Granada

Granada is one of the oldest cities is Nicaragua. It used to be the capital.

 It suffered badly during the civil war, but is slowly being restored

and is becoming a big tourist town. It is easy to understand why.

The Cathedral dominates the huge central park.

but the interior is quite plain.

The oldest church is the San Francisco Convent.

It was from here that the Spanish with the help of the church  

controlled  Granada and its silver mines.

It has been restored with the help of the Swedish Government.

The old cloisters again of refuge of silence and peace.

The church plain and simple.

The huge doors open to the sun.

The pastors office was open.

His view across the rooftops was to the Cathedral.

We were fascinated by the old walls that had been left

 unplastered for us to gaze at the adobe filled walls.

Casa San Francisco was our "home" for three nights.

 It was a beautifully restored colonial house.

The American owner had done a marvellous job.

Even the bathroom had the old tiles.

The paraqueets a joy.

You must realise by now that we loved Granada!

Many houses had been restored, but still work needs to be done.

The restoration is to a very high standard.

But somehow some of the churches miss out on the paint jobs!

black mould is always a problem in the tropics.

The view from the bell tower was pretty over the old

tiled roofs.

The 15th century bell still hangs in the bell tower.

It was a Sunday morning so the church was full.

We sat with the congregation for a while.  

Then we realised that there were familes with small babies dressed in white.

It was a christening Sunday.

Tucked round the corner they were getting ready for Samana Santa, when Jesus is paraded through the streets.

In another area a further Christ figure was on display.

As we sat this old lady decided to wander around singing to the congregation.

Her voice was very strong and clear.

It always amazes me how the electricy works in some countries!

Below this jungle there were years of banner ties, they just cut the string!

One of the joys of the Colonial archtecture of the Spanish era anywhere

 in Central and South America is the hidden courtyards. Granada was no exception.

This ingenious drain takes the rain down the chain!

Nicaraugian women who sell things on the streets wear

 very fancy aprons to store their money!

There is always someone who has to sleep!

Even if it is outside a fancy hotel with the carriages waiting outside.

Our last day we went on the "chicken bus" to Masaya, a centre for handicrafts.

There was a message inside the bus, it is quite normal for

 the owner of the bus to leave messages for his passengers.

This one reads " do you want peace? Think of God"

The "new" market is crowded, hot and full of "stuff"

We were shocked to see these, apparently they are a delicacy.

We weren't sure about having this on the mantepiece.

We prefered our modern ironing boards.

And thought the bright toys would be enjoyed by all.

Hammocks are everywhere and always displayed well.

The old market has been restored and is really for the tourists.

Well laid out stalls, no hassle, and higher quality good,

but of course a lot more expensive.

The locals do actually use a wooden chicken to store their eggs,

 but we thought this was quite ingenious.

Tony was very good all day, we wandered and looked,

and finally found a stall that really attracted him.

 It was a leather stall with snake skin shoes, belts and handbags.

Regretfully they did not have shoes his size, but we came away

with a belt for Tony and a clutch bag for me! 

Lunch was another typical dish, pork scratchings, yucca and

cabbage served on a banana leaf!

At about 4.00pm it was time to go home.

Back to the "chicken bus" terminal and a bumpy ride back to Granada.

Passing "homes" on the way.

The next day was a series of buses to get us to Leon.