Six travelers, San Vito bound

The morning started around the normal time, and we started packing our bags up to head down to the Fila.  We had to get a shell for the truck yesterday in order to fit the six of us and our bags, and we knew it would still be a bit of a tight fit for all of us with bags and baggage.

With the legendary feat of legerdemain behind us, we all got in the SUV and backed under the pipes that we scraped returning from Avis with an empty shell.  We made it successfully and then headed out to start the scenic route down the coast.

One thing I really dislike about Costa Rica is the lack of street signs!  We missed the onramp for our entrance to Highway 27, and had to circle the park one more time before hitting the ramp.  Once successful, we started down the toll road towards Highway 34.

Side note, after two years in a row where Google Maps does not work in Costa Rica, don’t try using Google Maps....

On another side note, the Kolbi SIM cards for our iPhones work great, but they didn’t translate over so well to the iPads.  No worries though, tethering works, and we have unlimited data for 15 days, which more than covers our needs.

Our first stop on the route was Tarcoles, where we walked halfway across the bridge to show Aaron’s folks Crocodile River (aka Rio Grande de Tarcoles).  Crocs still there, lots of them, and still smelled like crocs!!

Then it was down the road to our lunch spot, Dominical, where we first fueled up the SUV, and then hit Cafe Delicias for lunch.  It was indeed delicious.  On our way there, probably ten minutes after the crocodile bridge, I actually saw a HUGE lizard crossing the road.  I guess the warning sign wasn’t off too much.

Then came the final journey down to the communities, by way of San Vito.  Wayne offered to drive, but since the roads had been fine so far, I turned him down and we didn’t swap over until we reached San Vito.  The roads were significantly different this time - no gaping holes filled with water while we were in a downpour, and no trucks looming behind me on the precarious path. 

In San Vito, we stopped for bus tickets, for cash, and then dropped off the Luces with Aaron’s host family, and settled in at Darien’s place, unpacking, and getting ready for Christmas Eve dinner.  Salad, fresh local pork, and torillas that Darien and I made finished up the evening, along with a local Panamanian sec.  Nice and easy trip this time.  Looking forward to the rest of the week in Fila Guinea/San Vito.  We also got to meet our grandkitty, Tati.  Very nice day!

Merry Christmas Eve to all!  Skype and and iChat tomorrow, I hope.

En La Volcan Poas

We did a face plant very quickly last night, and were quite sound sleepers through the night last night.  Wayne was up at his typical early hour and I slept in until 5:30.  We met up with Darien & Aaron for breakfast, and then shortly met our mothers (no, not really)...I mean Aaron’s parents, Elaine (Wayne’s mom’s name) and Randy (slight variation on mine).  They are California transplants who have spent the last 20+ years living in Maryland.

We took off after breakfast for the Poas Volcano (a national park here in Costa Rica).  As we ascended the mountain into the park, we passed by a number of cyclists heading up.  There were many cars, not to mention a news truck and Kolbi signs, as we gained entrance to the park.  And we had a delightful team of three (ha, ha) helping us to park.  They wanted us to back in, but then had another 3 cars backing in at the same time, and pinning us in.  I was grateful we made it into the space and out of the car without difficulty.

No sooner had we made it out of the car, then the rain started in earnest.  It wasn’t terribly bad, but it did mean that we wouldn’t get to see the view of the crater and its warm lake.  Nevertheless, it was a nice walk up and around inside the lush, tropical foliage.  At one point, it felt like we were in the midst of an Escher painting, we continued to climb and climb in elevation, despite returning back to our starting point.  Great workout for quads and glutes today!

The story of conservation at Poás began in Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the 1960's. Mario Boza was a student when he visited the park in the United States and was so impressed that he developed a plan to manage the area around Poás Volcano in a similar way, presented it as his masters thesis, and pursued its implementation.

Poás volcano is a powerful symbol of the geothermal forces that formed Costa Rica.  When the mist and clouds part there is a sulfuric, bubbling, green rain fed lake at the bottom, surrounded by smoke and steam rising from fumaroles, similar to Yellowstone. And, water from the lake is constantly seeping through cracks in the hot rock, evaporating and building pockets of steam, which then steam breaks through in geysers that rocket up to 820 feet high. Poas is the largest active crater in the world, but the most recent period of eruptive activity ended in 1954.  It is 13,800 acres, which is 16 times the size of Central Park, and its highest peak is near 8,900 feet (Wayne says actually 8800 feet, as per his GPS that is accurate to within 30 feet).                                 

Coming back down the mountain was a bit more of a feat.  We no sooner had left the park, when we stopped for what felt like ages.  It turned out that the awards ceremony for the bicycle race had ended, and that the traffic police were directing traffic.  We had thought we might stop at a local place on the way down the slope, but each restaurant was jam packed full of bicyclists, reporters, etc., so we continued back to San Jose.  There we decided to stop at a local chicken restaurant, Rosti Pollo for lunch prior to going back to pick up a cargo shell for the top of the car so that all of our luggage could make it in the car, along with six people.  We were stopped from entering the Rosti Pollos lot, and then redirected back to the parking slot I had originally eyeballed by an elderly gentleman, who seemed to be the director of parking.  Too much!  Oh well, it seems like they pay him with tortillas and beans, so I guess his guardianship of the lot is appropriate.

From there, to get the clamshell, and then to get Christmas sides, wine, and food to make for dinner.  We had a simple bolognese with tri-color pasta, and the wonderful company of Darien, Aaron, Randy and Elaine.  We definitely laughed, ate well, and are now prepping to hit the hay and get an early start to the communities in the morning.

Sleep well all!

Costa Rican Christmas

We took off last night on the 8:20 flight to Houston on one of the newer United 777 airplanes.  My head was definitely clogged up with this never ending cold, and the United website would not let me print out a ticket of any kind.  =p  But the plane - and the new business class seats - was a winner!  It may not have been the new dream plane 787, but it wasn’t in the least bit shabby.  Nearly a full recline in business, wow!

Much of the city of San Jose looked very familiar to us as we got in our rental mammoth truck (big enough to seat six, as Aaron’s parents are coming in for Christmas as well).

We are staying at the Suites Cristina Apartotel in downtown San Jose, very close to our original stay hotel of last year.  It’s clean, and they charge a decent rate if you pay cash.  Peace Corps gems that these kids find...                                                             

We had dinner at a fun place we ate last year - Fogo Brasil.  They have a webpage and a Facebook page, so if you like going to Churrascarias, and love red meat, you should check it out!

Aaron’s parents arrive at 9, and will be coming back, but I think the sleep monster is starting to hit very, very hard.  It may be that we meet tomorrow morning, and not tonight.  Tomorrow we head to a national park to see a volcano, and then we will wing the rest as the day goes by.  Christmas eve will be spent navigating back to Fila Guinea, and then we will move on from there.

Parting is such (un)sweet sorrow

And in the early morning, Don first took his daughter to the station at 5:45 in order for her to go to an audition in London for Singing in the Rain.  Nicola’s newly graduated from theater training and looking to break through as a singer who dances, rather than as a dancer who sings.  I can understand - the singer who dances gets the lead!  Their son Martin is an astro-physics major at the University, who is interested in getting his doctorate in the United States.  No slouches, those two, Don and Barb have an entirely impressive family, themselves very much included.  They have been the absolutely most fabulous hosts, and I only hope we can eventually return the favor, or at least be on several more trips together.  I am sensing MacWorld may be in our future.

I mistakenly booked us in first class (because I had to rebook the train for an earlier one) on our return trip, but it was a good mistake!  We had a full breakfast, free wifi, and comfortable seats in which you could actually sleep for the 2 1/4 hour journey.  Then we hopped on the Victoria underground line, followed by the Picadilly line, with a final out at Heathrow.

We squeezed into our seats and dealt with the six hour flight (economy plus was filled up =( and we had a full flight), and then managed to secure upgraded seats for tomorrow’s flights. Then it was off to customs/immigration to find out whether or not the time and money (only $100) invested in the GOES program was worth its weight in salt.

It was.  Less than five minutes to clear customs and immigration, and to head to the AirTrain to Jamaica station on the LIRR.  I have to say, this whole system really makes traveling via JFK a very pleasant alternative to Newark.  Much closer to my folks by far, and far shorter train rides.  It’s definitely going to remain on the horizon.

The Global Online Enrollment System was definitely worth the time and effort if you expect to do at least one overseas trip per year for the next five years.  The online application can be a bit daunting, even irritating, but once it’s complete and your application is processed, it makes traveling so much nicer.  Just one time through customs made it worth every headache.

Now it is on to the Yankees game (they lost, so Dad will see game 5), and the Nats (they won, so it’s down to tomorrow to see if they advance).

I think we’re going to be back in lovely England!

More of Liverpool and the McAllisters

We woke this morning after 7:30 am (!), and proceeded downstairs to get ready to go see the Liverpool Football Club stadium (This is Anfield), where we were on a 10 am tour (one that Wayne anticipated far more than the Harry Potter studio tour).

Allow me to tell you that it was cold inside that stadium.  I ran in to the store and bought a hat right away.

The Reds is an English Premier League football club (now owned by the same folks who own the Boston Red Sox, so watch out Brendan Rogers, you need to start winning), and has won eighteen League titles, seven FA Cups, eight League Cups, five European Cups, three UEFA Cups and three UEFA Super Cups.  It was founded in 1892 and has played at Anfield since its formation. The most successful period in Liverpool's history was the 1970s and '80s when Bill Shankly (see photo below) and Bob Paisley led the club to eleven league titles and seven European trophies.                                           

The club's supporters have been involved in two major tragedies. The first was the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985 in which charging Liverpool fans caused a wall to collapse, killing 39 Juventus supporters. In the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, 96 Liverpool supporters lost their lives in a crush against perimeter fencing.  This caused the stadium to become an all seater, with no more standing in “The Pit.”  We got to tour the media room, the locker room, and to look at but not touch the pitch.  This was followed by a walk around the museum, and entry into the shop, where we met up with Barb and headed out to see som more Liverpudlian sights after viewing the Shankly Gate, and the memorial to the 96 who were lost at Hillsborough.

After a quick stop at a local LFC shop (seated almost next to their rival football club, Everton’s shop which literally plays one park away, the stores are known as Liverpool 1, Everton 2), and (of course) the Apple Store, we headed to lunch at Yee Rah in the Liverpool One shopping center.  A very interesting blend of Italian and Asian food.

After lunch, and a frenzied flurry of getting assistance with checking in for our return flight, we headed out towards Mathew Street.  Labelled the World Capital City of Pop by Guinness World Records, Liverpool has produced a wealth of musical talent. The popularity of The Beatles, Billy Fury, Gerry and the Pacemakers and the other groups from the Merseybeat era, and other bands that included sounds from my college years -  Echo & the Bunnymen and Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Mathew Street is one of many tourist attractions related to The Beatles, and the location of Europe's largest annual free music festival. The street connects Rainford Gardens (off Whitechapel) to North John Street, and is located in an area known as "The Cavern Quarter". Historically it was the center of Liverpool's wholesale fruit and vegetable market, but is now visited by thousands of tourists annually, who visit the Cavern Club and many surrounding attractions including a statue of John Lennon, a Beatles store and several pubs formerly frequented by The Beatles. A wall in Mathew Street displays a sculpture called "Four Lads Who Shook the World".

We walked past the Hard Day’s Night hotel, specifically centered around Beatles’ culture (could you tell), saw a Lady Madonna tour taxi in front of the hotel, and then went to the Cavern Club, where the Beatles, and many other groups/singers, got their starts.  Good tour!                                                 

After this, we did a quick tour of the old court house near the Liverpool Lime Street Station, where we saw the judges chambers, holding cells, the courtroom, and waiting cells where several people took their lives while waiting trial.  Very grim, but interesting.

Oh, and Lord Stanley, who became the Governor of Canada, has his statue in the halls - the Liverpudlian is the founder of the modern day Stanley Cup!

The sky became grim, so we headed back, relaxed, had a quiet supper and wine (and scotch), and quietly rued that we had too little time.