After our week in San Juan del Sur we said goodbye to the Pacific ocean and hopped a shuttle bus to the colonial town of Granada. It's maybe an hour and a bit away on the shore of Lake Nicaragua. I'm sure that there is a lot more to this city of about 125,000 people but we did what all the tourists do and we headed straight to the colonial centre.
Being from north-western Canada I really don't have much experience with 'history'. Canada is a very young country and we just don't have 'old stuff'! At least not in the west and especially the north. Granada was established by the Spanish in 1524 and it's been in the same spot ever since. It is a city built on conquest and many battles. Virtually nothing remains of the indigenous people of the area.
Being from north-western Canada I really don't have much experience with 'history'. Canada is a very young country and we just don't have 'old stuff'! At least not in the west and especially the north. Granada was established by the Spanish in 1524 and it's been in the same spot ever since. It is a city built on conquest and many battles. Virtually nothing remains of the indigenous people of the area.
Some of the things that struck me the most about this beautiful city are of course, the amazing architecture and living history. But it was other things, too. It's so clean. The buildings are very well maintained and pride shows throughout. And there really isn't much traffic. Most of the streets are surprisingly wide and there isn't a sense of chaos. It was very easy to walk...most of the time we wandered right down the middle of the streets.
We also notice a fair bit of infrastructure work in the neighbourhoods just a couple of blocks off the central park...new water/sewer lines being installed under the streets. This is something that really got my attention. Most of the roads are built with interlocking pavers instead of pavement or cobblestones. They look really nice and they are very easy to walk on but another bonus is the ease of construction. The pavers are lifted by hand and stacked. The road base is dug up and the pipes are replaced, the trenches are filled and the pavers are set back in place by hand. No waiting for big, expensive paving equipment. Kind of genius! I must be the daughter of an engineer! I visit the world famous historical city of Granada and then go on about the road building techniques!
We also notice a fair bit of infrastructure work in the neighbourhoods just a couple of blocks off the central park...new water/sewer lines being installed under the streets. This is something that really got my attention. Most of the roads are built with interlocking pavers instead of pavement or cobblestones. They look really nice and they are very easy to walk on but another bonus is the ease of construction. The pavers are lifted by hand and stacked. The road base is dug up and the pipes are replaced, the trenches are filled and the pavers are set back in place by hand. No waiting for big, expensive paving equipment. Kind of genius! I must be the daughter of an engineer! I visit the world famous historical city of Granada and then go on about the road building techniques!
A huge part of our reason for this vacation was to visit friends. We met Denny and Eden here in Belize and almost a year ago they moved on to Granada. We've stayed in touch. I can honestly say that I'm not sure that we would have considered Nicaragua if it hadn't been for them. So, thanks Denny and Eden! Our days in Granada were a mix of tourist stuff and seeing how the expats live. We did the horse drawn buggy tour around the city but we also 'toured' the bright and shiny grocery stores. I had to see them! We lunched and dined in the main tourist places but also sound a few off the beaten track spots that were amazing. That's the great part of having a couple of guides that know their way around!