A day trip to Granada. It's only about 30 minutes from Masaya and the bus cost 50 cents (12 Cordobas). It's been about 4.5 years since I came here the last time. It's a bit more touristy thank Masaya and compared to what I remember, but I haven't seen as much change as in San Cristobal de las Casas in Mexico or Antigua, Guatemala.

Photo:  Granada, Nicaragua → Granada - I got off the bus on the carretera, highway, and the center of the city is further down this road.

Video:  Granada, Nicaragua → zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Video:  Granada, Nicaragua → zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Photo:  Granada, Nicaragua → It's a 20 minutes walk maybe, maybe less. From here I can already see the top of the church at the Parque Central.

Photo:  Granada, Nicaragua → Here it is. One of the most famous churches in Nicaragua.

Photo:  Granada, Nicaragua → There are a coupe of restaurants if you go to the left ofthe church, and a place that always displays arts and crafts. This is what you see looking from that area - the Central Park on the right, and the church on the left.

Photo:  Granada, Nicaragua → Granada is another collonial town in Central America. After seeing so many cities, what else can you expect - all cities here are 'collonial', and to a degree similar. It's all the result of the Spanish coming here centuries ago, and this is why the speak Spanish here.

Photo:  Granada, Nicaragua → If you want to hire a couple horses to pull you around town, they are plenty of them here.

Photo:  Granada, Nicaragua → Just a couple blocks from the central park there is this area with countless people selling everything and anything on the street, and there is also a market. The tourist area is basically the Central Park and one street called La Calzada. Beyond that - the more real genuine taste of a regular Nicaraguan city.

Photo:  Granada, Nicaragua → One step closer to the old looking market building.

Photo:  Granada, Nicaragua → A look in both directions - to the left...

Photo:  Granada, Nicaragua → ... and to the right. It's pretty busy.

Photo:  Granada, Nicaragua → Not all horses cater to the tourists. Just like in Masaya, there are horse 'taxis' and horses pulling all kinds of merchandise.

Photo:  Granada, Nicaragua → Hmm... If it was Asia, Thailand in particular, or even Japan famous for it's weirdness in any type and shape, I'd make a wild guess what kind of 'incredible experience' you might get with your coffee ;) But here, it's just one example of their take on catering to the American tourist. I think Asian countries, lioke China, Japan, are a goldmine for incredibly funny English. Tjhis one is pretty mellow and more conceptual.

Photo:  Granada, Nicaragua → Another church in Granada. Practically, every town in Nicaragua, and any other place in Central America, has more then one church. I've heard that long time ago there were smaller communities and each had their own church. With time the towns grew bigger and connected with their neighbours, forming eventually cities with what we see today - many churches in each.

Photo:  Granada, Nicaragua → Now I am walking towards the harbour where they have boats going to San Carlos - a city on the other side of the Lago Nicaragua. I am planning on taking this route. This time I will skip Isla de Omoetepe. I have been there four years ago. It would be cool to see how it has changed, but then, the boats don't run every day, and I should just move forward and see new places. By the way, it's yet another church.

Photo:  Granada, Nicaragua → I think this is the 'official' entrance to the lake side area. I can see they are still working on it.

Photo:  Granada, Nicaragua → I wonder how this is going to look when done. I remember, four years ago, it was so different from the touristy La Calzada. I think they are trying to blend them into a one strip.

Photo:  Granada, Nicaragua → The ticketing office is on the left (the yellow building). You can already see Lago de Nicaragua just beyond the palm trees.

Photo:  Granada, Nicaragua → Here I am, at the Lago Nicaragua.

Photo:  Granada, Nicaragua → A view to the right.

Photo:  Granada, Nicaragua → A view to the left. This is where I will be leaving from to San Carlos, on the other side of the lake.

The trip to Granada was a good one. I had a nice steak for lunch, and some tea at a 'gringo' coffee shop. There are no touristy places like this in Masaya. A nice change for a day.

More - Continued here.