Any arrival to Granada, the city in Nicaragua founded by the Spanish 500 years ago, necessarily happens via road vehicle—there is no airport or train line. As a result, the sensation getting there will be one of happening upon a lost paradise. The hot, dusty countryside seems just the kind that would play host to not much of anything. But then it gives way rather suddenly to a grid of tidy streets flanked to a one by colorful, low-slung buildings with their lingering Moorish influence. The effect is intoxicating.
At 100 years older than New York City and Boston, and 200 years older than New Orleans, this is a city that can’t help but wear its substantial history on its sleeve. On the face of it, Granada does not align with our generalizations of Latin America, but it does align with those we have for southern Europe, again generally speaking. It is in this way out of place, which adds to its romance, but also reminds us of its place in the ignominious history of Europeans settling the Americas. Granada lies resplendent here on the shore of Lake Nicaragua because the people who built it pushed out others, who were here first and had the legitimate claim to the place. This amalgam of impressions, I found, was central to the Granada experience.
Despite its obvious popularity with tourists, the local presence in Granada is equally strong. Locals pass the stifling late afternoons on the sidewalks in front of their houses. They crowd the market. They gather in the main square. They don’t, however, generally eat dinner in the same restaurants that you will.
Locals and visitors alike would agree that Granada is a fabulous city to wander. Some cities are like that—Paris, Venice, to name a couple–places that require no itinerary, where merely stepping outside and choosing right or left is guaranteed to yield a fascinating afternoon. Add Granada, Nicaragua to that list. And see below for the photo journal…
(Click on any image to enlarge or launch a slide show.)
