Our dinner last night with Papa Joe was exceptional. I enjoyed my ceviche especial and Sean had a chicken sandwhich. Joe is a vegan, so they made up a special dish for him of rice with hearts of palm and a salad. We have found every place we have eaten to be very accommodating and every meal was fabulous.
Over dinner Joe invited us to join him for breakfast in the morning, then to go to Los Chorros waterfalls. We accepted his invite.
At 7:30 he had prepared breakfast for us at the hostel then we set out to the falls in his rented 4×4. Joe is a perfect picture of health at age 73. He is in the last week of his 3 month solo journey through Central America. He shared his story with us of having a quadruple bypass surgery about 5 years ago. Then decided to change his diet and fitness routines so that he could experience every day to the fullest and in great health. After losing 50 pounds he is no longer on any medications and is still a top producing real estate agent in Petoskey Michigan. He gets more done in one day than three 20 year olds do in one week.
Setting out on our journey of the day, we relied on Joe’s GPS, which unfortunately was a mistake, as it routed us the wrong direction and after several attempts, we never found the falls. However, we enjoyed the morning drive in the mountains and saw some spectacular views of the sugar cane crops and coffee fields. I can’t say it enough…. The best part of traveling is the rich friendships we make, that we get to take home with us!
We drove back to Grecia where we hopped on a bus to Alajuela (45 min). We figured we would spend the majority of the day in the city before walking back to the airport. Ten years ago we were in Alajuela, celebrating our 15th anniversary. Today, we decided to walk by the hotel we stayed at and have dinner at the same balcony Italian restaurant. The hotel was still here, but the restaurant was not, it is now a fast food fried chicken joint.
(Which neither of us felt too romantic about) But once we started talking about Italian food, we were both pretty fixed on finding some good Italian food for lunch. A homeless man saw us looking at our phones and obviously searching for something, he asked if he could help. I said “italiano restaurante?” He pointed us to head east, and said “four streets that way” (in Spanish, of course). Sure enough, four blocks down, we find “Parker’s Pizza and Fresh Italian Food” it was a tiny little restaurant, with brand new shiny equipment, three marble top tables and a pristine tile floor. There were two people working.
A young woman who greeted us in broken English, and a Tico man dressed in a traditional chef’s jacket. She explained the menu to us, and told us the pasta dishes were very large. We thought that would be too heavy for lunch so we opted for the personal calzones that she described so deliciously. She made a special drink for me of green tea, juice, fresh ginger and rosemary. I had finished it before the calzones arrived. (Note to self… make this in the summer!) We watched them prepare our meal, from scratch., rolling the dough and placing the toppings on one by one. When we saw them snip fresh basil from their window sill herb garden, we knew this was going to be another incredible meal. Within minutes the room was filled with the aroma of fresh dough baking with herbs, cheese and fresh tomato sauce. After Chef Ramsés pulled the piping hot pans from the oven, they both came to our table to serve us.
Melissa, asked to take our photograph with her iphone so they could post it on Facebook. We had made some small conversation with them and learned they have been dating for a while, and opened the restaurant together as partners four months ago. They plan on getting married after they save some money. We exchanged contact information with them. They would like to show us around and give us recommendations next time we are in town. As we walked out, Sean and I gave high fives and fist bumps on another perfect choice of following our intuition.
We still had several hours before we had to hike to the airport. We found ourselves chilling in the park square by the fountain and the city cathedral. Sean spent his time people watching and I was writing and editing photos from today.
Once the sun started to go down behind the trees and my phone battery was near dead, we found a little sports bar to hang out in and drink a few cold ones. I got the giggles as Sean started playing Mystery Science Theater with the TVs that was on, but muted. Some of you will know what that is, others might have to look it up on you tube. However, it was a fun way kept us occupied until it was time to walk to the airport.
The sun was starting to set and it was now time for our 3 mile hike across afternoon traffic in the city to get to the airport. The temperature was really nice and we definitely got our steps in today, last I checked we logged 7.5 miles today.
We made it safely across the last pass of highway. We paid our exit tax. (Yes, you have to pay the government to leave their country!) Now we just sit and wait here till boarding time. Hoping for no drama flights home! In the next few days I hope to add another post with a gallery of all the pictures I want to share, whether they have been featured in blog posts or not. Thanks for following our journey! I already have plans for next month! Will you join me?