Sometimes we forget what we have.

One often forgets or takes for granted all the things that attracted one to an area to live.  Evelyn and I have lived so long in the Sierra Foothill community of Nevada City and Grass Valley, we sometimes forget we live where others like to visit or vacation.  I was reminded of that, recently, as we attended a concert with Buddy Guy in the Veteran's Hall on South Auburn St. in Grass Valley.  There were people there from as far away as Reno, Sacramento, and the San Francisco Bay Area.  It was a full house.  We ran into a dear friend we once spent a lot of time with but hadn't seen in almost twenty years.  He lives and works in Sacramento, but our schedules don't allow much time to visit with people who are close.  Travel is usually our only break from the still hectic life. 

The abundance of cultural events and activities in the Gold Country cities is really rewarding.  Not only do we live in an historical Gold Rush Era community, surrounded by pine and fir trees, but we enjoy the Victorian architecture mingled with the many styles of homes from the early 1900's.  As a major center piece for the gold rush, during the mid 1800's, Nevada City and Grass Valley have a huge history that dominates the themes of restaurants, hotels, and many of the retail stores in the area, not to mention all the mining museums, many of which are full blown mines that one can tour.  More to the point of today's entry, though, is the abundance of culture one finds in Nevada County.  There is a well run Center For The Arts at 314 West Main Street, which was responsible for bringing in the Buddy Guy concert.  They put on concerts featuring local performers, some of which are remarkably good, and programs throughout the year and the community. 

The culture does not stop there.  We have the Sierra Dance institute, also at the same address as the Center For The Arts, The Tin House, which is a 1 acre facility for festivities and which stages performances from Americana/Folk, Indie, Blues, Jazz, Rock, Country.  There is the Foothill Theater Company, now known as the Nevada Theater, which puts on plays of all types by people who are locals and committed to their acting.  Then there is Off Broadstreet, located at 305 Commercial St., Nevada City, which produces only comedies, most of which are musicals, with a slant toward familiar hit songs of the 1950's and 60's, in an intimate cabaret seating theme.

A beautiful Autumn Day in Nevada City, CA

When it comes to good quality entertainment and a culturally uplifting experience, I don't think there is any city or town in California that brings the variety and quality of cultural events, not to mention the beauty of the Sierra Foothills,
we find in this small town community in Nevada County.

If I Were A Traveler

Travel in Europe provides a lot of culture, places of interest, history, and worthy destinations.  In the four years we lived in Berlin, we took many trips by car and several trips by train.  Either way was exciting and adventurous.

Most of the trips we took were made without having a specific destination.  One trip, for instance, was with the general idea of traveling to an area called Plön.  Plön is located about 200 miles from Berlin, in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state in Germany and it took us just over four hours to drive there.  It is a beautiful little village, and I do mean little.  As we drove into the area, we noticed signs in the rural houses stating they had rooms to rent, Zimmer zu vermieten.  The nice thing about renting a room from a private home owner was, they would generally provide a very nice continental breakfast for their guests.  The other thing of note was, they were almost always reasonably priced, when compared to hotels or Gaststätten.

Typical of some of the piers we saw at the lake

We found a nice room in a typical, nice, family home, and made our way to the closest lake.  It was gorgeous. It was not the main Plönsee, nor even one of the larger lesser known lakes.  It was small enough Evelyn and I were able to walk around it in a reasonable amount of time.  We even stopped and decided to take a swim, diving off an almost deserted, wood pier.  We quickly dried in the sun and continued our walk around the lake, until we came back to our starting point.

Plön and its many lakes from the air

We only spent a couple nights in Plön, but while there we took some excursions to some of the other highlights that were relatively close by.  For instance, we took the 20 mile drive to Kiel, which is the capitol city of Schleswig-Holstein.  Kiel is situated on the coast of the Baltic Sea. The beaches on this body of water differ from those of the Atlantic or Pacific in that they are calm.  The waves are only inches high, rather than feet.

Traveling in a country that has so much history lends itself to seeing things that are truly impressive and inspiring.  There are also small islands dotting the coast of Germany and the Nordic countries in the Baltic Sea. 

This shows the beach as we saw it, quiet and unpopulated

The Plön Castle.

Although warm days will cause a swell of visitors to the clean, sandy beaches, weekdays that are less than ideal weather will provide the quiet retreat to the very accessible
shores of Northern Germany.  The fall of the wall that separated East Germany from West Germany has opened up so many more beaches and small islands for one's summer excursions.  I look forward to being able to check those destinations out, as well.

What We Saw For A "Song"

I know that is a cliche, but we did get to see a lot of things most people have to pay a great deal for, just because they have to pay for a flight from wherever they are in America to get to the memorable destinations.  It helps to live, for a while, close to the area in which you want to see places. 

Evelyn managed to get a job with a Travel Agency, while we were in Berlin.  That turned out to be a God Send, because a lot of travel providers gave great deals to employees of travel agencies, because they know that is a good source of advertisement for travel agent's clients.  Just for paying taxes, we managed to get airline tickets and hotel stay in Athens, Greece, for a full week. 

The hotel we stayed at was in the heart of an older part of Athens.  It was reached by bus from the airport.  It was an older building, but the hotel room had all the necessary conveniences.  While it was not a presumptuous type of room there was one feature we were not accustomed to.  There was a kind of a rope in the shower that seemed to be hanging from the ceiling.  I tried pulling on it, only to find out it summoned a maid service person.  I thanked her for coming, but made it clear it was a mistake.  Fortunately I wasn't showering at the time.  I can only assume it was to have the maid wash one's back?

Lamb's heads on a Spit

The Marina access of the island Hydra

We walked to a plaza not too far away and found a place to have dinner.  We had met a couple young boys (in their upper teens) while on the airplane and they were at the restaurant plaza we found ourselves in.  We ordered a salad and some kind of meat (it was easier for us because the menu was in Greek and English).  The boys, at the table nearest us, on the other hand, wanted to order Greek food, lamb, and pointed to their mouth and made a sheep like sound, "Baa-aa-aa."  When all the food was brought to the tables, the boys were surprised the waiters actually put a plate with a sheep's head in front of them.  Not knowing exactly what they were to do with it, they used a knife and a fork to cut into the head.  Suddenly, they were looking at teeth.  That was all they could take.  They pushed the plates away and decided they were not hungry.  Our food, however, was great.

We took in all the sights we found interesting, which included seeing the changing of the skirt sporting guards in front of the Parliamentary building, seeing the Parthenon, swimming in the Mediterranean, and visiting some of the islands that were like garden outlying communities.  One of the more interesting islands was the island of Hydra.  We arrived by boat at the marina only to find there were no automobiles, at all.  There were a lot of fishing boats and tons of cats, but the only public transportation was by a donkey pulled
cart.

Evelyn at the Parthenon

The Parthenon

Our most profound experience there, though, was the visit to the Parthenon.  The feeling of antiquity and the scale of the structure was enough to subdue any chatter or rowdiness.  The marble pillars were without a doubt as impressive as anything we can construct today.

Today, they don't allow visitors to actually enter the Parthenon.  One has to view and appreciate it from the exterior.  Back when we saw it, we were allowed to walk amongst the pillars and what few walls were still standing.  The whole trip was for about seven days.  We were able to take a bus to the Mediterranean and spend time in the water.  It was pretty cold, but it was worth it just to say I swam in the Mediterranean.

On one of our outings, we walked some of the truly old, meandering, streets on the hills of Athens.  There was an old lady knitting a scarf of some soft white wool.  She had several examples displayed around her.  Evelyn could not resist.  She purchased one and eventually gave it to a relative as a gift.  Our hotel  was not too far from a large marble tiled plaza where we discovered a few outdoor patio restaurants.  From our vantage point we were able to await the changing of the guard at the Greek Parliament building.  It was interesting to watch the men in white kilts or skirts, pleated and bloused, as were the sleeves of their garment, and the tassle on the toe of their shoes.  The whole thing took a little less than five minutes and takes place every day at around eleven o'clock.

The trip was inexpensive, interesting, and educational.  It was one more event that shaped our desire to travel and experience the exotic and unique things of the world.
 

Travel should be inexpensive and Fun

I have watched people at the airports and train stations, waiting to depart on their trips.  Most of the time what I see is stress.  It starts with what the traveler is trying to take with him/her.  It is not uncommon to see a couple travel with four large suitcases, not to mention the carry on bags.  Not only does that get expensive, these days (often $50 per suitcase), but the burden of having to carry, so much, keep track of it all, and risk not having something show up on the other end, is more effort and stress than it is worth.

On our first trip, together, it was our intent to make a one way trip and stay indefinitely.  That meant taking pretty much everything we had.  As a result, we each had one large suitcase, one medium case and our carry on bags.  Since that was our first trip, we had little to compare it to.  While in Germany, for the four years we stayed there, we did a lot of traveling.  Many of our excursions were relatively local, which means inside Germany.  We also made numerous trips to the surrounding countries and went as far as the Mediterranean.

There are many types of carry-ons

Each time we went on a new trip, it became easier and easier.  The reason for that is, we learned we could make the trip quite comfortably while spending less and carrying less.  Today, when we travel regardless of how long we are traveling, we each have our carry on suitcases and a small bag or small back pack.  That includes a laptop computer I take with me wherever we go.  It further means we might have to wear some articles of clothing a little longer than we are accustomed to.  It also means, if the stay is long enough (and it is not uncommon for us to go to a destination for as long as a month), we might have to find a local facility to do laundry.

In our case, it is my great fortune to have a wife who is organized enough to know the most important items to take with us and how to pack them for the best result.  Not only do we not have to pay for checked luggage, but our carry on luggage is light enough that if she can't get assistance in putting it into overhead bins, she can manage it on her own. 

To show the difficulties that accompany taking large suitcases, we returned to America in May of 1974.  When we left Berlin, we checked out larger pieces in and expected them to meet us in San Francisco.  Not only did we experience the loss of some luggage; the only things we had with us when we arrived was what we had taken on the plane with us.  We went through the long process of reporting the luggage missing, but the bottom line is, we didn't receive our luggage for almost three months after arriving.  Needless to say, we ended up having to purchase a lot of new clothing.  The consolation prize, we received an extra suitcase that was an exact match to the ones Evelyn owned.  We tried to find out who it belonged to, but the airlines didn't know and there were no clues in the suitcase.  All we know is, it was a woman's suitcase, judging by the clothing in it, and not much of it was suitable for Evelyn. 

In my next post, I will start telling of some of the interesting and yet inexpensive travel we did in Europe.

For Me It Started In The Early 70's

People ask me how I became interested in travel.  I was quite young (19) when I met Evelyn, my wife.  She was a product of the "legal" immigration process.  Her family had come to America from Germany in the early 60's.  We met in August of 1968.  We were both around 20 and I was enthralled by the intrigue of dating someone with a cute accent and a distinct cultural difference.  Over the next year, I took German classes and spent a great deal of time with her, all of which lead to our planning to move to Germany for a couple years.

I had been out of the state, several times, but had never been out of the country.  For Evelyn, it was not exactly old hat, but it was something she was much more calmly objective about.  She was fluent in the language and knew what to expect.  We finally set the date and booked a flight on a "United European American Club" charter airline.  That was in May of 1970.  The anticipation of actually traveling out of the country was quite invigorating.  It was also a nervous time, since I really didn't know what to expect. 

Berlin was our destination, because it was the city of Evelyn's birth and she had a strong desire to return to it, at least for a time.  We landed in Frankfurt and purchased train tickets to Berlin.  The passage through East Germany, where the locomotives were exchanged from a more modern diesel locomotive to a steam locomotive, the intimidating inspections by East German police and dogs, is a story on its own.  Perhaps I will go through that sometime.  We arrived, however, in Berlin at around 6:00 a.m., local time, to find that nothing--no restaurant, fast food place, or store was open.  We walked up and down the main street, known as Kurfürstendamm, and looked in store fronts for two hours when some stores did start opening.  We had breakfast of sorts at Aschinger, a restaurant that was famous for its split pea soup and bread rolls, but is no longer in business.  The next few days, leading up to a form of permanence as a resident of Berlin, were adventurous, exciting, challenging, and got me hooked on wanting to experience new national and international cities. 

Kurfürstendamm by night

It started with me getting a hand full of coins for the pay phone and Evelyn catching public transportation to a distant aunt's apartment in the southern part of West Berlin.  She was not sure how her aunt would take bringing a total stranger with her, so it was agreed I would use my poor school German to call ads in the local newspaper, to find a temporary place to stay.  It was quite a challenge, since I had never truly used what little skill I had in the language for anything beyond greetings.  I found it quite invigorating to realize I could, in fact, communicate questions and ideas over the phone in the German language.  I ended up finding a room for a price I thought reasonable and was told which buses would bring me to that location.  Following the directions I had received, I was able to get to the "hotel" pretty easily.  The room I had rented had a bed that was cheap, worn out, springs and a flimsy mattress.  Accepting my "luck" in finding such a miserable room, I settled in and took a much needed nap. 

When I woke, I decided to take a walk.  It was late afternoon and was already starting to get dark.  The hotel was on a major road and was lined with a wide variety of store fronts.  Most, it turned out, were strip joints or peep show stores with some very explicit posters of what one would find in those establishments.  I was particularly surprised to find several obvious prostitutes standing in front of some of those places, many of whom were American and Black.  I resolved I would find somewhere else to stay for the following night.  I understood why the rate I had paid for the room was so low.  It was apparently a room used by the hookers for their activities. 

I located another pay phone and called the number Evelyn had given me for her aunt.  I had never been so glad to hear her voice.  She asked me where I had ended up and, after telling her where I was, she relayed that to her aunt.  She--her aunt Hildegard Radis--immediately became frantic and insisted that was not a good part of town.  It was the "famous" Berliner red-light district.  Wouldn't you know it.  My lack of knowledge of Berlin and the language got me into an area I would otherwise have avoided like the plague.  Tante (aunt in German) Hildegard insisted I get out of there and come to her place.  I told them, because I had already paid for the room, I would go ahead and spend the night and go to her place, the next morning.  As you can imagine, the room was very noisy, all night, and I didn't get the sleep I had hoped for, not to mention the fact the springs in the bed were shot and the mattress was short on padding.

The next morning, I packed my suitcase and found a bus (using directions from Tante Hildegard) and made my way to her apartment.  It was an old building with very dated apartments.  It was, nevertheless, a comfortable apartment.  Hildegard and her significant other were gracious hosts, but we decided to make early efforts to find another place to stay.  I had to register as a foreign resident and get a work permit, so we set out right away to do that.  After receiving the necessary permits, I went to the employment office.  I had worked for several years as a welder, first for the Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard and then at Gillig Brothers School Bus Manufacturers, so it made send to apply for a job as a welder.  I was fortunate enough to find a job with an overhead crane manufacturer in a suburb called Reinickendorf.  As a side benefit, the job came with a one room apartment on the fifth floor, in an older building with no elevator.  It included a shared toilet in the stairwell, between floors, and a portable shower in what served as a kitchen.

Evelyn and I had planned on spending a year or two in Berlin.  She, as a German citizen with an American green card, was allowed to stay out of the country for up to two years.  At the end of the two years, she had to go back to America, so we planned on going back to California at that time.  It became a little more complicated when first her brother decided to move back to Berlin, and then her parents sold their house in Newark, California, and moved back to Berlin.  They said they thought we were going to stay there, so they decided their place was with us.  Well, we did go back to America at the end of the two years, but only for a little over a month...on vacation.  We went back to Berlin and resumed our adventures, there.  Now it was in my blood.  We made quite a few excursions, to other places in Germany and other countries, but that will be for a future entry.

Weinberge (vineyards) in Southern Germany

The Mosel is a river that flows through France, Belgium, and Germany.  It enters the old country near the town of Trier, which is the oldest city in Germany, dating back to the Roman times.  We were visiting some relatives in the town of Mülheim an der Ruhr, which is smack in the middle of the industrial/coal capitol of the European country.  We had decided to take a trip with the Wiegel family, to where they had a small travel trailer parked on a tributary of the Mosel.  From Mülheim, we drove roughly along the Rhein (Rhine) River.  It was a drive of several hours.  Being used to the distances in America, this trip was pretty short, but every drive through Germany is a vista paradise.

View of the Mosel River and villages

As we entered the Mosel area, it was pretty clear this area was going to be very nice.  The first thing we noticed were the many vineyards that carpeted the surrounding hills.  Both sides of the river were lush green with the many thousands of vines that paralleled the contours of the hills.  One has the choice of driving along the river, experiencing the villages and views at one's leisure, riding on a train that parallels the river, or taking the slow scenic route on an enclosed boat with dining facilities.  No matter how you do it, you will not cease to be impressed by both, the evidence of antiquity (castles and houses up to 800 years old) and the enormous varieties of vineyards.  We chose to take the car route.  We were not disappointed.  All along the way there were restaurants that offered great German cooking and wine tasting from the local wine cellars.

We were pleasantly surprised on a tour of a wine cellar we visited.  These cellars are mostly constructed of concrete, granite, and limestone.  They are also constructed underground, making them dark and very cool.  In the middle of our tour of this particular cellar, the proprietor opened up in a operatic baritone voice enchanted us with a song that reverberated throughout the cellar.  It was an experience we felt very blessed with.  It is even more of a blessing, because I believe this gentleman is not longer with us.  It was, therefore, an immeasurable blessing.

An impossibly steep slope for a vineyard.

Some of the vineyards we saw actually seemed to defy gravity.  It was obviously a huge feat to have planted these vines on mountain goat terrain.  It was even more impressive to imagine people negotiating these unbelievable slopes to harvest the grapes.  I can't help picturing people bent with arthritis caused by standing on these steep slopes and carrying heavy baskets of grapes.  Human ingenuity never ceases to amaze me.

Burg-Eltz by foot.

Equally impressive were the numerous castles we encountered as we drove the scenic highway.  It seemed there was either a castle ruins or a restored and functional castle on almost every hilltop we passed.  Some of them were used as museums and offered tours.  Others were actually still used as residences and were not available for tours.  We heard of a very nice castle that still belonged to a family that had owned it for hundreds of years.  Although they didn't live there, any more, there were still private areas of the castle that were not open for viewing.  We parked in a designated parking lot and had to walk about two kilometers to get to the castle.  The castle, Burg-Eltz, was constructed in a very defensible location on top a hill.  It was, at least for tourists, only accessible by foot.  The weather was perfect, on our walk to the castle.  We were presented with a detailed way of life, as it was hundreds of years ago.  On our way back to the parking lot, it started to rain.  A nice gentle rain would have been pleasant, since it was warm and the trail was not all level.  It was a cloud burst.  We all ran, fast as we could and for as long as we could--stopping to rest under large trees to catch our breath--but we were fully drenched by the time we reached the car.  We immediately drove to the small hotel Evelyn and I were staying in, which was in the same campground that her relatives kept their travel trailer in and got into a dry change of clothes.

One of the interesting folk lore stories we heard was at the junction of the Mosel river and the Rheine river.  The Rhine Gorge mainly played an important role in german folklore and art, most noteworthy the Loreley Rock."  Heinrich Heine named one poem after this rock, blaming a beautiful maid (instead of strong currents) for a lot of shipwrecks in the turbulent waters.  The legend was that a female spirit, beautiful maiden, probably a mermaid of the Rhein, would lure ships into the treacherous waters with her mysterious singing (or murmerring), causing shipwrecks.  The Lorelei Rock looks over that stiff current from 120 meters above the river.

I look forward to the day when we might be able to revisit the area and perhaps see it from one of the large glass enclosed boats that traverse the length of the river from Koblenz to Trier. 

Travel for Travel's Sake

I think it is pretty apparent we enjoyed our time in Costa Rica.  After we left the Playa Del Coco area, we drove back pretty much the way we had come and spent the next night in the same Hotel Evelyn and I had stayed in our first three nights.  It was very affordable and a very nice place to stay.  It was Thanksgiving, so we decided we needed to eat out somewhere excellent.  We decided, since it was unlikely we would find Turkey dinner and, at Costa Rican prices, we wouldn't want to spend for Lobster, we would go the restaurant Evelyn and I had enjoyed so much on our arrival, "El Rancho De Lali."  As I described earlier, they had a Marascada dish that was to die for.  It was a combination plate that had rice, some salad fixings, and a huge variety of fish.  Doctored up with a little of their mildly "hot" pickled vegies made that Thanksgiving meal the cat's meow.

Our view of San Isidro from lookout on Hwy 2

The next day, we set off on Hwy 2, to drive through the mountains (slow going because of the many trucks that could not drive uphill too fast) to get to the second largest city in Costa Rica, San Isidro El General.  It was rainy and, for Costa Rican standards, a little cold.  We were driving through clouds, part of the time, and had to be very careful under those foggy conditions.  We stopped at an overlook above San Isidro and were blessed with a clear view of the city.

The Los Pinos Hotel Restaurant

We spent two nights in a little hotel, Hotel Los Pinos, which was perched on the side of a hill overlooking a tropical forest.  The Toucans clustered in the dense green foliage of the leafy trees as they flew from tree to tree.  The hotel sported an open kitchen, as so many of the restaurants were in the tropical warmth.
The rooms were meager, but clean.  We did have to talk to the hotel owners, because the pilot lite in the water heater had gone out and there was no hot water.  They spoke no English, so it was through a smattering of Spanish and pantomime that we got them to understand, at all.

We had arrived early enough that we decided to drive the remaining mile and a half into the heart of the business district and check out what the town had to offer. 

Central Park in San Isidro

Although San Isidro has a population nearing 50,000, the greater area that has grown up around the city proper is closer to 250,000.  The city was full of activity as the smiling and friendly inhabitants milled through the narrow streets and congregated in the central park area.  It was still overcast, with an occasional sprinkle, but the temperature was a very nice 75 degrees.

We spent the next day driving around the area looking at real estate for sale, which is abundant, but is very expensive.  I suspect most of the citizens purchased a long time ago and many were now trying to sell the the "wealthy" gringos. 

The view from our balcony.

The next morning, we set out for Jaco.  It turned out to be about a four hour drive.  We arrived in what turned out to be a reasonably large and populated beach community and it took us another half hour of driving around to find the time-share Jeff and Jane had booked for us.  Who would have thought?  It was a high rise condo project.  The Costa Rican economy had been just as negatively impacted by the American recession as we had.  There were six concrete towers erected on a nicely landscaped property.  Two of the towers, however, were just shells and had never been completed.  It turned out most of the rooms in the four towers that were completed, were empty.  Our room was on the seventh floor and looked out over a green masterpiece of landscaping.  There was an irregular shaped pool surrounded by concrete interspersed with islands of bushes, flowering shrubs, and small trees.

Evelyn in front of sign, big burger $2

We spent the next five days taking long walks, strolling on the beach, exploring the retail shops and making ourselves at home in the two bedroom apartment.  Although we made some of our meals in the well provided kitchen, we found a restaurant that served good food for a reasonable price and served breakfast and dinner.   We had long since learned it was better and cheaper to use American dollars to make purchases.  At 500 colones per US dollar, it made it pretty easy to calculate.




We have discovered no matter where we are, there is usually a good way to eat inexpensively.  We are, indeed, looking forward to our next adventure.

The Pacific Lives up to Its Name

Us on the beach waiting for the boat (upper right in Pic)

 Although we did take in a Sales Hype tour of the time shares, most of our time in Playa del Coco was very pleasant and we deeply enjoyed our stay with Jeff and Jane.  We decided we would take an excursion the next day.  We had several choices, but price was a factor.  We ended up taking the excursion on a large Catamaran sail boat that was designed to hold over 75 people.  We met the rest of the guests for the day on the water on the beach, not too far from the timeshare.  The boat was too large to come to the shore, so they shuttled us from the beach to the catamaran on a smaller power boat.

The crew of the catamaran had us take off our shoes and stow them in a big box as we climbed aboard.  They are very cautious about scratching the finish by bringing sand on board with our shoes.

Jeff had to get a picture of my wind blown hair.

The boat was much larger than we expected.  The below deck area was also more austere that we would have thought.  That was because that area only served as a kitchen and dining area, sometimes for up to 70 people.  The bathroom facilities were off that dining area and down a short flight of stairs.

A school of dolphins in front of the sail boat.

Evelyn sitting in front of the large cabin/dining hall.

The sunset on our return to the beach was beautiful.

Onward on A Trip To Paradise And Begin Of A Trip To A Place of Peace!

As many have probably noticed, my blogging came to an abrupt stop, for a while.  As a result of the economic setback we have experienced, both as a result of the national economy and an inadequate income from our investments into Social Security, I had to go back to work, pretty much full time.  Over the past few months, I have realized that not all travel needs to be to foreign countries.  There is so much to see and do close to home and across our own nation/continent, affordable travel is still doable even if I work a full schedule.

One of the many pools at the condos.

Our trip to Costa Rica was a realization of a trip to a tropical paradise.  As we continued on to an extremely nice time-share condominium, we were surprised to find that, although the highway was only two lanes, one in each direction, it was in reasonably good shape.  The biggest problem with travel on such a road, was the truck convoys we had to patiently remain behind until there was an opportunity to pass.  It ended up taking us about five hours to get to Playa del Coco, our destination for that leg of the trip.  Needless to say, Jeff and Jane were tired from the same strenuous type of flying schedule we had endured.  Our trip from San Jose to Playa del Coco ended after dark, but it was still around 80 degrees and only mildly humid.  We got checked in and had a good night's sleep, waking up to find an extremely well landscaped and manicured area around the complex, punctuated with several medium size pools, hot spas, and small water features.


Although our goal was to make this a very inexpensive and economical trip, we did decide to splurge on an excursion.  We booked a catamaran sailing excursion that lasted the better part of a day.  It turned out to be one of the high points of our trip. 

Turtles doing what comes naturally

We knew we would not be able to afford too many of these activities if we were to make this a low budget trip, so we made the most of it.  During the day, we encountered sea turtles making love, dolphins swimming ahead of the catamaran's pressure wave, blow fish fully inflated, and an absolutely gorgeous sunset returning to our starting point.

The next day, we decided to take drive to Arenal, a lake about 70 miles away that rests in the shadow of a live volcano.  The drive was relaxing, the company was good, and we were looking forward to incredible beauty.  We had seen pictures of glass smooth water reflecting the volcano on the other side.  No such luck.  As we started up the road that leads to Arenal, it started to get overcast.  The further we went, the darker it got.  Finally, we were in the clouds (fog) and it started to rain.  The rain was only spotty, so we kept going.  We did finally see some of the lake, but its best features remained obscure. 

A German Bakery in a small but touristy town.

In Arenal, we found a German Bakery, so we decided to have some coffee.  It was very nice and, as all the restaurants or cafe's did, its dining room was open to the air.  Down the stairs to the right, we discovered a souvenir shop and a couple not so private bathrooms.

Our drive back (we never did get to see the volcano) was uneventful and, since we were driving back a little earlier than expected, we decided to take a very circuitous route.  We were back out of the clouds and, in fact it was sunny and warm, again.  We were on a highway headed west.  It appeared to be primarily agricultural land with an occasional home along the way.  Suddenly we came to a restaurant and we made the choice to eat now, not knowing when we would encounter another eating establishment.  This one, the sign said it was "El Vaquero," as we had seen pretty much everywhere, was also an open air restaurant. 

Me climbing out of the car with my Spanish Dictionary at Vaqueros

We had gotten in the habit of ordering from the most inexpensive part of the menu, but usually it included some fish.  Again, for about $4 each, we had a very satisfying meal.  We never did strike out at any of the restaurants we tried.

The road back to Playa del Coco was pleasant and we enjoyed the tropical trees, which included many banana trees, coconut trees, and some kinds of huge deciduous trees.  After arriving back in our little beach town, Jeff suggested we try some ceviche from a little booth that sold nothing else.  Ceviche is raw fish in a brine/citrus marinade.  I had never tried it, before, but am game for most anything.  It was to die for.  The lemon juice actually seems to have made it as though it had been cooked.  I highly recommend it for those who have not yet had the pleasure.  It is mouth watering and hearty.

The next leg of our trip will take us back to San Jose then on Hwy 2 over San Isidro de El General, continue on to Hwy 34, then north on the coast highway to the beach town of Jaco (pronounced Haco).  More, soon.