Muy Bonita Costa Rica

March 8

On Sunday we were picked up at 7:00 a.m. and were taken to the airport in David, about 35 minutes south of Boquete. Everything went smoothly until we went through security when they wanted to look into my carry on bag which held a larger hammered copper pitcher, granola, prescription eyes and that lovely glass pitcher we bought at a museum in Puebla, Mexico. It was well wrapped in bubble wrap. The inspector didn’t speak English and keep feeling it so I said’ it’s glass’. Big mistake. He said ‘no glass’. He told me to go back and check the luggage and we both said ‘no, things in the bag were fragile’. Long story short, we left that puppy with the inspector.

It upset both of us not because it was expensive but because it had been in that bag on three previous flights and gotten through security. But as we all know once they say no you can forget winning any argument. Trust me, we tried. It was such a lovely memento of Mexico. Life goes on. Our plane was late arriving in David and late leaving. When we arrived in PC we were in a panic as we had about 40 minutes to get to the next gate. That was complicated since our plane did not have a gate at the terminal so the plane parked on the tarmac, they wheeled a set of stairs to the plane and then we were loaded onto small buses with seats. All that took a lot of time. Then we approached the far end of the terminal and slowly, slowly backed into a parking space where we unloaded, walked into the terminal and then we were told to catch our plane we had to exit the terminal and enter through another door. Holy Crap Batman!!! We were so stressed because we had to go through security again. After trying to convince the personnel that we were catching another flight and should not exit the building…well you KNOW we didn’t win that argument either.

We raced out of the building, raced into the building, ran up to a an agent and screamed ‘what gate to we go to??’. She pointed down the hallway. We raced again. When we got to security Ron was fit to be tied so when they said ‘take off your belt’ he said ‘it’s plastic’…he didn’t win that argument either. Oh I forgot to mention we have to take off our laced up shoes at each security station to slow us down some more. We raced to the gate and the plane had been boarded but we still made it. We were done in from the stress of multiple frustrations with airport personnel..

We changed planes in Panama City and had a two hour flight to San Jose, Costa Rica which is an hour behind Panama. We arrived at 11:40 a.m. and got out of the airport at 1:30, two frigging hours to get through the passport line. The usual ropes and stanchions were in place and the line was 12 rows deep where you snake to the left then to the right then to the left, etc. Oy! We accepted it and made friends in line, two Americans, a young woman social worker from NY and as older guy who was doing business in SJ.

When we exited poor Carlos, our taxi driver, was there. He had been holding up his sign with our names for two hours. Bless his heart. Off we went to our wonderful airbnb. Our host is Victoria and she has two houses located on a corner, each house faces a different street but they are joined via a lovely courtyard. We are in an upscale neighborhood with embassies (Escazu, a suburb of San Jose (SJ)). 

We have a nice sized room with a private bathroom and 
private little garden, a patio , use of a kitchen, and laundry. Basically with airbnb you get the run of the house. Victoria has created some nice spaces to hang out with others or on your own.  We are served breakfast five days a week. The house is decorated in fabulous textiles from Central American and Mexico. OMG I am drooling on them daily. We are located in a convenient area near grocery stores, movie theaters, bus lines, a shopping center, good upscale restaurants and best of all STARBUCKS!! We haven’t had a decent cup of coffee since we left Mexico and we are thrilled that four blocks away is coffee, real coffee. It’s not that I love Starbucks, I love good coffee and haven’t found any here yet and never found it in Panama.

Our afternoon we spent with a brief orientation to the house and area given by Victoria, unpacking, and a trip to the grocery store. We never got any lunch so went to dinner at a nearby restaurant. Frankly we were exhausted from the stress of the day so we came back and collapsed in bed and watched an episode of Homeland before calling it a night.

March 9

On Monday we took off for Atenas with Jay, another guest here. He was going to meet a friend there and we asked if we could tag along to Atenas and then we would be on our own. Getting there involves taking a bus to downtown SJ and then catching a bus to Atenas, a small town about 90 minutes away in the hills above SJ. Atenas is a town we had identified as a potential place to stay for a year or two.  It was a lovely sunny day with a bit of wind. It was hotter in Atenas. We hung out with Jay until he was to meet up with his friend then we wandered around town.

We visited three grocery stores: no milk alternative such a soy or almond milk and NO dark chocolate. OMG how can we survive a town with no dark chocolate? We went and bought a SIM card for Ron’s phone and asked for a recommendation for a restaurant where we could get a fresh salad. We had a great light lunch and the lettuce and veggies were quite fresh and no slime like the last salad I had in Boquete. We walked some more after lunch, sat in the town square park and watched people and Ron took some photos there and in the main church.

We met up with Jay around 3:30 and met his friend Mark who took us to his house where he rents a room for us to see what was available. This was a lovely piece of real estate with beautiful grounds and several buildings: the original house, a one story structure with several units and a two story house with two units. The owner had a gorgeous macaw and Ron got a few shots of her, the bird that is. After meeting the owner and a brief visit we headed for the bus station and caught a bus back to town.

We got a taste of the infamous SJ traffic. Our 1.5 hours trip turned into a two hour plus return trip. Then we caught the local bus to our neighborhood. We three spontaneously decided to eat on the way home. Now here is a real unusual experience. About seven houses away from our house is a big house where Johanna lives. Nightly she prepares a five course meal and whoever shows up will have a grand meal. You eat whatever she has prepared. So here is what we had: warm beet borscht with goat cheese (to die for), poached salmon on top of a bed of fresh mixed greens and passion fruit bubbles and delicate alfalfa sprouts (OMG), a tortilla soup with an incredible broth with unusual spices that had tortellini and crisp tortillas strips (fabulous), shrimp with basmati rice with intriguing herbs and spices in a light tomato sauce (superb) and we finished with two kinds of cake, carrot and orange, with fennel cream topping (YUM!). This was a two hour extravaganza. When asked how much we owed her she said $14 each. You must be kidding? So we each gave her $20. I failed to mention how interesting Johanna is. She has tattoos from her finger tips to her ears. She is an American and Jay mentioned that her father was a founding member of the Dreyfus financial company. She is warm, funny and charming. Apparently Victoria tells all her guests about Johanna so the two have a symbiotic and a grand relationship. Victoria had told us about her during our orientation. All of Johanna’s business is by word of mouth. She never knows who and how many will show up. I have no idea how you can make that work but she pulls it off apparently as she has been doing this for a couple of years.

March 10

On Tuesday I had a haircut appointment at 10:00 and Ron was spending some time with Jay who is a great amateur photographer. I took a cab to a salon Victoria had told me about. She gave vague directions but you should know in CR  they use landmarks not addresses. So they say things like ‘go to the school and in 100 meters turn left’. Carlos asked me where he was taking me and I gave him the map Victoria had drawn and he promptly called the hairstylist to ask for an address. Like Victoria she gave the same directions.  I was delivered and Carlos drove off. It turned out to be the wrong salon. Remember I don’t speak Spanish so imagine how panicked I was. I was blessed because the woman at the salon told me in Spanish where to find the other salon which was just around the corner. OY! I got my haircut, had the stylist call Carlos and he sent another man to pick me up. 

Ron and Jay were ready to take off and shoot some pix at a butterfly facility so I visited with a man who lives here year round. Luis is a Tico (Costa Rican) but lived in the US for awhile and speaks perfect English. He was a tour guide for 17 years and now works as a receptionist at a home for seniors. He said this is the first one in CR.. He offered to show us around the area to help us fine a suitable place for ourselves. After a long visit I headed out for lunch. I walked to a high end development four blocks away and ate at a neat restaurant that had yummy organic salads, soups, sandwiches ,etc.  I loved my quinoa salad with arugula, greens, avocado, and dried cranberries and topped with toasted sliced almonds. Oh yum. Then I had a Starbucks: an Americano with three shots and room. At last, a decent cup of joe.

We relaxed in the afternoon then went to dinner at Saga which Victoria had recommended. I had crispy gnocchi with Bolognese sauce and Ron had a cajun shrimp dish and a quinoa salad. We both were very pleased with our meals. Food is not cheap here. Our dinner was $40 with table water to drink. CR adds a 17% tax plus a 10% service charge to your bill. It’s the law. Afterwards we walked around to see what we could see of the development, found the movie theater  and other stores. Here movies are in the original language with Spanish subtitles so hopefully they will play some good films while we are here. Victoria has a jillion DVDs at the house so we will be entertained one way or the other. I treated Ron to a gelato and I had the best strawberry sorbet you can imagine. It was a good night.

March 11

We got up at 5:45 to go with Luis who had an early medical appointment. While he was getting an EKG we walked around the neighborhood. Then the three of us caught a bus to San Antonio, up in the hills above Escazu. Our first stop was breakfast at a tiny eatery and we had a traditional meal: fried eggs, coffee, really dry toast and a dish of black beans mixed with rice (called Pinto). We added two sauces, a piquant and a slightly sweet sauce. Another great meal and this one was cheap, $8 for three of us.  

Afterwards, we went to see an incredible mural of concrete depicting the famous ox carts with various loads: sugar cane, wood, coffee, and what looked like ore or fruit. We wandered through the town including going into two grocery stores, one owned by a Chinese person. According to Luis there are now lots of Chinese here. The contrast between the two stores which are adjacent was marked. The Asia market was filled beyond capacity with narrow aisles that had numerous boxes on the floor and included not only groceries but it also functions as a hardware store. 

We walked through a high end neighborhood with expensive condos and homes then through a more typical neighborhood with homes with roofs made of corrugated sheet metal. 

We came back to the house and I did our laundry.