Granada-not to be confused with Granola

This has been the first place that I thought 'I could live here'. A calm, relaxed feel with wonderfully colourful streets, lovely people and right on the edge of Lake Nicaragua-which is ENORMOUS. You can't see the other side when standing on the shore. We were all quite excited about our incidental upgrade and were keen to do a full day tour the next day that had been highly recommended and everyone sighned up except one lady who was keen to do some serious shopping. I had one task in mind in Granada and that was colourful bird whistles. I had seen Pip's and had some serious envy so I was keen to sort that out. 

We had the most awesome waffle breakfast and was picked up by our guide Ramon (yes-another Ramon). Now-if there was an award for the nicest man in Nicaragua I'm pretty sure Ramon would win it. Born in Granada but bought up in the states (they fled the civil war) Ramon has an unprecedented passion for Granada. We had an awesome day that included a trip to the Masaya Volcano that is still active, a visit to the local markets, a delicious local lunch, a visit to a ceramic school (birds purchased!!!), a swim in the volcanic lake followed by a riverboat cruise around the little islands dotted on the edge of the lake. Our driver Mario was also awesome and was so concerned over the remnants of my cough he went and got me cough lollies. Bless his little cotton socks.  There was a brief upset when I 'lost' my phone-actually Ramon and Mario were more upset than me-which resulted in some wifi 'find my iPhone' and embarrassingly it was found in a side pocket of my bag. Woops. Lill-you would be so proud as I was most upset about not being able to blog and for losing my photos!!!!

Weird giant chairs-probably a good idea not to drink too much

Hotel upgrade!

We got back exhausted after a long but fruitful day which resulted in 4 bird whistles and a whole heap of ceramics which are going to be a pain to lug around and frankly a miracle if they arrive home not broken!!!!! I'm not sure what happened but it was just too much to resist!!!!

We loved Ramon so much that 5 of us chose to employ him for a two hour horse drawn tour of the city the next day before leaving for Ometepe. We learnt all about the history of the city from the arrival of the Spanish to the civil war. My fav was a trip to the cemetery but I didn't take any photos on my iPhone as I wasn't sure Ramon's nerves would hold out if I 'lost' it again. However-I did take a photo of the church that is still black from when William Wallace the American Phillibuster burnt the city to the ground.

Next stop Ometepe!!