Costa Rica - Sexto Dia

Today was our last full day in Costa Rica. Sad face. We woke up even earlier today for our lessons, which was awesome!

Surfers Log: Quinto Dia

We arrived for our last lesson with Oscar at 7:30am (bad vacationers, up so early). We had new surfboards again today, smaller ones. I'm now on a 7'10" board. We paddled out right away. Ugh, paddling is tiring! But completely necessary (unless your getting towed by a jet ski like that girl in Blue Crush). Mike did not do so well today. He didn't have any great rides, quite a bit of wipe outs, and got stuck in the impact zone quick a few times for quite a while (ouch). I on the other hand, did really well. I caught one gorgeous wave early on. I paddled out, dropped in, and turned left (because I like to be difficult) and rode the wave halfway to the beach before I realized I'd have to paddle all the way out again. I caught two more waves and wiped out on both pretty quickly, but I am definitely improving which is the important thing. I'm sad that our lessons are over. I don't usually enjoy waking up early... OK let's be real, I am not a nice person in the morning, but for this vacation waking up early was a lot easier because I had something completely awesome to look forwards to.. SURFING. The next time we are in Nosara we will definitely be calling Coconut Harry's and Oscar!

Getting up...

Dropping in...

Riding the wave...

The other highlight of our day today was getting massages, much needed massages. We went to SpaCio down the road from Casa Romantica. I don't know if it was because I was so sore from all the surfing or that the masseuse was really fabulous, but this was one of the top four massages of my life. The downside was that there were some really loud kids playing the pool right outside the window of my massage room. Oh well. I still feel a lot better after the rub down.

Then we headed to dinner at La Luna in neighboring Playa Palada. We walked there via the beach and arrived just in time for sunset which was gorgeous. The food was OK, but I must say that the best dinner we've had has been at the hotel! Because we were right on the beach and sitting outside on the yard, it got buggy very quickly. Mosquitoes love me but it's definitely a one sided relationship. We started the walk home but now it was dark, and even with our flashlights we were turned around and lost. After trying to find out way back on the beach and stumbling across tons of creepy crawly hermit crabs, we then found ourselves in an abandoned hotel being attacked by no less than four guard dogs. Luckily the caretaker rescued us and we conversed in broken Spanish until we figured out how to get back to Playa Guiones. Ahhhh adventure. 

On the way to Playa Palada on Playa Guiones

The end of Playa Guiones

The beginning of Playa Palada

Our bed/table at La Luna

The view from La Luna

Adios Sol!

Twilight

And now here we are, enjoying an Imperial by the pool on our last night in Costa Rica. Tomorrow it's back to NYC.

Until then...

Costa Rica - Cuarto Dia

Finally I am caught up with the blog!

Today we started the day in our typical way, breakfast at the hotel and our surf lesson.

Surfers Log - Tercer Dia

When we were arriving at Coconut Harry's from the jungle path we heard and saw a howler monkey! He was hanging on a tree branch over the road. We were literally only ten feet away from him. It was totally awesome. Today we got real surfboards! And by real, I mean the kind that don't have a foam top. Score! Double score that I could actually carry the board all by myself (those foam boards are HEAVY). Oscar took us out into some rough water so that we could get comfortable in various conditions. He taught us how to turtle roll, which is my new favorite maneuver. You grab the board with your feet and forearms and roll over so the bottom of the board faces up, perpendicular to the wave so it washes right over you. This is much easier for me than pushing up on the board, but that's my weak upper body strength at work (or not). We practiced everything we've been working on; popping up, catching our own white water, and turning with the "real" surfboard which was so fun. At the end of the lesson Oscar told us we were good students. I told him he was a good teacher. We agreed to compromise that we were both good in our respective roles. Only two more surf lessons left. :(

After the surf lesson we came back to the hotel and went to the beach via the jungle path for an hour of relaxing. Then it was off to lunch at Beach Dog Cafe, right next to Coconut Harry's. The prices here were a bit high for lunch ($30 for two sandwiches and two smoothies) but their location is right off a beach path and the food is really ridiculously delicious. I ordered the chili lime steak sandwich and Mike ordered the sweet chili chicken sandwich with slaw, so that we could both have a half of each sandwich. Unfortunately, our waitress got the order wrong and brought two chicken sandwiches. Though they were delicious, we were disappointed that we didn't get to the the steak sandwich.

To vary up our routine, we decided to do an adventure activity today! We signed up for the the afternoon zip line with Miss Sky. We did a zip line last year in Monteverde which was super fun, but it was raining when we went so we got very muddy and lots of rain pelts in the face, no so pleasant. This time our zip line was sunny and hot. The participants and guides ride in the back of a truck (like a hayride) up to the location of the first zip line from the office. We then took 13 zip lines over valleys and a river. The guides were jokesters and pranksters but they did make sure we were safe and having a good time. On the drive back down to the office we saw two howler monkey families! SO COOL! This would be the third time we saw monkeys on our trip (the first was on our first day walking to Coconut Harry's). 

All Geared Up!

The view from the drop off point, a little overcast but you can see the water.

Me getting ready to go!

Two of our hilarious guides.

One of the howlers.

A family of howlers.

When we got back to the hotel we had a snack of chips and salsa and enjoyed a refreshing dip by the pool. Now we are showered and clean and ready to go to dinner at Harbor Reef. I will let you know how it is!

Before we head to dinner, in matching and very trendy cobalt blue.

Until then...

Costa Rica - Tercer Dia

Another lovely day in Costa Rica! Day Three was pretty identical to Day Two, gotta love vacation!

We started the morning with breakfast at the hotel and then walked to Coconut Harry's for our second surf lesson with Oscar!

Surfers Log - Segundo Dia

Today we learned how to turn! There are right hand waves and left hand waves so you need to know how to turn on the wave so you can ride it as far as possible. Mike and I are both regular footed, which means that our left foot is in front while riding. Typically, for regular footed riders, right turns are easier because you can see the wave whereas left turns are more difficult. Of course, I decided that I preferred left turns, hah! This lesson was really tiring and we ended 10 minutes early. Like in skiing, all accidents happen when you are tired! Better safe than sorry.

After the surf lesson we returned to Casa Romantica and sat by the pool until lunch time. For lunch we went to Rosi's Soda Tico for some good casados. This is by far the most economical lunch we have had with two casados and two bottles of water for only $16! The fish I ordered was amazing!

On the way back to the hotel we stopped by a mini super to get some bottles of water and snacks for the hotel room. Then we went to the beach for a couple of hours in the afternoon and lazed about before getting ready for dinner.

For dinner we went to Cafe de Paris. The food here was excellent! We ordered a large green salad, chiptole shrimp, and tagliatelle with shrimp which was by far the best. The menu was a little pricey, but at least the quality of food was reflected in the price. Another bonus to this restaurant was that they served bread with garlic aioli. This is the first restaurant we have been to that offers some sort of bread for the table to start with, and it was much appreciated. By the time we left the restaurant was really busy.

Once again we came back to the hotel and went to sleep to prepare for our next day in paradise.

Until then...

Costa Rica - Segundo Dia

On our second day in Costa Rica we surfed, ate, lazed about, ate some more, and went to sleep.

We woke up bright and early on Easter Sunday, ate breakfast at our hotel (included in the price), then headed down the beach to Coconut Harry's by the beach to meet our surf instructor for the next week, Oscar. 

Surfers Log - Dia Uno

Oscar took us and our soft top beginner boards down to the beach for the start of our lesson. The first 20 minutes or so of the lesson was the three of us sitting in the sand discussing safety rules, waves, and winds. Then we practiced some "pop-ups" on our beached boards before heading out into the water. Once we were in the water all that theory gets put to practice. We were catching the white water and practicing our pop-ups with assists from Oscar just fine. Then we moved onto catching our own white water and listening to Oscar's coaching about when to stop paddling and stand up. This didn't go so well at first, but we did get better as the lesson went on. By the end of the 90 minute lesson we were both catching our own white water and standing up with the coaching of Oscar to tell us when.

After the lesson we went back to Casa Romantica and ate cold leftover pizza because we were starving after all that surfing. We got dressed and headed up to Coconut Harry's main shop to talk to Steve, whom I have been having an email correspondence with for the weeks before we arrived, to set up some other activities like zip lining and snorkeling. Then we walked back down to Coconut Harry's by the beach to get some beach chairs to rent for the week. We stopped by our room and then walked down the jungle pathway to the beach with our chairs, towels, and books in hand where we relaxed for a few hours enjoying the sun and surf. 

Playa Guiones is one of the most gorgeous beaches I've ever visited, and I've been to many beaches! The beach is a 5km long crescent with no houses or hotels directly on the beach. 170 acres of land in Nosara is considered a Green Zone and cannot be built on, i.e. is preserve. This makes for a lovely beach environment and awesome jungle trails to the beach and between sections of the town. Our hotel is the closest you can get to the beach and has an awesome jungle pathway leading directly to the beach lined with hibiscus and cacti where butterflies and lizards can often be seen.

People on Nosara Beach

After our relaxing late morning on the beach we walked to KayaSol for lunch. I was jonesing for a salad and theirs hit the spot. Mike ordered the fish tacos and I got the grilled chimichanga, both of which were excellent. So far this is our favorite lunch stop.

For the rest of the afternoon we lazed around the hotel pool reading and drifted in and out of sleep determined to be the best beach vacationers ever. Soon we started to feel like a couple of lazy lugs so we ventured to the beach for a sunset walk (I like long walks on the beach at sunset). We worked our glutes and admired the high tide surfers wondering why we weren't as good as they were yet.


Nosara Beach at Sunset

Before we knew it we were hungry for dinner. We showered and walked to Beach Dog Cafe only to find that it was closed for the Easter holiday. Venturing up the road in search of something open, we heard live music and came upon Casa Tucan. The food was nothing spectacular and we were definitely ripped off by the bar ($5 for a local beer on tap!) but the live music was nice, there were lots of other people around, and we were grateful to have found some place open.


The "hippie ex-pat" two man band

Back to the hotel we went and collapsed into bed, sleepy as anything from all that sun and surf, to rest up for our morning surf lesson.

Until then...

Day 8 – Siena and the Open Air Market

While Siena is a great medieval city to sightsee as it was once Florence's rival and has great churches and piazzas, we did none of that today. I have been to Siena once before, though I don't remember it that well beause I was 13 at the time. Today we strictly shopped and dined. So much for sightseeing.

However, we were unable to do either until we found parking. It took us over 45 minutes to find parking but once we did, we realized we had discovered the best parking place in the entire city. We parked at a pay lot for San Franchesco which was dauntingly downhill from the main part of the city. Fortunately, as we started walking up the hills to the market, we discovered a covered escalor. We took it up. Then there was another escalator, and we took that up. And we kept taking escalators up until we were just outside the San Francesco church and it's lovely open piazza! A short jaunty though the closed to cars medieval streets and we were at the market! And in the end, the four hours of parking cost us only 6.40 Euro.

The Wednesday market in Siena is an event not to be missed. Like the market in San Lorenzo in Firenze, there are souvenier shops and leather good shops, but the Siena market also has fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, cheeses, and fish, and in terms of souveniers and leather goods, it has a much larger selection. I can't post what I purchased though as they are gifts, but I will say I got a great deal on them! I love open air markets.

After getting my shopping fix at the market, it was lunch time. The restaurant we chose was called Il Biondo, and rememer that name if you ever go to Siena, because it was amazing! Easily the best meal I've had since I've been in Italy on this trip. Everything that was brought to our table was delicious. Now I'm going to make your mouth water and your stomach rumble just a little bit. We had a spaghetti alla vognole (clams), ravioli “il biondo” that was stuffed with a spinach pesto, and lasagne with a meat and red wine sauce and a souffle top! But the best part of the meal by far was the anti pasti! We ordered a prosciutto e melone which had the ripest melon I've ever tasted and the most prefectly salted and sliced prosciutto. Then the real winner of the lunch was the eggplant parmesean that I will dream about for years to come and try to replicate for even longer. The sauteed eggplant was layered with cheeses, alternating between fresh mozzarella and pecorino. The top layer was a marinara sauce covered in a thick layer of pecorino cheese. Oh. My. Goodness. When I figure out how to replicate this dish, I will share it with you all, and you will fall in love just as I have.

Tomorrow I am traveling back home. I have to take the train from Firenze to Roma, then from Roma to Roma Termini, then get on my plane to Montreal where I will have a three hour layover, then head into Newark where I will land at 9pm. Because I've got such a long layover, I've decided to go ahead and check my bag. I am so looking forward to sitting on planes all day! Can you sense the sarcasm?

Until then...

Day 7 – Firenze on Foot

Florence to us English speakers if Firenze to the Italians, and it still baffles me why we change the names of cities and countries. Would Firenze mean something diferent than Florence if used in the same context? I don't think so.

We arrived in Firenze at about noon knowing that we would have plenty of time to see all the major sights before leaving for our dinner party at 7:00pm. I've been to Firenze two times previously, so I've seen most of the sights, but it's always amazing to see them again, I just can't get over how old and ornate everything is!

The first stop was Piazza Signoria outside of the Uffizi Gallery. I've never actually been inside the Uffizi or the Accademia where the David is housed, in all the times I've been to Firenze. Is that the sign of the bad traveller? Maybe, but I think it's just that I'm not a giant museum person and there are replicas of many of the famous statues in Piazza Signoria anyway, not to mention you can see the collections in countless art history books and in photographs all over the internet. Personally, I enjoy seeing the replicas outside in natural light. My favorite is Michaelangelo's David (of course). But, I especially love that this sculpture is so well thought out that it is meant to be viewed looking up at it intead of looking forward at it. Michaelangelo designed David improportionate so when you look at it head on it looks like David has some really short legs. But, when you are looking up at him, he looks long, tall, and muscular the way he was meant to be viewed. I took a picture of him in his proper viewing state, which I will show you later.

Next we went to the Piazza della Republica while passing the Orsan. Michele church (there are so many of them in Firenze), the site of the original Roman Forum in Firenze. Then we headed up the main street, Via de Calzaiuoli, toward the Duomo. We sidetracked off to eat lunch at a small restaurant off the beaten path called Mangiafuoco Bracerie where I decided to have a very Italian lunch. I had bruccetta alla pomodori and spaghetti alla carbonara. From our table we were able to wath the futbol game on TV, how very Italian.

After lunch we headed to the Duomo. I decided not to climb the 463 stept to the top of the dome since I had already done it twice. I figured the view hadn't changed much in four year's. I did go into the church part of the Duomo and admire the frescoes on the ceiling though, not that I could see them clearly from 463 steps below.

After not climbing the Duomo we ventured through the market in San Lorenzo where street vendors sell souveniers and lots of Italian leather goods. It's your typical European street market with lots of the same stuff from stand to stand. The Italian leather goods did look enticing though...

Before we continued on our historical walk of the city, we explored the train station as I will have to navigate it when I leave from Firenze to Roma to catch my plane back to North America. I learned where to buy my tickets, which is always a good thing to know ahead of time.

Before continuing our historical walk of the city, we stopped for gelato outside of Piazza Santa Croce. I enjoyed half a cup of crema di limone that had candied lemon chunks in it and half a cup of fragole (English translation: strawberry). I sat in the piazza and admired Santa Croce which is painted in the colors as the Duomo (and other churches in Firenze as well).

Then we walked along the Arno River away from the center of the city toward one of the parts of the original wall that was around the city. After we saw the wall, we turned around and walked along the river towards the Ponte Vecchio, the famed bridge that has jewelry stores built on it. I'm not sure if they were always jewelry stores or if they were something else before (I've heard they were meat shops). When walking on the bridge, you can see it literally sparkle and shine from every angle in the light. It is bellissima.

One thing that you have to watch out for in Firenze is the motor bikes and scooters! They will run you over if you get in their way, and they zip along quite fast, though luckily they are not allowed on all the roads Motor scooters even have their own special sized parking spaces, which is good because there is not a lot of available parking in Firenze. Speaking of two wheeled vehicles, there are also a ton of bicycles in Firenze, and they are parked all over the place. I really enjoyed that this small city had such consciencious residents and commuters. I weren't it weren't so scary to ride bikes in Manhattan!

After nearly seven hours of exploring the city (for the third time) it was time to head to the dinner party at Cindy's (link). Of course my blister joined us as well.

Tomorrow we are going to Siena, a smaller Tuscan city, to go to their market which is much better than the market at San Lorezne in Firenze.

Until then...