December 29, 2011: Day 5 in Nicaragua
Our wifi connection at the hotel pooped out last night, so I couldn't post the day's photos. As it happens, there are too many for one post, so I'll do two: the first from our morning Granada city tour, the second from our afternoon boat ride on Lake Nicaragua.
(Click the photos to enlarge them. They look better bigger.)
We took a horse and carriage ride around Granada. Our first stop was the old train station, freshly painted but seemingly not open for business except as a tourist attraction.
In front of the train station is Sandino Park, with the predictably heroic statue honoring the revolutionaries.
Nearby is the cemetery - not quite as large and ornate as the one in Buenos Aires, but impressive nonetheless.
We stopped for a brief cigar-making demonstration...
... and then climbed the narrow steps in the Church of La Merced (one of the major Catholic orders here, like the Franciscans and the Jesuits)
to the bell tower, with a fine view over the city.
We then went to the Convento de San Francisco, which has been turned into a very nice museum. This is a close to life-size representation of the "flying game".
And this is a detail of a very detailed painting of life in Granada.
After the morning tour, we walked down the vehicle-free Calle de Calzada to find some lunch, finding some colorful scenes along the way.
Returning at sunset from our Lake Nicaragua excursion, we saw this dramatically-lit view of the cathedral, and the building across the street, from the front door of our hotel.
Photos from the little islands of Lake Nicaragua to follow.
