Saturday, July 2, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Full Moon Over Costa Rica
May 16
It's nearly over. Tomorrow we fly home. But today...well, today we are still in CR, and it was a gorgeous day. Sunny with a wonderful breeze.
Normal breakfast at the hotel, and fun conversation with another couple that we met who live in San Jose, CA, which of course is Mick's home town.
After relaxing on the patio for a while, we walked to the Yoga/Pilates studio down the street, and I took the 11:00 Pilates class. It was supposed to be 75 minutes long, but actually lasted an hour and a half. The teacher taught the class almost entirely in Spanish, but I was able to get most of it because I'm so familiar with Pilates. I actually understood more of it than I expected to because of that. She cued me in English when I needed it.
For lunch, we went back to the same place as yesterday - fish tacos and a fruit sandwich, as well as la gata daintily begging. It was just as delicious today. The rest of the afternoon was devoted to the lounge chairs by the beach - sun (yes with lots of sunscreen), reading, swimming in the ocean. There was just enough surf to make for fun in the waves. Then a dip in the pool to get the salt off, and a few more minutes in the sun to dry off.
When it was time for more food, we decided to try a BBQ place near the Pilates studio. It was GREAT. Smoky delicious pulled pork, tropical cole slaw with papaya and pineapple, sweet potato fries. And the sauces - they make their own. Regular, sweet smoky, and "Carolina style" vinegar. Yes, they called it that. And hoo boy, it was better than any vinegar-based BBQ sauce I EVER had in SC. We asked what was in it, and I am going to try to recreate it.
I actually have a number of recipes to find/create that we have really enjoyed here, all listed in my handy little notebook.
As we walked back to the hotel. the full moon was high in the sky, looking serene and beautiful over the trees.
Tomorrow morning we are getting picked up at 9 to head to the Liberia airport, which is about 60 miles away. We are checked in but still have to pay the departure tax after we get to the airport. Here's hoping that all is uneventful.
It's nearly over. Tomorrow we fly home. But today...well, today we are still in CR, and it was a gorgeous day. Sunny with a wonderful breeze.
Normal breakfast at the hotel, and fun conversation with another couple that we met who live in San Jose, CA, which of course is Mick's home town.
After relaxing on the patio for a while, we walked to the Yoga/Pilates studio down the street, and I took the 11:00 Pilates class. It was supposed to be 75 minutes long, but actually lasted an hour and a half. The teacher taught the class almost entirely in Spanish, but I was able to get most of it because I'm so familiar with Pilates. I actually understood more of it than I expected to because of that. She cued me in English when I needed it.
For lunch, we went back to the same place as yesterday - fish tacos and a fruit sandwich, as well as la gata daintily begging. It was just as delicious today. The rest of the afternoon was devoted to the lounge chairs by the beach - sun (yes with lots of sunscreen), reading, swimming in the ocean. There was just enough surf to make for fun in the waves. Then a dip in the pool to get the salt off, and a few more minutes in the sun to dry off.
When it was time for more food, we decided to try a BBQ place near the Pilates studio. It was GREAT. Smoky delicious pulled pork, tropical cole slaw with papaya and pineapple, sweet potato fries. And the sauces - they make their own. Regular, sweet smoky, and "Carolina style" vinegar. Yes, they called it that. And hoo boy, it was better than any vinegar-based BBQ sauce I EVER had in SC. We asked what was in it, and I am going to try to recreate it.
I actually have a number of recipes to find/create that we have really enjoyed here, all listed in my handy little notebook.
As we walked back to the hotel. the full moon was high in the sky, looking serene and beautiful over the trees.
Tomorrow morning we are getting picked up at 9 to head to the Liberia airport, which is about 60 miles away. We are checked in but still have to pay the departure tax after we get to the airport. Here's hoping that all is uneventful.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Sun, Sand, Shopping - In other words, Heaven
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| Our lunch companion |
May 15
Low key today. Woke up around 7:30, had breakfast, strolled around to see what was open & checked out the various stores. It never ceases to amaze me that two stores will have the same merchandise for wildly different prices. There was a skirt I found that I liked - one store had it for $33, and two blocks down I found the exact same skirt for $20. Guess which one I got? Also a great t-shirt with koi on it, and some sandals.There was a cat hanging out at the open-air cafe where we had lunch, friendly but really more interested in whatever food she could coax from the diners.
After lunch we walked around a little more, then it was back to the hotel. We went swimming in the ocean and the hotel , then just relaxed on the lounge chairs by the pool for a while. We decided to walk down to a restaurant called FTs for dinner, another open-air place. When we got there, they had the Sharks/Canucks game on! Unfortunately, we sat at a table right underneath a light, and were bombarded by little black beetles during our whole meal. Yuck.
Tomorrow, I might go to a Pilates class, it depends in part on how much it costs. The schedule was on the door of the studio but not the price.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Sunset over the Pacific
May 14
It's been a long time since I watched the sun set as I waded in the surf.The ocean is warm here at Tamarindo, and the sand is brown and black. It made lovely patterns in the ebbing tide.
This was a sweet way to start the evening of a very long day. We set the alarm this morning so we'd be sure to be up, packed, & have time for breakfast before the shuttle came to pick us up at 7:40 am. He was actually a few minutes early, so we were glad that we were down in the lobby, checked out & ready to go when he showed up. The van had a few more pickups, including 4 people in Heredia. We were full as we headed west. At the 3-hour mark, we stopped at an exchange place, where the Interbus vans swap passengers. There were macaws and howler monkeys hanging out in the trees, and peacocks, a deer, and a toucan in a fenced enclosure. I never did get the story about the menagerie. Mick & I along with three other passengers from our van switched to a new van that brought us on into Tamarindo.
By the time we got to the hotel we were tired and starving, so it was a big disappointment to discover a big pool of water in the closet of our room. BUT we packed back up & they moved us to another room. After we got some food in us we felt much better, just in time to enjoy the sunset. It's fun to see there is indoor wildlife here like we remember from Maui - geckos on the ceiling, large flying insects. There were even cute little bats swooping around just at dusk in the empty part of the restaurant, grabbing up bugs.
After relaxing for a while, we walked up the street and had a light dinner, then walked around a bit more. All the shops were closed, so we just scoped out what's nearby. We're not sure what will be open tomorrow either, so it may be a quiet day of sun, sand, ocean, and reading.
It's been a long time since I watched the sun set as I waded in the surf.The ocean is warm here at Tamarindo, and the sand is brown and black. It made lovely patterns in the ebbing tide.
This was a sweet way to start the evening of a very long day. We set the alarm this morning so we'd be sure to be up, packed, & have time for breakfast before the shuttle came to pick us up at 7:40 am. He was actually a few minutes early, so we were glad that we were down in the lobby, checked out & ready to go when he showed up. The van had a few more pickups, including 4 people in Heredia. We were full as we headed west. At the 3-hour mark, we stopped at an exchange place, where the Interbus vans swap passengers. There were macaws and howler monkeys hanging out in the trees, and peacocks, a deer, and a toucan in a fenced enclosure. I never did get the story about the menagerie. Mick & I along with three other passengers from our van switched to a new van that brought us on into Tamarindo.
By the time we got to the hotel we were tired and starving, so it was a big disappointment to discover a big pool of water in the closet of our room. BUT we packed back up & they moved us to another room. After we got some food in us we felt much better, just in time to enjoy the sunset. It's fun to see there is indoor wildlife here like we remember from Maui - geckos on the ceiling, large flying insects. There were even cute little bats swooping around just at dusk in the empty part of the restaurant, grabbing up bugs.
After relaxing for a while, we walked up the street and had a light dinner, then walked around a bit more. All the shops were closed, so we just scoped out what's nearby. We're not sure what will be open tomorrow either, so it may be a quiet day of sun, sand, ocean, and reading.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Our Last day in San Jose - Shopping, an earthquake, and more
May 13
Today started out as pretty mundane, but did not stay that way!
As planned, after breakfast we went out to do some shopping. I bought two t-shirts, or camisetas as they are called in Spanish. I also finally videoed one of the cross-walk signals that I have enjoyed so much.
Lunch was Middle Eastern food at a little food court across from our hotel - it was quite good.
In the afternoon, I felt like relaxing, so I read while Mick went out to find the AutoMercado to buy coffee filters. Not long after he returned, there was an earthquake! The hotel shook a lot for about 10 seconds, and didn't really stop until after about 30 seconds. I checked some of the local twitter accounts I'm now following, and sure enough there was a link to the USGS site that told the strength and epicenter. It was a 6.0 that happened about 16 miles (25 km) away. Fortunately, there were no aftershocks that we could detect, and no apparent damage here in SJ.
For dinner, we went to a Venezuelan restaurant. The thing I love about Central and South American food is that they take such simple ingredients and give them wonderful flavor. It's been a long time since I had so much healthy and delicious food other than what I cook myself.
After eating, we strolled over to the Avenida Central, which is the pedestrian mall I have mentioned before. At the square by the Theatre Nacional, a man was playing guitar quite beautifully, and we stopped to listen for a while. It was so pleasant, with the music and all the people walking around, I just videoed some of it to share with you.
When I went to put some money in his guitar case, I saw that he had a sign there with a link to his Youtube videos, so I will share that as well: http://www.youtube.com/fermanguitarra.
Then we were off in search of dessert, which turned out to be Mocha Cheesecake. And a glass of papaya juice, which tasted like they had just squished the fruit right into the glass, it was that fresh. Perfect.
So now we are starting to get packed up, because tomorrow we head for the beach at Tamarindo. Sun, sand, and salt water, here we come!
Today started out as pretty mundane, but did not stay that way!
As planned, after breakfast we went out to do some shopping. I bought two t-shirts, or camisetas as they are called in Spanish. I also finally videoed one of the cross-walk signals that I have enjoyed so much.
Lunch was Middle Eastern food at a little food court across from our hotel - it was quite good.
In the afternoon, I felt like relaxing, so I read while Mick went out to find the AutoMercado to buy coffee filters. Not long after he returned, there was an earthquake! The hotel shook a lot for about 10 seconds, and didn't really stop until after about 30 seconds. I checked some of the local twitter accounts I'm now following, and sure enough there was a link to the USGS site that told the strength and epicenter. It was a 6.0 that happened about 16 miles (25 km) away. Fortunately, there were no aftershocks that we could detect, and no apparent damage here in SJ.
For dinner, we went to a Venezuelan restaurant. The thing I love about Central and South American food is that they take such simple ingredients and give them wonderful flavor. It's been a long time since I had so much healthy and delicious food other than what I cook myself.
After eating, we strolled over to the Avenida Central, which is the pedestrian mall I have mentioned before. At the square by the Theatre Nacional, a man was playing guitar quite beautifully, and we stopped to listen for a while. It was so pleasant, with the music and all the people walking around, I just videoed some of it to share with you.
When I went to put some money in his guitar case, I saw that he had a sign there with a link to his Youtube videos, so I will share that as well: http://www.youtube.com/fermanguitarra.
Then we were off in search of dessert, which turned out to be Mocha Cheesecake. And a glass of papaya juice, which tasted like they had just squished the fruit right into the glass, it was that fresh. Perfect.
So now we are starting to get packed up, because tomorrow we head for the beach at Tamarindo. Sun, sand, and salt water, here we come!
The Coffee Tour
Today we had a tour at Cafe Britt. I have to correct what I said yesterday, it is NOT a working plantation, it is a roasting company. They buy from small estates all over Costa Rica, but only good quality Arabica that is either organic or shade grown. Unfortunately, many small farmers that don't use chemicals cannot afford the certification to label themselves "organic" as it is quite expensive. Interestingly, "shade grown" can mean either shaded by tall trees or shaded because it is in the cloud forest. Either way, that's how these farmers combat the #1 enemy of coffee, which is fungus.The other problem they face is a borer worm, and they use wasps from Guatemala which parasitize & kill the borers quite successfully.
We saw plants in various stages of bloom/cherry and learned about the growing cycle. It takes 3 years for a coffee plant to start producing, but then it will bear fruit for 25 years or so. I was surprised to learn that a single plant can be in multiple stages at once - flowers & small berries, and green berries & berries ready to harvest. That's why coffee is harvested by hand, so that only the ripe cherries are picked & the green ones are left to mature. We saw their roasting plant, and took a trip to an unused wet processing plant to see the equipment that is used to get to the coffee bean.
Lunch was included and the timing was perfect, as it started pouring just as we sat down to eat. The final part of our tour was a demonstration by a barista on how to use various methods to make coffee, espresso, and frothed milk. I did not know you could use a french press to froth milk!
It was still raining when we got back to San Jose, so I went to the gym and Mick went in search of coffee filters. For some reason, you cannot find the little cone-shaped filters anywhere, and we are almost out.
For dinner, we went back to Kalu, which has the boutique where I bought the bag last time. Our meal was delicious. Then the gentleman next to us struck up a conversation, and it turns out his family has a coffee farm in the Orosi valley. So we chatted about coffee and he told us more about how the small farms work.
Tomorrow is our last day in San Jose. We will do some shopping now that we have scoped out the best prices for t-shirts and a few other things.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
You need socks? They've got 'em...
Along with other clothes, DVDs, toys, whistles, and much, much more. This guy was just starting to set up on Central Avenue when we walked by. There is like a changing of the guard around 7:30 pm - the vendors who have been there all day pack up and the evening vendors move in.
This morning we went to the National Museum, which is located in what used to be a fort. It's just a few blocks from our hotel. There was a lot of information about the civil war in 1948 which led to the abolition of the army, and you can tour the officers quarters. There was a lot of European influence there, right down to the Art Deco bedroom decor. There was also a lot of information about the indigenous peoples and how they evolved, right up to the point where the Spanish arrived.
After we got back to the hotel, Mick did some hand laundry because it's VERY expensive to have the hotel do laundry for you. $4 for one T-shirt! So the room is festooned with drying shirts & socks. Guess he could have just bought some, couldn't he??
And really, that was about it for today. Pretty low-key all around. Tomorrow we are taking a tour of a coffee plantation, Cafe Britt.
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