Postcard from Nicaragua

June 1, 2015 by The Scented Hound 25 Comments

The Hound has been rather quiet these last few weeks…and with good reason as we recently took some time off to travel to Granada, Nicaragua. On our continued journey to find the perfect spot for retirement, we had heard that Granada was a beautiful colonial city that offers everything we’re looking for; low cost of living, warm weather and an adventure to be had. Never having been there before we were surprised and delighted with our visit. Situated on the shore of Lake NIcaragua and sitting underneath the dormant Mombacho volcano, this beautiful town will be fondly remembered by me for the following reasons:

Lovely and wonderfully friendly people.
The incredible heat of the afternoon made bearable with an ice cold beer (or 2 or 3…heck they were only 1.50 each!) on the restaurant row of Calle La Calzada.
Going to the top of the Mombacho volcano to take a hike. Only a 20 minute drive from the city, you might as well have been in another world in the cool climate on top of the volcano.
Learning to love a good cigar and being able to watch them being hand rolled. I just wish we would have purchased more than just a few cigars to bring home with us.
For a perfumista, Nicaraguan Don Juan Cacao Liquor not only smells like the most exquisite of perfumes, but tastes even better and is the perfect accessory to a wonderful cigar.
Stripping naked to have myself slathered in chocolate for a body scrub and massage at the Choco Spa.
Going on a zip line for the first time in my life. I proved to be braver than I had anticipated by going hands free and doing some special dives.
Taking a lovely horse-drawn carriage taxi ride through the town. The carriages are a signature of the city.
Nicaraguan beef is like no other. At home we eat beef approximately once a month. I couldn’t resist eating it almost every night; it was just incredibly tender and flavorful.
A slower way of life is life worth living.

I am horrible about taking pictures on vacation, but I hope the following highlight the beauty of this wonderful place.

Off the main city square.

The horse drawn carriage taxis.

The view from our hotel. balcony

The beautiful interior of our hotel.

The ruins of a 19th century city hospital.

Lake Nicaragua with Mombacho in the background.

The Hound and hub ready for our zip line adventure!

The top of the Mombacho volcano

Mombacho in the distance.

So is Granada our perfect retirement destination? I’m not quite sure, but I would love to go back someday as it’s a very special place. For more information on Granada, check out the Wikipedia page here.

And don’t worry…I’ll be back with a review later this week. In the meantime, thanks for coming along for the ride!

The Scented Hound