Granada

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Granada
So amazing wish I had another few days to explore. There is too much too do and see that you can't do it all in one day. Went to the market in Masaya on the way to Granada. It is in the remains of what looks to be some old town square. Not quite sure as the driver didn't speak a word of English. The driver/guide that I was supposed to go with arrived here and said that his brother was taking me instead. Seems as though that always happens here. Everyone has a brother that ends up doing the job. Anyhow the market is huge. And very cheap as far as arts and crafts go for tourists. The farther you get into the market the cheaper it seems to get. However, it is like a maze and hard to find your way out of it and end up on the correct street that you came out of. The women will not come down in price but the men will. Women are tough. Before I left home Erasmo said to go possibly around 20-25% lower than the price. Granada is a very old city that rivals Leon in age, I believe however it is half the size, has a fresh coat of paint on it and is very lush and tropical feeling. Palms and green everywhere. There is Lake Nicaragua, volcan mombacho that exploded 10,000 years ago and created 365 little islands. You can take a ferry or boat tours to some of the tropical islands. One is an island of monkeys for example rare birds as well as people living on some of islands. They have horse drawn carriages that do tours around the city, which along with some of the brightly coloured restored houses reminded me a little bit of Dublin, Ireland. And of course the umpteen catholic churches. I have been to so many churches, I think that should automatically obsolve me for the next few years or so. :O I saw the fourth oldest church, then third oldest church, second and ending with the oldest. Climbing to the top of one of them was beautiful, as you can see the lake, the volcano, the city and all the tile rooftops a lot you can see have open court yards in the houses with trees and palms growing. They all still hold mass at 5:00 pm everyday as well as on weekends of course. Couples still get married in these old churches as well which would be really cool to see. Saw an antiguo hospital which was still used up until 1997 which looks like it has been deserted for about a hundred years old and has been deserted for that long I can't imagine having any sort of healthcare in there. You can see pics of it on the Internet as I don't have anything off my camera yet. Infact, I would go look at pics of all of Granada on Internet as it is extremely picturesque. Anyhow a definite city to go back to and explore more of on next trip. Anyhow very tiring day and only a couple hours sleep last night as I am pretty sure that the room next door hadn't read the signage posted up regarding hotel rules. Eeewww. I think I would rather have those bedbugs instead.

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