Lamp and Wood
Today’s Fun Photo Friday I present some of my favorite shots of Granada, Nicaragua, followed by a couple of sneak preview shots our boat tour of Lake Nicaragua.
Century Cross
Guadalupe Church
Granada Cathedral
Lake Nicaragua Preview
Lake Nicaragua Preview
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Calle la Calzada, Granada
Our tour’s first stop in Granada, Nicaragua, was for a stroll along the beautiful Calle la Calzada. This pedestrian street is lined with colorful buildings, statuesque street lamps, and tree-shaded benches. We started this stroll near the Guadalupe Church pictured below. This church dates back to the 17th Century, and it was once used as a fortress in 1856 by the infamous American military filibuster William Wallace. If a U.S. citizen wants to truly understand why to this day the United States is so distrusted south of our border with Mexico and throughout Central and much of South America, one only needs to read up on this mercenary adventurer and his attempts to conquer Mexico, Nicaragua (where he actually ruled as “president” from July 1856 to May 1857), and Honduras.
Guadalupe Church of Granada
In the photos presented today the Calle la Calzada may appear nearly deserted, but it was actually busier than hinted at here. While not exactly bustling, it was sparsely enough populated that I was able to wait out any “crowds”, as I had allowed our tour group to get well ahead of me. Even so, most of my photography that day had at least some people in them.
Calle la Calzada, Granada
As I’m sure you noticed so far, one of the most striking features here are the brightly colored buildings. They were truly a delight to capture.
Calle la Calzada, Granada
At the western edge of Calle la Calzada are the Cathedral Plaza (Plaza de la Catedral), Central Park (Parque Central), and of course the Cathedral of Granada (Catedral de Granada — Our Lady of Assumption Cathedral). Also here is an interesting statue titled “A la Madre Toda Abnegacion y Amor“, which translates to “A Mother is All Selflessness and Love”.
“A Mother is All Selflessness and Love”
Also here at Plaza de la Catedral is the Century Cross, which stands beside the cathedral.
Century Cross in the Plaza de la Independencia
And rounding the corner you get your first glimpse of the Granada Cathedral with its bright mustard exterior with stark white trim and dark red domes.
Granada Cathedral and Plaza de la Catedral
Let’s take a tour of the inside:
Granada Cathedral
Granada Cathedral
Granada Cathedral
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San Juan del Sur Panorama
On March 25, 2015, the Golden Princess arrived at our next destination — the smallish fishing village of San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, on the narrow Isthmus of Rivas that separates Lake Nicaragua from the Pacific Ocean.
San Juan del Sur
Quaint San Juan del Sur has a population of less than 16,000. For our purposes this day it served as a jumping off point for a tour northbound that would include a trip to Granada and a boat ride on the 19th largest lake in the world, a lake so large that early Spanish explorers mistook it for a sea until they discovered its waters were fresh rather than salty. Returning from our boat tour would also take us to a large crater lake in the caldera of an extinct volcano.
San Juan del Sur
We arrived in San Juan del Sur early that morning, so the photos you see here were taken much later that afternoon upon our return to the ship.
San Juan del Sur
If San Juan del Sur looks familiar to fans of the Survivor series, that’s because this and the surrounding areas were the locations for Survivor: Nicaragua (2010), Survivor: Redemption Island (on an island in Lake Nicaragua, 2011), Survivor: San Juan del Sur (2014), and Survivor: Worlds Apart (2015). I’ve never watched Survivor, but it would appear that’s one show that’s in a severe location rut, even if the location is on the exotic side.
San Juan del Sur
We boarded transportation and headed to the city of Granada, population around 124,000 and home to Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral.
Granada — Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (Catedral de Granada)
The streets of Granada are immaculate, the buildings both colorful and picturesque, and the scenery delightful, as you can see here.
Granada
The streets were not quite as devoid of people as the photographs here might lead you to believe. I allowed our tour group to get well ahead, and then waited for breaks in the number of people as I composed shots.
Granada
Nevertheless, I wouldn’t say Granada was exactly teeming with humanity.
Granada
On Wednesday I’ll present more images of the cathedral and the areas surrounding it. Before I leave you today, however, I’m going to display my one good shot of the Apoyo Lagoon Natural Preserve and the lake that fills the volcanic caldera located there. The lake is 4.1 miles/6.6 kilometers in diameter and 575 feet/175 meters deep.
Apoyo Crater
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Decisions — Murder in Paradise
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