croce church in Florence where so many notables are buried, hereto are the tombs of the some of the most famous figures in Nicaraguan literature amongh them the poets Ruben Dario, Alfonso Cortes and Salomon de la Selva. But I was not there to just sight see. On this day I was there to grieve for an aunt who had passed away last ... read more

Estelí

Central America Caribbean » Nicaragua » Northern Pacific Coast » Leon January 17th 2006

AmberH

Hola Amigos, Na 2 dagen in Leon (een mooie stad, niet toeristisch in noord Nicaragua), zijn we naar Estelí gegaan, een bergstadje met een politiek bewogen verleden (evenals Leon overigens), waar een van horen zeggen goede Spaanse school is. We hebben besloten hier nog een week Spaans te doen alvorens Enrico teruggaat naar Antigua en ik zuidwaards ga. Het stadje zelf valt tegen, maar de eerste les vandaag was goed en ik begin langzaam wat meer vertrouwen in mijn Spaans (spreken) te krijgen. Echter het accent van de mensen hier (en de woorden die ze gebruiken) zijn zo verschillend in vergelijking met Guatemala, dat het verstaan mijn momenteel vrij veel moeite kost.... maar goed, un dia... (one day) Het schooltje is erg klein (3 andere studenten, niet direct mijn type mensen). Mijn familie is aardig (hoewel ... read more

There was a beach, and nudity ... but who called security?

Central America Caribbean » Nicaragua » Northern Pacific Coast » Leon January 9th 2006

Leon cathedral

Tom Rooney

My whirlwind tour through Central America continues, dear reader, with selected highlights from Nicaragua. Time constraints limit my options at this particular stage of the trip, yet if the choice is between a short visit to these wonderful countries or not being here at all, I certainly won´t need to phone a friend as the decision is a no brainer. I booked a seat on an international Tica Bus from San Jose across the border to Rivas in the south of Nicaragua. From there a further short taxi ride, and then a one hour ferry crossing landed me at the magical Isla de Ometepe on Lake Nicaragua, which is the largest lake in Central America. The island was formed by the lava from two large volcanoes, and Volcan Concepcion at 1610 metres is still active. It's ... read more

Brief history of Nicaragua

The Pacific Coast of Nicaragua was settled as a Spanish colony from Panama in the early 16th century. Independence from Spain was declared in 1821 and the country became an independent republic in 1838. Britain occupied the Caribbean Coast in the fir...more history

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