Glorious Granada
Where to Eat and What to Eat and Where to Stay
Excursions:Lake Nicaragua and the Islands
plus Masaya and Apoyo Lagoon

Granada, a living, breathing city in a beautiful 50- year-old skin, is a good example of Nicaragua's re-birth. It is a city that has suffered the ravages of time, wars, invasions and burnings and has emerged with its beauty and dignity intact and a soul that has never dimmed.

Granada has been attracting travelers for centuries. First there were Indians who settled on the shores of Lake Nicaragua, then the Spanish explorers who, led by Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, colonized the area and founded Granada. Then came the pirates who made the fast passage from the Caribbean, up the Rio San Juan and across the lake to plunder Granada's riches before fleeing along the same route to safety. In the 19th century, fortune hunters of a different kind converged on the city.

At the height of the California gold rush, many thousands of optimistic souls opted to avoid the arduous overland journey from the eastern United States by crossing the isthmus by boat, via the San Juan River and the lake, completing the last part of the journey to the Pacific by oxcart before boarding another boat for California.

It was around this time that the city also came under seige by the notorious William Walker on his perennial search for a country to govern. After being run off for the final time, Walker ordered his troops to burn the city to the ground with some success.

Many of these adventurous early travelers decided to stay on in Granada, leaving lasting impressions on the face of this lakeside city.

Granada is made up of a rich and diverse collection of buildings of great beauty and mystery. And, like a grand lady reveling in past glories, the city is undergoing a massive restoration.

During a recent visit, Spain's King Juan Carlos pledged his complete support for the rebirth of Granada and consequently Spain is contributing major funding. Returning exiles are picking up the pieces and restoring homes that have been in their families for four and five generations.

Churches cloaked in a soft patina of faded color and whose deep bonging bells still call the faithful to mass are being restored to their former magnificence. Grand rooms in buildings once the private homes of public functionaries are finding new life as halls for exhibits and concerts. Homes of crumbling adobe rouged in time worn shades of ochres, reds and greens and regal mansions adorned with deeply carved moldings and ornate galleries all pay tribute to Granada's unique and colorful past and all are undergoing facelifts in this surge towards a splendid future.

It is a city of intense colors and strong textural contrasts where paint is used lavishly in brilliant hues that echo the technicolor displays found in the fruit stalls of the marketplace -- peach, melon, raspberry, banana and palm. Brilliant white paint refreshes fanciful wreaths and garlands of sculpted plaster and mortar adorning doors and windows. Lacy wrought iron grillwork, railings, and statuary are being replaced as are the signature red clay tiles on roofs.

Life in Granada focuses on the central park, as it has for centuries. The park and adjoining Plaza de Los Leones (Plaza of the Lions) are undergoing extensive restoration. So is the pretty candy box bandstand, an iced confection of gaily painted garlands, flowers and ribbons topped by a fanciful carved crown.

The park is anchored by the cathedral which is surrounded by stately buildings that present Granada's history at a glance. To the right of the cathedral is the Bishop's Palace and an adjoining block of buildings in the vertical, balanced, neo-classical style. The classical refinements of this series of building stand in stark contrast to the casual rusticity of the neighboring colonial styles.
Granada's designers picked the best of both styles, however, when using this new fashion. Instead of hewn logs for roof supports, the builders used finely carved columns. Instead of deeply inset plain windows and doors, openings are festooned with ornamental mouldings and instead of randomly placed windows, there is balance and order to the classical facades. With a sensitivity to the tropical climate and a bow to history, builders in the early part of this century retained the secure inner courtyards as well as the galleries encircling upper floors, both bringing light and air to the deepest recesses of a building.

Across the broad Plaza de Los Leones is a row of quintessential Spanish colonial houses. Similar to the row houses of cities in the eastern United States, the block-long line of houses are identical with a low-pitched, overhanging red tile roof providing wide, shady corredors. The typically Spanish corredors are used for general foot traffic as well as an all purpose place for rocking chairs, baby carriages, small shops and the favorite pastime of chatting with neighbors and visitors.
These same corredors encircle the large inner courtyards so favored in this tropical climate. Deeply recessed, shadowy rooms are generally plastered adobe and colored from white to a range of warm earthen hues. Darkly shaded interiors are a stark contrast to the unrelenting sunlight of a typical Granada day. Sharply defined shadows become as much a part of the architectural beauty as the carved moldings and mossy tile roofs.

Facing the plaza is the imposing mortar framed doorway of Casa de Los Leones. Built in the early 1800s, the house was once the governor's residence. Now it is a cultural center with upper floor apartments for visiting artists and VIPs. Exhibition rooms, a concert hall and the popular Vienna Cafe open off the beautiful courtyard.

A pleasant stroll through cobbled streets north-east of the cathedral is the historic Church of San Francisco and Convent. Originally the oldest buildings in the city, they were destroyed during Walker's siege. The church was restored in a more baroque style than the original and the convent was rebuilt in its 17th century fortified version.

The convent is now undergoing a thorough remodeling to become a museum of the city's history. Already in place are a fine collection of moody stone pre-Columbian carvings. Workshops on the premises are reproducing the building materials used in the original structure and craftsmen are creating a line of furniture indicative to the period that will be used in the small coffee shop as well as offered for sale.

When the heat of the day reaches its searing peak, claim a table and chair at one of the strategically positioned cafes with outdoor corredor seating, order a fresh fruit drink and watch an endless stream of life pass by.

Beneath a shady tree, a shoe-shine man works a mirror gleam to leather while his customers discuss the business of the day. Horse-drawn carriages line the street in Granada's version of a taxi rank and vendors selling everything from snacks to clothing conduct business under the shelter of ancient trees. Assorted legs, arms and cargo protrude from the sides of bicycles making wobbly passage through the streets. One bike will carry several human passengers plus the occasional dog or protesting rooster and an assortment of goods from ranging from huge blocks of ice to carefully bundled wood all strapped onto every non- rotating surface.

Indian women with elegantly erect posture gracefully weave in and out of traffic carrying the day's groceries or laundry in large

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