Mercado Municipal, Granada, Nicaragua

Today we dived right into Granada, up and down the grided streets, in and out the churches, through the very busy food market.  It's surpringly traditional in many ways where goods are still delivered by horse and cart and you have to wonder about the wiring. 

We did climb the bell tower of Iglesia de la Merced to get a 360 degree view of the city! The church was originally built in 1534 but razed by pirates in 1655.  The current baroque facade was built in 1781. 

Although a lot of the city has been 'gentrified' with wonderfully painted buildings there's still a fair amount on the shabby chic side!

We had a bit of respite from the sun in the Cafe de las Sonrisas (Cafe of Smiles), a local charity cafe that supports the deaf and is staffed by them.