So I’m headed off to Granada, Nicaragua for a few days. This will be my first time in Nicaragua and I’m really excited because I’ve heard some great things about it, like the food is good, prices are low, people are friendly, sights are amazing. I don’t have any specific plans and will play everything by ear. I know where I’m staying, but that’s about it. I know Granada has some cool buildings, it’s by the lake, there are some volcanos nearby… I’m looking forward to showing up as an ignorant tourist and learning all kinds of cool new things 🙂
I’m also excited because I will be leaving the laptop and phone behind and disconnecting for a few days. I’m not quite sure how I will survive the disconnection, but the cord must be cut. I don’t think it’s healthy to always be connected.
How ironic is it that I’m taking a vacation from Costa Rica…
Do you ever disconnect? Have you ever been to Granada?
We’re going to Italy at the end of next month for a week or so and pondered ‘disconnecting.’ All was going well but then we said, “Well, we’ll just have our phones with us…and we’ll just take the Kindle…and the tablet…well, if we’re doing that, we might as well take the laptop, too.” Slippery slope! Enjoy your time of being unconnected! 🙂
Julia
Slippery slope indeed. I’m loading up my phone with music as I type…my slope has already started slipping! It’s going to take a lot of self control to not use it for other stuff…
I love Italy, enjoy your time there even if you are bogged down with tech 😉
Jeez Louise, popular place. I know four other groups from Atenas that went up there recently. They all came back raving about the place. (Except for the beggar kids.) Have a great time. I think I could stand to be disconnected for a while as long as there were plenty of adult beverages.
I hear there are plenty of adult beverages, CHEAP tasty adult beverages. 🙂
I love Granada, great town, gorgeous churches and a great base to explore nearby attractions: Isletas, Masaya, Mombacho plus cheap beer! $1-$1.50 per beer served on your table! Have a great time!
haha I think one of the things I’m MOST excited about it is the cheap beer and just spending a day or two doing nothing but eating and drinking. Yay gluttony!
Make sure and contact a Realtor before you leave. If you can stand HOT weather, it may be a one way trip. CR is based on lies. Nicaragua’s bad reputation is based on lies.
You mean – if you can stand RIDICULOUSLY HOT weather. Geez, I thought I was going to die from about 11am to 3pm everyday. Hot hot hot with no breeze. All we could do was swim or lay down. I’m glad to be back in Costa Rica, with perfect weather.
last time I was disconnected was in 2002 when I went up the Chirripo……but I heard that they now have internet up there (via satellite powered by an in situ hydroelectric plant)
also in a place in Idaho that had a population ~ 800 people
I can live without a cellphone (I hate them anyway) but email is a different story 🙂
hahaha Idaho
Granada is one of my favorite town. Actually it is so beautiful and gorgeous also. Not only looks. It has some great thing like the food is good, prices are low, people are friendly, sights are amazing. Everything is really good. That’s why I love this town very much.
Yeah compared to Costa Rica, the food was amazing.
The words Costa Rica and food are not to be used in the same paragraph.
ha, well most restaurants are a miss, but if you go into someone’s home you can get a good meal. Or better yet, go to the feria where you can buy a ton of awesome delicious cheap ingredients and make your own rico meal. Unless, of course, you are looking for good red meat – that does not exist here. Shoot, I was just excited to be able to cut through the meat in Granada – what a concept!!!
Oh wow… Hogga is down there too! Wish I could get away… sounds awesome by her descriptions and your writings!
Shoot I wish I had known she was down there, we could have met up. ALthough, I don’t know how great the conversation would have been seeing as how I was stuffing my face with food 24/7!!
I have never been there but I can understand how excited you must be.
Its good to disconnect with the phones and laptops for some days, so that you could connect with yourself.
Have a lovely journey Erin.
Now the trick is how to get caught up without overwhelming myself…
So, do you recommend going?
Mixed thoughts on that. It depends.
I’ll post on it next week. Right now I’m slammed with a design project. 🙂
I live in Belize and go on vacation all the time. Everyone needs a break from “real life”.
It’s been a while since I was in Nicaragua. Fond memories of a country going through change.
That’s awesome! I LOVED Granada. Actually didn’t like it at first and then ended up spending over a week there.
I disconnect sometimes… but usually only when I’m forced too by bad internet or illness haha.
It would take a week to get start to even get used to the heat there – it’s overwhelming!
I loved Granada! I stayed there for a weekend while I was living in Costa Rica; it’s amazing how different the two countries are. From all my tico friends had ever told me about Nicaragua, they kind of view it in the same way we Americans negatively view Mexico.
But anyway, the central plaza was one of my favorites, it’s so gorgeous at night. Everything is definitely cheaper, and hotter. And don’t forget Flor de Cana!! It was like $7 at the Pali there, compared to $14 in Costa Rica and now $20+ here in the U.S.!! Oh how I miss it.
I didn’t stock up on Flor de Caña… next time I won’t make that mistake!!
How could we not view them negatively when the only time we actually got invaded was thanks to their our problems and ‘ideas’
As one of our Presidents from the beginning of the 20th century said “Costa Rica has two seasons, when we are having trouble with Nicaragua and when we are not ”
I dont have much trouble with Nicaraguan people BUT THEIR GOVERNMENT………its much worse than ours ….and that can tell you something 😛