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TRAVEL BLOG ENTRY
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“food is good and mojitos are 50 cents.” |
Initial impressions of Granada were fantastic. Its colonial charms were obvious, with massive, beautiful spaces opening up from behind a single, small door to the street. Hidden gardens in central courtyards created an almost drinkable cool, calm atmosphere. The streets were regularly cleaned, a social spoiling that we have been lacking for a while, and the town was buzzing. Evenings are pleasant and breezy here, food is good and mojitos are 50 cents. However, poverty is holding its hand out on every street corner, kids first choice of pastime is sniffing glue and the streets are impossibly loud. Not everything is as perfect in Granada as it first appears.
We were lucky enough to arrive in town just as a street festival was taking off. The city was packed and full of noise, but also overflowing with colour and excitement. We snapped some pictures and then retired to the shade to cool off with a beer. The locals do their best to stay out of the sun from 10am until 3pm, and wisely so. At first I was confused to see one side of the street (the side in the shade) crammed to bursting with people whilst the other (sunny side) was completely desolate.
There are some simple things to do here. Just strolling the town can produce some fruitful photo opportunities and there are always the cathedrals and museums, should you get bored. Most guide books will inform you of a pleasant boardwalk on the lake, where you can stroll on one of Granada’s beautiful breeze filled evenings. You could stroll here, but you might find one or two town drunks passed out enroute, perhaps a few unmentionables being performed behind a tree here or there, and a whole lot of intimidating, empty streets. The lakefront is most unused and the result is rather uncomfortable. I wouldn’t recommend walking here alone, especially not if you are female and REALLY not if it is dark!
Out of interest for the city and its recommendations as one of the top places in the world to retire or settle in, we decided to do some house hunting. A friendly realtor happily drove us about the town in his flashy, air-conditioned Toyota truck, showing us everything he had on offer. We browsed everything from a million dollar colonial mansion to a shell of a place that literally only had its walls standing, although had a good bat residency. It was interesting to see. We were only really looking with half interest, initially excited by all the talk of low prices and “beating the wave”. Honestly, this all turned out to be rather untrue. Commercial development is well underway here and the prices are bumped up to the point where the little old lady peers out from behind her bared door and desperately signaled to us in silence that we should NOT buy the place. Matt and I thanked her with smiles and nods and chuckled about it later. Granada is far from the undeveloped Mecca that it bills itself as being.
-Kate Coats
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