Pictures from Nicaragua

If these pictures and posts seem out of order, its because the Picasa/Blogger connection I had been using to post blogs quit working like it used to and I am having to do this the old way by adding one picture at a time. I don't have the thumbnails all laid out in front of me so I can get them organized and in order. This is a shot of the huge Lake Nicaragua with one of the volcanic islands in the background and an old boat in front.
This is the other volcanic island in Lake Nicaragua. There are two of them. The lake is just north of the border with Costa Rica.
We saw quite a few of these bicycle driven taxis on the roads in Nicaragua. We also saw lots of horse drawn carts that were used as taxis.
Here in Costa Rica, soccer is the national pass time. There is a huge soccer stadium in down town San Jose. But in Nicaragua, the popular game is baseball. This is a baseball stadium.
Interesting bus with a load of bananas on top. Just because it looks like a school bus doesn't mean that it is really still a school bus.
This is a procession we passed. There were lots of people out on the road in different groups. I am sure this was some special saint day. I just don't know exactly which one.
Laurie and I with Pres. Porter behind. Behind us is a very large volcanic caldera full of water, a very beautiful setting.
This group of horses saddled and ready to go were near the above lake, I am sure they were there to rent out if people wanted to ride.
This is just the lake.
In this area we saw lots of these little taxis that were built on a motor bike chassis. The tour man said they were manufactured in Italy.
This bus probably used to be a school bus too, but they painted it very colorfully. We went to the city of Masaya, the second of the two printed along the top to name the route the bus takes. It is where we had a very nice lunch.

Scenes from Granada Nicaragua

This was a mosaic in the middle of the main road. I don't know exactly what it represents but it looks like different Nucaraguan people and the different things they would be doing.
Volcanic cone with the large lake in front.
We visited a large volcanic caldera filled with lake water. It was a pretty scene. This is quite a large painting of that lake with some of it's surroundings.
Cute table and chairs, rustic construction painted bright colors, at an outdoor eating establishment.
A painting of the city of Granada Nicaragua. It even has the horse drawn carriage like we rode in. Notice the colorful buildings which is like it really is.
Fountain in the town square in front of the National Cathedral and the Bishop's home.
We took a tour of the city in this little horse drawn carriage. There were lots of them around the city and most were decorated with ribbons. All of them are authentic old carriages that have been restored. This is President and Sister Porter and Laurie and our tour man. The streets are all cobble stoned.
The National Cathedral in Granada Nicaragua, next door to the home of the Bishop
This is the home of the Catholic Bishop in Granada Nicaragua.
This is one of the several Spanish Colonial churches in Granada Nicaragua.

Granada Nicaragua

The temple has been closed for 2 weeks for fixing and cleaning. Since Laurie is the temple engineer, he has to over see all the goings on. But the missionary in charge of the office said he would take charge for a few days so we could get a little break and go somewhere. We had planned to go south almost to the Panamanian border. But Sister Porter called and said they had found a tour to Nicaragua and would like us to go with them. So we decided to go. We went up to the town of Liberia, Costa Rica and stayed over night. Then the tour picked us up early the next morning and we drove to Nicaragua. It was a pretty drive. The border was a hastle but the tour man took charge of it all and got us across. The roads were nice, he said they were paid for by Hugo Chavez with Venezuelan oil money, and there weren't as many cars as there are here. This is a view in Granada from one of the church towers.
We went first to the Spanish Colonial city of Granada. This city was founded in the 1500s and they have tried to keep it in the Spanish Colonial style ever since. We climbed the tower of one of the old churches and had a great view of the whole city. This is one of the other churches. There were several of these huge old cathedrals. They must not have as many earthquakes there as they do here because most of the old Colonial buildings have been destroyed by earthquake.
The streets are narrow and cobbled. The buildings are colorful and all the roofs are very old looking red tile. There aren't as many cars as we are used to in our cities. Here in Costa Rica there are lots of cars and crazy traffic.
Another view from the church tower.
To the right is part of the church where we are. Notice very few cars in the streets.
Roof of the building where we are. The tower steps were very steep and very narrow and I was so glad there was a little rail to hold onto. I was worried that my feet wouldn't fit on the steps.
Stained glass window over one of the side doors.
Interior of the cathedral where we were. I really like the pretty light green with all the white trim.
Vaulted ceiling with lots of partial columns.