Granada - the Colonial Jewell

(It's Tuesday, our third day in Nicaragua and our second full day in Granada.  Marci woke up feeling a little, how shall I say.... she has the green apple quick steps.  I am going to catch up on our blog as she rests in the bed).

We first arrived in Granada on Sunday afternoon (6/19/11).  As you recall, we took the (bullet) bus from Managua and were dropped off in the Parque Central.  This is at the steps of the gorgeous Catederal de Granada.  We caught the driver as he sped off with our bags (amazingly still strapped tight to the top of the roof).  I don't think he forgot - he just wanted to charge another round trip fare to get 'em back to us.  Okay - maybe just an honest mistake... :-)

We put our bags down, looked around the crowded park, and marveled at the beauty of this city.  No barbed wire, bustling activity, and smiling people.  This was the Nicaragua we'd read about!

I got the guide book out to begin navigation to a hostel Marci had found online.  It was going to cost $24 per night - a little steep....  Then we met Allan.  He came up with a big smile on his face and said he liked my hat (the green OR hat I wear backpacking).  I knew he was kidding me - but his English was great.  I will write much more about Allan in my next post - for now though, I will just describe those first few moments.

Allan asked us if we had a place to stay.  Being wise (first time) world travelers, we said, "Of course!".  Undaunted (Allan - I mean), he launched into a multitude of sales pitches about various hotels and hostels he could get for us cheap, "because I will tell them I am your friend". We decided to see what he could do.  He said he knew a place that charged $15 a night, but that he could get us for $10 a night (if we paid him a commission under the table- which I suspect the hotel also does as well).  Well, that sounded like our kind of deal.  We'd seen prices like this in the guide book, and it was far less than half of what we'd expected to pay.

Allan launched into a side street and we quickly lost our bearings as he headed into a rickety ten block structure made of wooden frames and covered with loosely bound corrugated steel.  After three turns Marci smelled a rat.  She is pretty good at this, and we were definitely not in Kansas anymore.  We sensed our new 'friend' was leading us into an ambush.  But just as Marci was about to declare a halt and retrace our way back to the parque - we emerged from the smell of rotting fruit and hanging meat at the Hospedaje San Jorge (St. George Hostel).  Allan greeting the desk clerk with a familiar wink and set into a Spansih negotiation for three nights lodging.

Sure enough, after a bit of wrangling, We paid 660 C$ (cordobas) for three nights ($24.67) and headed to our room (where we paid Allan 200C$ ($8.92) for his services.  Allan began to plan for the numerous days we would be spending together, but we told him we would find him in the parque later.  He left dissapointed.

Marci checking our our new digs

Our room has two double beds (with a mattress and sheet (1)).  There are two pillows on each bed, two threadbare towels, and a private bathroom with a shower.  There is cable tv (which we haven't tried yet - heck we don't watch English tv - why try it in Spanish?) and a door with a padlock (you get the 'only' key).  We promptly put our handy Samsonite TSA approved luggage lock on the INSIDE and locked ourselves in. 

Just outside our room - toward the communal kitchen

After we caught our breath and said twenty 'hail-mary's' celebrating the blessing of still being alive, we headed back to the parque cetral, cameras in tow, to get some lunch and take some pics!

We found a Mexican restaurant (and there is a BIG difference here) and had a full lunch for less than C$200 ($8.92).  Marci had three burritos and I had the "local plate" (rice, beans, pork and chili, and hand made tortillas).  We each had 2 beers (@ 50C$ ($.89) why not?).
I left a $5 tip (oops - way too much) and we headed to take some pics of the cathedral.  On the way, a horse carriage driver offered a 30 minute tour of Granda for C$200 (again, $8.92) and off we went.

Alpo and Gains Burger eating weeds

As Alpo and Gains Burgers took off (they weren't horse enough to be called Purina) Allan shouted after us that he had located some houses for us to buy.  (I guess I forgot to mention that I had told him in the market that we wanted to buy an expensive house in the hopes that he would think we were worth more alive than dead)

The tour was grand.  And when we returned to the parque central, guess who was there to greet us?  I have since dubbed him, 'The Prince of Granda'. But that is for another post.  After a great walking tour - we ate a local dinner and fell into bed at 8:00 PM and slept until 4:15 the next morning.  But that is getting ahead.....