Granada, Nicaragua (Nov 2015)

The first stop on our round the world trip brought us to Granada, Nicaragua, where we spent 10 days exploring the city and its surroundings. This was more than enough time to see all of the sites, while still enjoying siestas, and just enough time to fall in love with the city.

In those 10 days, we hiked/visited two volcanoes, Mombacho and Masaya, checked out a few cathedrals (Christine’s mom would be proud!) and climbed their bell towers to watch the sunset, took a tour of Lake Nicaragua and saw some of the 365 islands that are in the lake, swam in a lake in a volcano crater, Laguna Apoyo (we highly recommend staying there for a few days!), learned a few local recipes (something we hope to do in every country), and made new friends.

The people of Granada are so kind and welcoming; always offering to point you in the right direction or just offer a smile in passing, and everyone seems to remember your name. A day wouldn’t go by without someone calling our names on the streets. Whether it was our waiter from our favorite bar, our carriage driver from our tour around the city, or even Belinda, the girl who sold us cashews. Having those acquaintances was comforting and made us feel, ever so slightly, at home.

However, there were people that we wish would have forgotten our names, like Ricardo, the local drunk hustler. It’s a long story, one that would be best enjoyed over a few drinks; Kevin, am I wrong? Tell me if I’m wrong.

We also met some life long friends, Marc and Monique, a couple from the Netherlands that have made traveling their way of life and have been on the go for the last 3 ½ years. We’re planning on meeting up with them at some point, wherever our paths cross.

Granada was the perfect place to start our journey. It’s a good mix of everything we want to experience on our trip: culture, food, nature, and relaxation.

Here are some of our favorite pictures from our time in Granada: