Granada is Grand!

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After 20 hours in a bus over two days, we made it to Granada. We took Hedman Alas to San Pedro Sula and spent the night, and then it took 15 more hours and a taxi ride from Managua to get to Granada. Ouch! The bus ride through Honduras confirmed why we always wonder about all those beautiful hardwoods from there since we saw a lot of tree covered mountains. We were fortunate in that we only spent about 15 minutes in Tegucigalpa as it looked like a pit. However, getting to Granada was a relief! It is old colonial city on the shore of Lake Nicaragua which is one of the largest fresh water lakes in the world. You can readily tell that Nicaragua is supporting this city as a prime tourist destination. There is much calmer secure feeling here with a lot more upscale restaurants and a lack of shotgun toting guards at every establishment, though they are still at the banks. We were going to stay three days but ended up staying five days as we enjoyed the chill out ambiance. The weather was appreciably warmer, like our cooler summer days - 90 degree days and 70 degree nights. Great for sitting at an outdoor café on the central plaza and drinking those $2 liter beers. Can’t tell you we did anything exciting here, but we really enjoyed our chill time.

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Photos

Granada
Central Park and cathedral

Granada
Leona in the central park

Granada
Carriages

Granada
View from La Merced tower

Granada
Leona in La Merced tower

Granada
Bad hair day in La Merced

Granada
View of cloud covered Mombacho Volcano

Granada
Leona and pre-columbian statutes

Granada
Frank and pre-columbian statutes

Granada
You always have to have a picture of the local brew!

Granada
Monkeys during Island tour

Granada
Monkeys on island tour

Granada
Just hanging around and having a bite to eat!

Comments

[Wayne L. King]

Hello
Hi Leona & Frank, thanks for all the nice photos of your trip. Nicaragua seems very relaxing/ sorry you have to pay more for beer!!! Everything is a trade off. We are getting more rain so your ground at home should be well compacted for your new wall. Take care. Love, Wayne & Phyllis

[Frank and Leona]

Thanks!
Thank you for your compassion, sure will miss those cold beers and warm evenings on square!

[Betty and Jim]

Wow!
You guys are impressive - hiking to the top of the volcano was awe inspiring. We've walked over old lava fields and it's no fun. Hard on the feet! Sorry about your watches. Those guys seem to be very quick and quite good at relieving you of watches, others of cell phones, etc., etc. Guess it's a silent tariff of some type! Don't be too hard on the policy of locals being charged lots less for access fees. In Maui if you have a card showing you're a local you get reduced prices everywhere! Seems like an international approach to rewarding locals! Haven't noticed it in the Napa Valley however. Although I guess we do get free corkage at some restaurants where we're known. It's been rainy, rainy, rainy here. My team (Betty) has had to cancel all but one match since January 11th due to rainouts. Now that's bad. Gail's our captain and she's getting an indoctrination by rain! Some of our makeups have even been rained out. We leave for Maui on Tuesday. Looking forward to some fun in the sun. Matt and Debby arrive on Thursday for three weeks. Lots of tennis and beach walking to look forward to. The pictures of the lush country, huge lakes, volcano are breathtaking. Loved the colorful birds. Frank you had a lot of feathered friends lined up on your arms and shoulders. Jim would love the bird place -- he's got so many feeders in our yard that it sounds like an aviary in the mornings. If bird flu ever hits the US we'll be some of the first affected! Continue to have a wonderful time and hold on to your valuables! We'll be checking for more on your blog. Betty and Jim