Granada 

Our first trip outside of Managua was to Granada, the oldest city in Nicaragua and still full of old, pretty colonial buildings as it didn't suffer from a massive earthquake like Managua did. Its probably the place with the most expats/foreigners living in it so I was expecting something more touristy but it still felt like a normal city, not somewhere that lives for its tourists. 

 

Buses that brought wedding guests parked next to the church on the main square .. I know Grandad, bad composition!

Bit surprising to suddenly find yourself on Penny Lane  

 

The museum which had ancient Mayan stone carvings inside

View of Mombacho volcano from the museum.. its still active but hasn't erupted since 1570

Taken from the car

Catarina

On the way to Granada we stopped in Catarina where lots of the artisanal stuff you can buy here is made. There's also a viewpoint where you can see the whole of the Laguna de Apoyo which is a lake in a crater. Amazing view, could have sat there all day but I would have ended up buying a whole suitcase full of pots and ornaments from the little girls who come up and try to sell them to you. Three beautiful ceramic pots for 5 dollars .. but I still managed to say no

Our house

 Our lovely house with a choice of hammocks, including one positioned by the TV .. couldn't really ask for more! The living area is half outside and half inside so its not too hot there and you don't feel like your actually properly inside. I really like it.

A hibiscus (mum tells me) that flowered for just one day, the next day it had died but another one had come out, and now there are none. Nice that they chose the week that we arrived to burst out!

Look away if you don't like spiders 

... especially massive and terrifying ones. This one ran across the kitchen floor as I was cooking at our friend Gert's house. They live 15 mins away, more in the countryside so I don't think we would get one here in the middle of the city  but if we do I'm coming home. Frederic and Gert armed themselves with a broom and after some surprisingly calm poking around they managed to get it outside but only after we blinded it with several camera flashes. Zooming in on the pictures was horrific.