Advertisement
Published: December 5th 2007
Edit Blog Post
The Cathedral
As seen from the bell tower of La Merced Taking a taxi from the port at San Jorge to the bus terminal at Rivas the driver tried to convince us to take his taxi all the way to Granada. It was too expensive at US$25 so we said no. But he didn't give up, he went as far as telling us that there was no bus for 2 hours going to Granada. Maybe he was right but we found one for Managua that was leaving straight away. The bus helpers nodded enthusiastically when we asked if it was going to Granada but we soon found out we would be dropped at the crossroads. No worries, a lady sitting opposite us was going the same way and getting off at the crossroads she had us follow her to the Granada stop across the road. And a bus was just pulling in, that was handy. This second stretch of road was dreadfully full of potholes and that had the bus bouncing and swerving all the way to Granada.
Arriving at the terminal (a muddy paddocks just for buses from that direction) in the market at Granada we put on our backpacks and tried to gain some orientation. By luck more that
skill we happened across Hospedaje Esfinge that had been recommended by some other travellers. Opposite the old market it was an old building with high ceilings. The reception was beautiful. We got a small matrimonial with stenciled flowers on a white wall for US$10. Shared bathroom but it didn't matter for a couple of days and there were not many people there. But the walls were thin and we could hear a family somewhere else in the building.
We went straight out for breakfast and found Cafe Blue. For US$2-3 we got a good size plate of food with coffee included. Their fried potatoes were fantastic. It prepared us for the day and initially we just walked around. We found the buildings around the main square beautiful and bright and well maintained. We took a look inside the magnificent cathedral but it was quite plain. Walking down the road to the port we found more bright colonial houses. There were lots of tour agencies here and we asked about prices and took their free city maps. There were some interesting tours but we decided against them. Further down the road the houses became less immaculate and there were major
road works. The road was being paved and street lamps installed with little gardens. And most important, the power and phone cables and poles were being removed and going underground. We thought this may have accounted for the lack of power in town. Later we found out that this was just a common occurrence in this town and others around Nicaragua. Water was also regularly unavailable. We walked as far as a very pretty church, then returned via a different road to the Iglesia San Francisco. The convent and museum were closed but we were permitted into the church. Here a young man with a good command of English told us something of the history and construction. He opened a vault to let us see the 500+ year old bones. We gave him a wee tip.
Towards dusk we happened upon La Merced, a magnificent and beautiful church. We were approached to see if wanted to climb the tower for a small donation and we said yes. Squeezing up the narrow spiral steps we made it to the top as a boy was ringing the bells. And the view was fantastic. You could see over the town to the
lake.
Granada has lots of western style restaurants that cater for most of the tourists. We found a restaurant with some local typical foods on the road to the port and it was very tasty and cheap too. Deep fried white cheese ... yummy!
After spending Saturday in Masaya, we spent Sunday exploring Granada some more. We started with the cemetery which had remnants of a beautiful stone chapel. A sea of white family tombs adorned with colourful flowers. A variety of weeping ladies and angels decorated the tombs. Numerous former presidents were buried there. We walked north to find the fort. Our knocking was answered by a security guard who let us in, no entrance fee. There were some rickety old ladders up the towers and we braved them for a spectacular view. We then walked all the way back the museum and found it open this time. US$2 each. It was lovely just to be inside the convent. Most interesting of the exhibits were the stone statues from the islands. We then walked all the way down to the waterfront. We passed people enjoying Sunday games of basketball and baseball. The footpath, the gardens, and the
Iglesia San Francisco
Some of the valued icons promenade were all in serious need of repair. Someone had a put a horse to work keeping the grass down.
The night before we had fantastic burgers at the Zoom Bar, an American football themed place with rocking chairs in front of a big flat screen TV, and we returned the next night for a few drinks. The owners were American and the bloke showed us photos behind the bar of his very very fat cat. We were introduced to Bruce from London who was now living in Granada with his wife. He was a photographer and a former Exodus truck driver from way back. His plan was to take a truck all over South America. Things got a bit silly when the owner started talking into a microphone that triggered a stags head to open his mouth and move, making it look like the stag was talking. Then the stag started singing 'Rawhide'.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.306s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 26; qc: 109; dbt: 0.2363s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.3mb