Home   >   Front Page   >   Featured Articles   >   Nicaragua: Revolutionary Reminders Around Every Corner

Nicaragua: Revolutionary Reminders Around Every Corner

By Chris Moss

Walkiria was a good storyteller . I’ve travelled widely in Central America, but few countries can compete with Nicaragua for history, recent political drama and the level of education of guides and people in general. Like Cuba, the country is economically poor but culturally rich.

It was in Granada that I encountered a promising story very much of modern Nicaragua. William López was born in the city in 1968 but left for the US when he was 16. “My mother arranged for my exit, to make sure I didn’t get pulled in to the Contra conflict,” he told me. “I was a ‘wetback’, though I crossed to the US dry, through Tijuana, in the dark by myself, as my coyote [fixer] had disappeared. I had some dollars in my shoe and instructions to take a bus and get to my paternal grandfather.”

William settled in San Diego, married Noemi, a Mexican-American, and had a successful career as a recruitment consultant. But in 2011 the couple flew, with their three dogs, to Granada and last year opened Ciudad Lounge, a flashy restaurant and cigar bar.

“On return trips here I’d become frustrated with the lack of any style or gastronomy in Granada,” he said. “This pricked my national pride. This place is an experiment. We know that Granada might not yet be quite ready for this, but we’re betting on it. We could have stayed in California, but I want my own country to take its position on the international scene.

Read the whole article below:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/centralamericaandcaribbean/nicaragua/10787194/Nicaragua-Revolutionary-reminders-around-every-corner.html