Big ole mug of steaming hot espresso sends me reeling. I think, "God how I love this feeling." Sitting in La Casa del Cafe in Managua, using the free wireless, waiting for the US Consulate to open up so that I can get more pages put in my passport and then it is off to Granada for a party and a baking session and laughter and joy in Nicaragua's tourist hotspot.

I love Granada because its Nicaragua through and through just wrapped in Western bacon. You've got everything from Subway to pounding nightclubs but just beneath that overpriced tourist infastructure is the beauty of Nicaragua. Warm people with open dooors and smiles. A history that runs hot and deep like Concepcion's lava and a colonial beauty that is hard to beat. Compared to the chaos of Managua its heaven. Hot, packed, walkable and accesible. Granada could almost be called Nica Lite becuase it certainly ain't no Nica Libre.