Granada: A Colonial Jewel

As the Lonely Planet puts it, “The goose that laid Nicaraguan tourism’s golden egg is beguiling Granada, whose restored colonial glories render it a high point of many travelers’ time in Central America.”  Being in Granada is like traveling back in time to a relatively peaceful colonial era.  The city’s highest building is its
cathedral. The little streets are usually wide enough for just one car, and if not for the cars, you could easily think that the year was 1811 as opposed to 2011.  Horse drawn carriage navigate the squares, horses pull wagons loaded with fresh fruit, and people carry baskets on their heads filled with various wares for sale.  Not much has changed in this little city aside for the introduction of electricity and motorization.

We arrived here several days ago bright and early in the morning.  Having left Isla de Ometepe by the 6am ferry, we managed to reach Granada shortly after 9am and thereby succeeded lugging our baggage to the hostel before the onset of the worst heat.  After a delicious breakfast in a traditional Spanish home which had been beautifully restored, we decided to explore this colonial jewel. 

As I’ve already mentioned, the streets are narrow, the buildings low and the atmosphere is surreal.  Every façade is a different color.  Bright pinks are juxtaposed against lime greens and navy blues.  Some have not had the benefit of restoration and the paint is fading and peeling off of the stucco walls, yet the charm remains.  People pass you on bicycles in horse carts, others sit in their doorways watching the world go by, selling the few wares they may possess or just trying to catch a little breeze passing through the doorways. 

In the market part of town the commotion increases with a continuous hustle and bustle.  Vegetables are spread out over wooden tables, interspersed amongst cooking pots, sacks of rice and beans and the occasional meet products, laid out in the same way as the vegetables.  There is no semblance of order in this place, yet all locals know exactly where they are going and what they are buying.  Pirated DVDs abound, as do various cables for cell phones and other electrical appliances, yet sunglasses and coffee beans seemed to be auspiciously missing from the mix (both items that we were in need of).

Follow the cobbled streets further to the east and you leave the colonial center behind as it slowly gives way to newer homes and huts that try to mimic the same design, but somehow seem to fall short.  Eventually you reach the shores of Lake Nicaragua as the pleasant breeze tries to give you some respite from the unremitting heat.  It is the same lake that we saw from Isla de Ometepe, but the island is now distant and instead we are surrounded by more volcanoes on the horizon and to our right stretch the nearly 350 Isletas that had been formed 10,000 years ago by an erupting Volcan Mombacho.

Interspersed amongst the streets of Granada are numerous churches of various denominations.  Some are simple block buildings; others bear traces of having been constructed by the Spaniards centuries ago. 

The greatest charm of Granada is simply wondering through the streets, an activity best avoided in the noontime hours (which we learned by our own folly).  The heat is simply unremitting and you feel that your skin is being burned by fire, as opposed to receiving a gradual sunburn.  We quickly learned from our mistakes and instead chose to explore the town at sunset and at sunrise, times during which the buildings seem to glow with the softer light of the sun and when the temperature is quite pleasant.  Oddly enough, during our 5am meanderings, we saw locals coming back from a morning jog, dressed in tracksuits, sweaters, turtlenecks and other clothing more appropriately meant for 10 degree weather, than the 25-28 degrees outside.