Am I in Europe Now?

Going to Granada was like being picked up and dropped off into some city in Spain. (Probably Granada, Spain.) It was gorgeous and felt so incredibly safe, but it was also littered with ex-pats, which took away from it a bit.

We arrived to our fancy four star hotel and checked in. It was so nice to have our own bathroom and our own beds and no bugs anywhere, so we were over the moon. They even had hot water & you could flush toilet paper. Fancy, I tell ya. We waited by the pool for our Dad, Steve, to show up. And we waited some more. Finally, I called and he sounded exasperated while he explains that he miiiiiight not make it, since he had accidentally emptied his bank account partying with his Nicaraguan daughter on NYE. So Bryce and I spent the next hour trying to decide how to come up with $400 to pay for these rooms he had me reserve.

He eventually showed up and it was a typical visit from Steve. He joked about his 20 year old girlfriend stealing his money, seemed miserable 90% of the time, & was hell bent on learning absolutely no Spanish, despite living here. When we parted ways, he was on his way to Managua to get his medicines figured out, so I hope that worked out for him.

Aside from that, we spent our days wandering the town, hanging at the pool, & visiting Masaya, one of the many volcanos in Nicaragua. This is one of the only ones that you can drive to the top and see magma. It was sooooo cool. If you’re in Granada, it’s a must do.

On our last night, we had an incredible dinner, which Bryce paid for. I had 2 lobster tails for $22 dollars and I thought I had died and went to heaven. Restaurant Zagúan. Best steak and lobster ever. 10/10 would recommend.

We had booked at Hotel Colonial, which I also highly recommend. The only caveat is that no one tells you when things need to be paid in cash, which is frustrating when I booked the tour to Masaya, thinking it’d be charged to the room, & I ended up needing to run to the room and scramble to find money to pay for all 3 of us before the tour left. Steve didn’t have any cash, so my cash supply was drained. (This is important to remember in coming stories….) The point is: BRING CASH. Nicaragua’s currency is pegged to the USD, so basically everywhere takes dollars, too.

Anyway: the verdict— if you haven’t been to Antigua or any other tourist-y, Europeanized city in Central America, Granada is wonderful. I love it. BUT if you’re crunched for time, & not super sold on it, skip it and head to Laguna de Apoyo or Ometepe instead.

#Nicaragua #Masaya #HotelColonial #Travel #Granada