Last Spring, I got on airplane headed for Central America. I was going there to visit my sister, who had been living in Costa Rica for a few months, studying at the UN University for Peace (yes. She studies peace. I write about food and travel and we’re identical twins. Imagine what is feels like being compared all the time!).

For ten days, we travelled around Costa Rica and Nicaragua and it was an amazing experience. One place that made an impact on me in particular was the colonial city of Granada in Nicaragua. Located by the north bank of Lago de Nicaragua, this little city – perhaps it is actually a town – has facades painted in all the colors of the rainbow. The people of the city were extremely welcoming and helpful and even though there were quite a lot of tourists here, the atmosphere was very relaxed and pleasant; unlike in the capital Managua that we didn’t visit because all the locals strongly advised us not to. We spent a couple of days in Granada and that was plenty of time to get a good look at the city. The attractions are few but the tourist offices on the main street (you can’t miss it – it’s right by the big square and it’s about the only place with restaurants in the city!) offer a large variety of day trips with a bunch of outdoor adventures.

We stayed at the hostel The Bearded Monkey which was crazy cheap (2$ a night or something) and a cool place with a good location. So if you’re ever in the area, go spend a few days here!