Showing posts with label Managua. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Managua. Show all posts

Catedral Antigua de Managua - Photo Gallery

Catedral Antigua de Managua through my lens..








As I have shared in my previous post, I went up early in the morning to see this historical church. Clear blue sky and morning lights are such great help as it was only 8 AM in the morning but the sun was scorchingly hot already..

Heavily damaged after the 1972 earthquake, this old church stands against the test of time and witness the substantial changes that this country has undergone... 

Let's see the many faces of this church from outside, as we are not allowed to get in considering the danger of loose rocks and bricks after the earthquake.









Managua, Nicaragua in 2 hours...

Holaaaa...
Cómo estas?



Well, excuse my extremely limited Spanish but I can't help to listen and try to pick up some of those melodious expressions. During my stay in Managua, I certainly picked up some and hopefully I can learn more later on. It's such a beautiful language :).

Soooo...back to my traveling note to Nicaragua now. As I have shared my oh-so-full-of-drama trip before here, now let me share some interesting spots I managed to visit in Managua. In 2 hours ...just before the meeting started.

Biasanya kalau melakukan perjalanan ke satu tempat karena pertemuan resmi memang begini nih. Well, we're here to work but if you can, you can definitely squeeze in some visits to nearby place. Kalau tidak pandai-pandai mengatasinya jadwal, memang agak sulit untuk bisa melihat kota yang kita datangi di sela-sela pertemuan.

Untungnya, karena pengaruh cuaca di Nikaragua yang memang panas, kegiatan banyak dilakukan sejak jam 6 pagi dan selesai jam 2 siang karena panas. jadi, di hari ketiga saya di Managua, saya memutuskan untuk mencoba melihat-liat kota. Setelah mengecek di Google dan tanya teman-teman lokal, saya disarankan untuk naik taksi dari hotel untuk melihat-lihat. Selain karena faktor keamanan dan bahasa spanyol saya yang minim, juga karena pertimbangan waktu yang terbatas.

So, jam 7 pagi saya turun ke lobby, tanya-tanya dan akhirnya memutuskan untuk me nyewa satu taksi. Tujuan saya memang tidak banyak, hanya ingin melihat Antigua Catedral alias the old church di Nicaragua yang sekarang tinggal puing akibat gempa dahsyat tahun 1972 dan sekitar Avenue de Simon Bolivar yang memang menjadi semacam pusat kota. Alhamdulilaaah. ..saya mendapat supir Denis yang bisa berbahaya inggris dan keliling kota selama hampir 2 jam hanya biaya USD 15 alias kurang dari Rp200.000 saja! Murah kan untuk tur keliling kota :).

So, I came to the receptionist and she got me a taxi with English-speaking driver named Denis. Lucky me indeed... and Denis was also very friendly. I explained to him that I only had around 2 hours before the meeting and at least I saw the old Chatedral and walked around Avenue de Simon Bolivar, as we have seen this area the night before.

To my surprise, Denis took me to several beautiful spots beyond that. 

Wanna know what I saw in 2 hours?

Stick around... I'll share some pictures first here :) and will get back with more information.

1. Parque Historico Nacional






It was not on my original list, but I surely enjoyed my visit here.
Up on the hill, we could see the shillouette statue of Sandino, one of the national heroes of the country, standing grandeurly by the tree of life, or amarillo. 


Here we can see the Old Managua and the New Managua as well.

2. Laguna de Tiscapa

From the National Park, we can see the Lake celarly. Too bad Laguna de Tiscapa, or Tiscapa Lake, is heavily poluted now. It looks okay from afar. Denis said there was 


3. Antigua Catedral de Managua



Frankly speaking, this is the reason why I got up early and went out browsing the city :).
It looks abandoned though now, since the tremendous earthquake in 1972 shattered the city, took its toll on the lives of the peoples, including this beautiful church. It was such a beauty...but I learnt that they have build the new church instead of restoring this one.

I have shared some of the pics before and I still have some more. Perhaps I will need to make a special post on it :).

4. Palacio de la Cultural



Standing next to the Old Chatedral of Managua, this lovely building serves as a national museum as well. I love to explore inside but when I was there it was still closed :(. Too bad... But as always, museum is one of the best resources to see and to learn more about one country and its cultures.

4. Casa de los pueblos

Literally it means the House of the peoples. It is located on the other side of the Antigua Catedral. I didn't get in either...I didn't think I was allowed :). But it's good to take picture in front of it with huge statues of Sandino and Rubio.



5. Avenue de Simon Bolivar

For sure you will see many interesting objects around this area, along this main street to be exact. 

Look at all those revolusionarists..

Those include Rotonda Hugo Chavez, statues, the trees of life or amarillos, and more. We have seen how festive this roundabout at night as we arrived in Managua. And seeing it in the middle of the day still give you the same grand feeling around this area that has been specially designed elaboratively. 




Not bad for a 2-hour ride, I guess. And even as we finished the mini tour before 9 AM, it was already scorching hot at that day. By the time I got to the hotel, I managed to get a cool shower, quick breakfast and get ready for the meeting.

Will definitely get back with more stories on my Managua and Granada, Nicaragua trip, including to Volcano de Masaya. So see you all around :)

visiting an active volcano? Why not...

WW: Antigua Catedral de Managua

Antigua Catedral de Managua
Also known as the Catedral de Santiago or the Old Chatedral of Managua..
Truly a gem in the old part of this lovely city...




Join us on (almost) Worldless Wednesday and have a fun bloghopping experience...

A visit to Managua, Nicaragua

I have been dreaming of visiting Latin American countries and I've never thought my dream will come true pretty soon :).

The lovely art from Nicaragua. .

Sejak menjalankan tugas di NYC, saya memang bercita-cita mengunjungi negara - negara Amerika Latin dan Karibia  yang memang notabene jaraknya  sudah lebih dekat dari tempat kami tinggal. Namun setelah dilihat-lihat lagi, ternyata negara - negara tersebut tidak dekat - dekat amat seperti negara - negara di Eropa, terutama Eropa Barat. Saya ingat selama di Geneve, hanya dengan terbang 1 sampai 1.5 jam atau mengendarai mobil selama 3 sampai 4 jam sudah tiba di kota lain, negara lain. Di AS, dengan perjalanan selama itu, kami masih berkutat di negara yang sama hahaha. Hal ini yang membuat perjalanan menjadi lama dan mahal. Makanya, meskipun bercita-cita melihat banyak negara Grulac alias Amerika Latin dan Karibia, kami sekeluarga harus menabung  dulu :). Namun alhamdulilaaah, beberapa waktu yang lalu, saya ditugaskan untuk berpartisipasi dalam seminar tahunan yang akan diselenggarakan di Managua, Nikaragua. Oh my...one step closer to my dream..

Obi yang ngambek karena saya pergi 😢😢😢




As part of my work in the UN Special Committee on the Decolonialization, I was assigned to participate in its annual seminar.  This year, the seminar focuses on the issues related to the Carribean region and Nicaragua has graciously offered to be the host for this year's seminar.
So there I was...running around preparing Indonesian table for the Culture Night in Bo's school a few days before my departure to Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, while at the same time working on the preparation of our own seminar about Islam in Nusantara which will be held at the UN at the end of the month.

And I have to say, what a drama it was the morning I departed :). 







Well..it all was because of the foggy Monday morning in NYC. As usual, I started my Monday with 8.30 AM briefing at my office. My flight was scheduled at 2 PM, so I was planning to go to the La  Guardia airport at 12 PM. Everything was prepared and I went straight home after the meeting 10.30. Then I received an email from my airlines saying that my flight to Altlanta would be delayed and I would miss my connecting flight to Managua because of that. Well, I couldn't change my schedule to the next day as the seminar would have started. So I insisted on flying to Managua on that day with whatever airlines available. After at least 5 phone calls to the airlines and the travel agent, they finally put in a flight 1 hour earlier at 1 PM so that I won't miss my connecting flight.

Gosh... I was literally running to pick up Obi first at 11.30 before the three of us, Obi, my hubby and me, went to La Guardia airport. We were lucky that the traffic was okay and in 15 minutes, we were approaching La Guardia airport. I was so frantic noting that I only have 1 hour before my departure. You can imagine the crazy line we have in the immigration even with my diplomatic passport!

Then my phone rang...it was the airline's staff telling me that the earlier plane that I was rebooked  to was full already and I have to take another airline in order to catch my connecting flight to Managua. And that airline would take me through Miami to Managua on that same day. The problem was the plane flew from JFK airport. And it was a different airport from La  Guardia and it took around 20 minutes to go there and I only have more or less 1 hour. Oh my....rushed we went to JFK to catch my new plane -_-"

Again, I was lucky it was my hubby taking me and practically no traffic so I could make it on time. By the time I had my ticket, lined up in immigration and arrived at the gate, I only have some time left before boarding. But I was so relieved that at the end of the day I made it :).

Finally leaving the big apple...

Then after 3 hours flight from NYC to Miami, and 4 hours flight from Miami to Managua, Nicaragua, I finally arrived in the land of Rubio and Sandino.

salon diplomatico at the Airporr..
By the time I arrived, we were waiting for other participants who were coming from different parts of the world. I flew through Miami and some came through Atlanta or Panama City. Although it was only 8 hours flying in total, for me it was so tiring already. Or perhaps it was due to so emotional rides I have to go through before leaving, hahaha...but I truly enjoyed the ride from the Airporr to the hotel. Very festive and merrily decorated Avenue de Simon Bolivar, with its line of amarillo or the tree of life and El Comandante Chavez :)

El Comanandante Chavez at one of the roundabouts..

But by the time I arrived in the hotel, it was almost 10 PM already so I decided to umpack and order some dinner. I got yummy broccoli cream sop and some local dish of fried green plantain and queso frito, fried cheese. Yuuuum yuuuum...

My dinner...yuuum yuuum..
As the morning came, I managed to hit the pool and got everything ready for the seminar.

the whole pool for myself :)

It was a series if productive meetings regarding the UN works on Decolonialization Committee. Well, I'm not gonna share that here but we will continue the work in NY for sure :). 

Then, as the courtesy of the host, the Government of Nicaragua, we had dinner cruise at Xolotlan Lake that night. Fun time getting to know one another closer and lobby them at the same time :). But for sure, I got a chance to arrange my little trip the next morning to see the beauty of the Managua city before continuing the meeting, including the historical Antigua Catedral de Nicaragua.

Wanna see more of the land of Rubio and Sandino? I'll be right back :)

WW: Rotonda de Hugo Chavez, Managua, Nicaragua

A glimpse of the city that I am currently visiting :)

Rotonda de Hugo Chavez, Managua, Nicaragua. ..



Will definitely be back with more stories...
Join us on Wordless Wednesday and have fun bloghopping :)