The Grandeur of Granada - Nicaragua

Founded in the 1520s, Granada is a real Colonial gem in Nicaragua. If you take the plunge and visit, you will have this beautiful place pretty much all to yourself with all its plazas, porticos, and colonnades...

People are welcoming and friendly, and the whole place has a very intimate small town feel, somewhat dwarfed and daunted by the grandeur and scale of such elegant architecture...

There are numerous beautiful churches, chapels, and a stunning cathedral. Brightly coloured colonial streets and alleys head off in every direction, and who can resist all these gorgeous doors and windows...

Granada is a very accessible 45 minute cab ride from Managua Airport, and provides a great base for a week or so, as there are some great day trips that can be taken from here, such as the volcanoes at Masaya and Mombacho, as well as the pueblos blancos, and the markets at Masaya. There are enough bars, cafes, and restaurants to sustain a week's stay, and a great hotel for accomodation is the Casa San Francisco. At 65USD for a double room it is great value, and Octavio the chef cooks up wonderful food every night. Check it out at www.casasanfrancisco.com and for more My World Tuesday postings click here...

Shadow Shot Sunday 35 - Rio Nazas

Just a grimy little black window on a bright blue wall around the corner from where I live, but I like the colour contrast as well as all the geometric angles and shapes cast by the shadow. For more shadows cast around the world check out Shadow Shot Sunday by clicking here....

Mexico City Hotspots - Hosteria La Bota

I adore Mexican folk art and kitsch, so you can imagine my unadulterated sheer joy and delight when I stumbled, purely by chance, across this humble watering hole last weekend in the heart of the Centro Historico. Can you spot the barman amongst all these objets d'art adorning every surface of bar, walls, and ceiling??

After the initial sense of being overwhelmed, you manage to get your eye in, and then you can spot all kinds of antique treasures from bicycles, chairs and gas rings, to bulls' heads, lucha libre masks and skulls. Next you zoom in on the boxing gloves, frying pans, pinatas, masks, tin trays, bottles, and an entire array of Joseph Cornell - style boxes...

I stopped by for a glass of wine whilst I was wandering about by myself, and the atmosphere was perfectly friendly, chilled and laid back ...

You can see why I felt so at home when I show you a couple of corners of my own apartment here in Mexico City, dubbed"The Red Palace", which are very quickly developing into Mexican kitsch corners...

Here are my latest acquisitions - a pair of demented and deranged papier mache Lucha Libre wrestlers. One has his pants on fire, and the other has a skull emblazoned on his lunch box - Don't you just love them??

Hosteria La Bota is located on Calle Regina between Bolivar and 5 de Febrero amidst a number of other funky, quirky bars and cafes. Watch out for further postings on this very interesting street....

Mexico City Hotspots - Zincos Jazz Club

Zincos jazz club is an effortlessly cool nightspot in the heart of the Centro Historico located deep in the vaults of a former bank. Blacked out basement with low ceilings, red velvet curtains, and candle-lit cabaret style tables, it is the authentic jazz bar you are always so pleased to stumble upon - and there is always someone good playing whichever night you go...

Last night the band was "People Project", a jazz ensemble with Brazilian, Mexican, Canadian, and Venezuelan musicians, fresh from the Monteal Jazz Festival, presenting their new CD "Natural". They played a real mixture of Jazz Fusion, Blues, and Funk all tending towards a Brazilian sound.

Zincos is open from Wednesday to Saturday, and is located at Motolinia 20, esq Cinco de Mayo. Entrance is 200 pesos (16USD) and it is certainly a good idea to book a table in advance. The only touch of authenticity lacking is the smokey haze across the basement due to DF's no smoking policy - Hooray!! Check out their website for future programming at http://www.zincojazz.com/. Enjoy! To check out other great places around the globe, click here for My World Tuesday - where do you like to go for a guaranteed great night out??

Shadow Shot Sunday 34 - Managua Airport

Managua International Airport, Augusto C. Sandino, in Nicaragua is a bright, spacious, airy kind of place providing a pleasant welcome to the country. This is the foyer and all the interplay of shadows, patterns, reflections and shadow writing caught my attention as I was waiting for my flight back to Mexico via San Jose....

And where else in the world could you see such an idealistic cosy shoulder to shoulder relationship between the States and Iran and Libya... Don't you just love this admirably objective choice of clocks showing the International time??

For more fun with shadows check out Shadow Shot Sunday by clicking here. Enjoy!

Nipping around and about in Nicaragua....

If you want to soak up the real vibe of a country then the only way to travel is by public transport. In this way you have a real chance to step inside a culture, interact with the locals on a more equal footing, and enjoy the country from a more modest perspective. In Nicaragua you are spoilt for choice, as like India, Vietnam and other developing countries, everything is on the same road whatever the speed, from ox and cart, to horse and carriage, buses, tuk-tuks, bicycles, and speedy limo taxis..

The buses are the highly ornate decorated yellow school buses which are such a trademark feature of Central Amerca - here perfectly safe and fun to use. In Nicaragua, horse and carts are very common for the working day, and horse and carriages are the local taxi of choice in Granada. Bicycles are very popular too, and more often or not they accomodate two or even three passengers quite comfortably....

And let's not forget the very convenient option of the tuk-tuk seen in the smaller villages around Granada, such as this fleet both spotted and used in the small town of Diriomo....




















Wouldn't you miss out on so much if you only viewed Nicaragua from behind the wheel of a hire car?? For more windows on the world check out My World Tuesday posts by clicking here

Shadow Shot Sunday 33 - Nicaragua

Nicaragua is a country full of baseball fans, and most seemed to be supporting the New York Yankees in the World Series last week, judging by the high numbers of NY baseball caps being worn everywhere. Large screens were erected in the streets so fans could sit and watch in the comfort of the cooler air. Granada, a beautiful colonial town in Nicaragua, has its own baseball field where players love to emulate their heros, encouraged by high numbers of spectators both on the bleachers, and peering through the wire mesh fence. This roadside shack serving drinks sits at the edge of that baseball field. Don't those three red bar stools look particularly friendly and inviting??
For more inviting shadows check out Shadow Shot Sunday by clicking here

Day of the Dead in Nicaragua....

Day of the Dead is a very important day of observance in Nicaragua, especially in the village cemeteries like this one in Catarina about an hour away from Granada...

November 2nd is a National holiday in Nicaragua, and extended families flock to the cemeteries to spend the day decorating the graves with beautiful flower arrangements.....

The celebration is very different from Mexico and there are no overnight candle vigils, ofrendes, marigolds, incense, sand paintings, skeletal images, or sugar skulls. Instead the focus is on the daytime observance decorating the graves and spending time in the cemeteries with departed loved ones....

Families were very relaxed about being photographed and talking about the relatives they were honouring that day. In this photo appears Jessica with her family paying respects to her mother who died only two years ago. Francisco talked tenderly about his six month old son pictured here in the arms of his grandmother. Also here is Rosa with her family who were first decorating her mother's grave who died twenty four years ago, before moving to another part of the cemetery to start decorating her father's grave...

If you get the chance to witness this unique celebration in Mexico or Central America - do not miss the opportunity, as it is such a special occasion.

A Remote Culture??.....Nicaragua

Meet Fatima who is transforming the age-old cultural skill of carrying her wares upon her head into the modern age; a slight technological glitch perhaps, but there is something about this photograph which really appeals to me. Of course there is no shortage of the more traditional shots to be found in Nicaragua.....

Or these...
And when I was in Guatemala at Easter, the women from a local textile cooperative even enjoyed giving us a demonstration of the said balancing act, trying to encourage us to acquire the skill. They enjoyed emphasising the cultural difference whereby, if they had something to carry, without thinking, it would automatically go straight to their heads...

I like to think that Fatima may be striking a new note for Nicaragua; a time to look with fresh ideas beyond the traditional images. The country is still perceived by many as being a remote and distant far off place, perhaps still troubled and unstable, perhaps still too under-developed and lacking infrastructure, certainly not at the top of most people's travel wish lists. But I would like to strike a note in the coming posts for its charm and beauty, its grand Colonial architecture, scenic lakes, islands, and volcanoes, tranquil laid-back coast, vibrant markets and artisans, and the friendly welcome given to visitors...... There are many, many reasons to enjoy travelling here...

Old Rockers Rule OK......Nicaragua

Judging by the numerous brightly-coloured hammocks for sale everywhere in Nicaragua - in markets, on roadside stalls, on display, strung up wherever, you may be forgiven for thinking that, like Mexico, it is another country seduced by laid-back, chilled-out hammock culture...

That assumption, however, would be quite wrong, and in all the time I spent travelling through Nicaragua, I only saw a couple of inhabited hammocks...

Here the relaxation mode of choice is quite firmly the good old-fashioned rocking chair....

Set out in cosy groups for conversation, lined up for sale in markets, rigid rows for prime-time tv viewing, or singly for that moment of solitude on the stoop, they adorn every interior, patio, courtyard, terrace, doorway, and porch.....

And are inhabited and rocked in by young and old alike...

Prime time for rocking is of course the hour of dusk when the temperature cools, and the first fresh breezes of the day are gratefully received. Then it's time to catch up on the gossip of the day, chill out a little, or simply watch the world go by...

It is a custom quite charming and part of a "sitting on the stoop culture", indicative of both the Caribbean influence and time-warp appeal of Nicaragua. Having lived in Mexico for four years, I thought my preferences were firmly for hammocks, but having rocked away for a couple of hours on a hotel porch whilst waiting for the bus, I am now not so sure. The rhythm of the rocking chair allows you to slip peacefully into the rhythms of the country. What would you plump for?? hammock or rocking chair?? Let me know!! In the meantime check out other windows on the world by clicking here for My World Tuesday.

Shadow Shot Sunday 32 - Calle Rio Rhin,DF

The building here was bright orange and the gates an electric blue, but I prefer this shot in more muted sepia tones. What do you think?? For more fun with shadows check out some super shadow shots from around the world by clicking here for Shadow Shot Sunday. Enjoy!!

Day of the Dead.....

Day of the Dead is the most special and unique of festivals here in Mexico, the time when ancestors and departed loved ones are honoured and remembered in the most wonderful of ways. Here is the Ofrende ( altar to the dead ) set up this year in the reception area of my school....

And here is the ofrende built by all our students, on the edge of the school basketball court, using all their own artwork and craftwork from recent classes....

Day of the Dead is marked by these beautiful ofrendes set up in every possible corner...

and by the flowers on sale everywhere. These are marigolds and other beautiful blooms for sale in the market in Patzcuaro, Michoacan.....

And this is how they are used to decorate the graves ready for the overnight vigils in the cemeteries - this one is Tzintzuntzan cemetery near Patzcuaro...

And the final image is of the sugar skulls and calavera candy sold on street stalls everywhere. These ones were for sale in the markets in Guanajuato...

Let's take one last look at that beautiful ofrende set up in my school today by our students...

This year I will be in Nicaragua for Day of the Dead and will be reporting back on how the festival is celebrated in this country. If you get a chance to witness this festival - Do not miss it!! For other global glimpses check out the My World Tuesday postings by clicking here.