Polished and Popular
Friday, January 18th, 2008Day 74
We transited through Managua for a night on our way south to Granada. It was immediately apparent Granada was going to be different than the rest of Nicaragua. Over the last few years it has become a very popular place for retiring expats to live, mostly American. Also the city is the centre of Nicaragua’s tourism industry. Similar architecture to Leon except here most of the city has been restored and has a polished look. As Leon has always been the centre of leftist Nicaragua, Granada has always been the centre of conservative Nicaragua. It was quite evident that meant more money was spent restoring Granada’s buildings, but Leon was richer culturally. Let me put it the way I saw things. Leon was the cool alternative kid in high school from the working class family. The type who isn’t pretty but has smarts and enjoys life to its fullest. Where Granada was the cheerleader type who gets older than elects for plastic surgery to keep looking good. They aren’t the smartest but they look sexy and everyone loves to party with them.
We found out quickly that Granada has more tourists than elsewhere in the country as soon as we arrived. We disembarked the bus in the beautiful main square of Granada. It was only 10:30 in the morning yet the sun was blasting down and the temperature easily into the thirties. It was hard not to be impressed, the large square was surrounded with grand colonial buildings coated with gleaming bright paint. On the south side was the equally brightly painted cathedral. The square itself was filled with trees, benches and small cafes which served tasty icy juices and a sort of chocolate drink. We walked out of the square to the south end and down a beautiful street lined with wide cobbled sidewalks, bars and restaurants. It was touristy yes but no doubt it was gorgeous. This is when we discovered how much more popular Granada was than elsewhere. We started to search for a room and everything was full. After a brief argument, the heat wasn’t helping, I left Jordana in an American run sports bar and I set out to search for a room.
After about 40 minutes I was back at the bar and we were back at the first guesthouse we checked out. It wasn’t the best place by far, but it was clean. The room was small and hot, only a small window. The heat wasn’t helped by the fact the washroom was only separated by a wall that went half way to the ceiling. Hence every time we showered the room was humid and sticky. It pretty much felt like a greenhouse.
The rest of the day we simply walked around the city admiring the beautiful buildings and spent lots of time watching life go by in the town square. Those chocolate drinks with ice and milk in the square kept calling us back for more, so we returned for more. We finished the night with beers on a patio, enjoying the warm night air. Also enjoying this rare occasion, most cities in Central America are too dangerous to be out at night let alone on a patio. Nicaragua was proving to be the safest country we had visited since Mexico. So far a very nice change from the usual night locked up in our room or door to door taxis at night. The more we saw of Nicaragua the more we enjoyed it. Yes Granada was touristy but it seemed to wear it popularity well and still felt like a real Nicaraguan city. Although not as much in the centre, but a short walk away and there was no mistaking where you were. The local flavour was still very evident here.
Michael Coroneos