A New Year - 2019

Happy New Year to everyone. I hope your Christmas, Hanukkah, Three Kings Day, Winter Solstice, St. Lucia Day and Kwanzaa holidays are enjoyed with family and friends and lots of good food (have I missed any holidays here?).

May 31, 2019, will mark our 8th year living in Costa Rica. The time has flown by and we still love living here. We are now in the dry or “summer” season (verano) and experiencing the strong trade winds known at this time of year as the Christmas winds or vientos Navideños. We did not experience them so much at our little house in Atenas because we were surrounded by trees and down low on the mountain. Here at our house in Hacienda el Paseo, we are much more exposed. I have to watch that my orchids are getting enough water as they dry out so fast. It’s all sunshine and blue, blue skies. This is also the time of year for tourists and the children are out of school until early February. They have another mid-year holiday from July 1 to 13.

Here is a video I made of the enormous Guanacaste tree on a property near us blowing in the strong winds. This tree loses all its leaves during the dry season and you can see that it is on its way to becoming bare.

If you get a message that “full screen is unavailable - learn more” - don’t “learn more”. Just click HERE and carry on.

I have never cooked a holiday dinner and this year was no exception. We joined friends at the San José Marriott Hotel for Christmas brunch - excellent. Lots of Costa Rican dishes.

There are four gate guards that work at our complex, on different shifts during 24 hours, plus a pet rooster. The guards are always friendly and helpful. As a thank you gift for them, I made cookies and they each got a 5 mil note (roughly $10 USD). The rooster received a bag of deluxe chicken feed. Lance saw him chowing down on it, so it was a hit.

There are five ridges around our town of Grecia leading up to Poas volcano. I don’t know all their names but last week we drove up El Cajón ridge. The views are stunning. These photos show the amazing vistas and all the coffee fincas.

From our house to yours, best wishes for the new year.

Current Latin American Music

Here is a music video from Mexico. It is currently hugely popular in Costa Rica and other Latin American countries. Note the presence of a conductor, a symphony orchestra and a choir - not to mention the headliner (Jay de la Cueva).

This is part of the reason why we love Latin America and Costa Rica in particular. Only a few of those living in the last century cannot appreciate the popularity of this kind of music.

https://youtu.be/kcKOd_wy0XI

A New Friend and Prawns

Today we met up with a friend new to Costa Rica - and she wins the Diana Miskell Special Award for reading my entire blog in one sitting. She read my entire blog dating from well before 2011 until now, 2018, in one go! In one night!

This marathon reader contacted us to say she was visiting Costa Rica for six months and would like to meet up with us. She was staying in Grecia, not far from us. So we picked her up this morning and had breakfast in Grecia. Then we went to the central market, which is huge. I had heard of a good place to buy seafood here ... the recommendation called it the Swordfish Guy, because he does sell swordfish and also speaks English.

We accidently found this place ... just by walking around. And when we were asked what we wanted in English, I figured that we were at the right place and we were. I bought a kilo of large prawns, really fresh.

I’m cooking them tonight with rice on the side. Here is the recipe I am following.

https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/spicy-new-orleans-shrimp/

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - November 2018

During November, visits to this blog were received from 14 identified countries and 1 unidentified country in Europe:

The following is a summary of the weather for the month:

There are only two seasons in Costa Rica - the "green" or rainy season and the dry season. With significantly less rainfall than October, November has signaled the beginning of the dry season. There were fewer rainy days and more sunny days. The minimum overnight low temperature of 60 °F (15.6 °C) was the lowest we have encountered so far where we now live.

There is of course no "winter" season in Costa Rica. But that does not mean that Costa Ricans do not celebrate Christmas including not only with ornaments, lights, Santa Claus images, reindeer images and other visual trappings, but also with Christmas trees (Arboles de Navidad). At least some of the trees are real, not artificial. As reported by Q Costa Rica the real thing comes all the way from Eastern Canada.

Owning a Car in Costa Rica - Ongoing Saga With Our 2006 Subaru Forester

This may not be of much interest to those looking forward to travelling to Costa Rica as a tourist. But, it may be of interest to expats currently living in Costa Rica or others from any country who might be thinking about moving to Costa Rica - and who want to own their own vehicle.

A number of maintenance problems have recently arisen with respect to our 2006 Subaru Forester purchased about 1 year ago. Fortunately, they have been relatively minor and we have been able to deal with them at far less cost than we would expect in Canada or the U.S. Mechanical and electrical parts which have to be imported can be quite expensive in Costa Rica because of import duties and markups. But the cost of skilled labor is typically far less expensive than in Canada or the U.S.

Our Subaru is an AWD ("all wheel drive", not a "four wheel drive"). Lately, the rear end began making clunking noises suggesting to Lance a transmission or differential problem which could involve big bucks - even in Costa Rica. Fortunately, it turned out that Lance is not skilled at diagnosing automotive problems.

The problem became exacerbated when the vehicle simply pooped out while trying to drive up a relatively steep hill to our home in Hacienda El Paseo. It stalled and would not move forward in any gear even with the gas pedal fully depressed. In order to get up the hill, we had to back down and then take a high speed run at the hill. Actually, we had to take two runs because we did not back up far enough or gain enough momentum on the first run.

Question - where to get help for this sort of problem in Grecia, Costa Rica? I did a search on the ¿Qué Pasa, Grecia? website and found a glowing report about Carlos Morera Perez, the owner of Superior Automotriz. Carlos is fluent in English - far more so than our fluency in Spanish, particularly with respect to technical automotive matters. The official Subaru dealership in Costa Rica may or may not be the best place to go for older vehicle parts. If it is, then we would trust Carlos to go there for any parts that might be required.

Carlos had the car from the Saturday morning when we took it in (carefully avoiding steep hills along the way) until the following Wednesday morning when it was ready for pick up. His first step was to take it for a test drive with Lance and I on board. All the symptoms (clunking and pooping out) repeated themselves, but he did manage to avoid a complete stall on one relatively steep hill.

Carlos then explained a number of possible causes. In a nutshell they boiled down to a mechanical problem, an electrical problem, or both. As it turned out, there was no problem with the transmission itself (whew!). If Lance correctly understood Carlos the problem was with communications between two on board computers which together operate to control the workings of the transmission. A wiring harness or part of a wiring harness between the computers had become corroded and proper control signals were not getting to the transmission. 

Carlos worked very hard (up to 9 pm on one day) to diagnose and fix the problem. He was unable to find a Spanish language online repair manual for a 2006 Subaru Forester (the earliest being for 2010) and ultimately turned to an English language online manual available from the U.S. - making his understanding of English all the more important. 

Logically, the first step in making a diagnosis is not to imagine that there might be some problem with communications between the on board computers. The first step is to ensure that the computers are receiving proper input signals in the first place. This can be time consuming, but if the inputs aren't right, then the outputs can't possibly be right. The old adage "garbage in - garbage out" applies.

The last step was a final test drive with Lance as the driver, Carlos as a passenger, and me as a back seat driver. When all was said and done the total cost was 149,700 Colones or about USD $245 (CDN $320). Shudder to think what the same work might have cost in the U.S. or Canada.

As an aside, it is significant to note that there are useful Facebook information pages for expats that are not limited to Grecia in Costa Rica. Before we moved from Atenas to Grecia, we asked our expat connections about reliable mechanics in Atenas. Up popped the name of Freddy Castro in Atenas. He turned out to be first class: trustworthy, capable of dealing with a problem on a variety of vehicles, and not inventing problems which did not exist. In our view, the same is true of Carlos in Grecia. Apparently some mechanics in Canada and the U.S. have no problem identifying problems which do not exist - and they charge an arm and a leg for repairing a non-existent problem. With appropriate diligence, we have not yet encountered this problem in Costa Rica.

As a further aside, Freddy in Atenas was unable to find a source in Costa Rica which had on hand a replacement OEM air filter for a 2006 Subaru Forester. As a result, and with a caution to us, he substituted a different filter. It did not work well. It made a lot of noise. Ultimately, we located and purchased an OEM filter from a dealership in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was purchased and brought down to Costa Rica by Canadian friends. There was a huge improvement in performance.

As a result, Freddy (with his cautions) in Atenas and Carlos in Grecia will be our preferred mechanics in Costa Rica.

Parking Ticket

We had to go to the Grecia municipal building recently to pay a parking ticket. Yes, bad me, I forgot to check my phone to see how much time was left on my elparking. Elparking is new to Grecia - it’s an app on my phone where I can reserve the parking space I am in, specify how much time I want to stay there and then immediately pay. The app will tell me when my time has run out and you can add as much time as you wish.

At the municipal building, I was treated like a queen - the sweet guard at the entrance took my ticket, sighed and said (my translation), oh no - a ticket, poor lady. He gave me a number, took me inside, found me a seat, showed me how to watch the tv screen to see my number come up. I was seated next to two Ticas.

Of course, I wasn’t paying attention when my number showed up and the two ladies took my ticket, looked at the number and told me what wicket to go to - smiling all the time. Of course I thanked them.

Even the ticket clerk was smiling. It was only 6,000 colones (roughly $12). I thanked the Ticas again when leaving. I thanked the guard, he smiled and said “luego” (later). I held up my receipt and said “no luego” (no later, not getting a ticket again!).

I’ve never had such a pleasurable experience paying a ticket before. So much politeness!

Losing Our Car and Eating at McDonald’s

Recently, we went to City Mall in Alajuela to pick up a few needed items at Office Depot. City Mall opened about three years or so ago, if memory serves me. It’s huge. Three levels of underground parking and I think maybe four levels of shops, services and a food court. Lots of North American style stores and brand names.

We parked in stall number 135 and went into the mall, wandered around looking for Office Depot, finally asking for directional assistance from people stationed around the mall just for that purpose. I needed bubble wrap and had forgot to translate it into Spanish. This is a fun part of living in a foreign country that uses a different language and your Spanish speaking skills are, well, lacking somewhat for some things - trying to describe what you want using gestures and facial expressions. The poor clerk went on the hunt for someone who could speak English. The fellow with English skills knew exactly what I wanted - he said the Spanish words for bubble wrap are “plástico de burbujas”.

Mission accomplished and, since it was near to lunch time, and because I had a craving for a McDonald’s cheese burger, we went to the food court and ordered cheese burgers, Cokes and fries. I made a pequeño ordering error in Spanish and we ended up with two cheese burgers each. Those cheese burgers are the best - small, not too much filling inside (beef patty, cheese slice, pickle and special sauce). I couldn’t eat both burgers so took one with me for a snack later in the day. Here’s one item on the Costa Rican McDonald’s menu, which I imagine isn’t available in Canada:

Then off we went to retrieve our vehicle and head for home. We went to the level where we thought we had parked our car - and stall number 135 was empty! We walked all over that level - no Subaru Forester. A word to the wise: remember your stall number, BUT also remember what level you are on. When you enter the underground parking, you are issued a ticket. When you leave and before you go to your car, you run the ticket through ticket machines located on each parking level and the amount you owe is displayed and you feed in your colones to pay for the parking. Then you feed that same ticket through another machine at the exit. But, each ticket has a time limit.

So we had done all that before looking for our vehicle but time was running out. We wandered through several levels. Have you ever seen that Seinfeld episode where Kramer can’t locate his car in an underground parking lot, Elaine has bought a live goldfish and, as time goes by, she fears for the life of the goldfish in the plastic bag? Well, that’s how I felt about my hamburger - what if it is getting too warm and I eat it at home and then get really sick?

Finally, we found our vehicle and headed home. Remember your stall number and your level!!!!

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - October 2018

As indicated in the following chart, visits to this blog were received from 17 different countries during October 2018:

The following is a summary of the weather for the month:

The overnight low temperatures, aggravated by accompanying high humidities, were quite chilly - at least in the area where we live. The daytime high temperatures were mitigated by clouds.

The day on which the maximum rainfall occurred (2.15 in / 5.46 cm) was a dark and dreary day of almost continuous drizzling rain - reminiscent of many days in the late fall and winter on the West Coast of Canada and Pacific Northwest in the USA. Nevertheless, there were many days with broken clouds and sunshine to accent the continuing green season.

New Tires

When we bought our Subaru almost a year ago, we knew that the rear tires would need replacing some time within the coming year. That “some time” came this week.

I had been shopping at the Maxi Pali store next to the Grecia mall and when I returned to the car, I saw that the left rear tire was flat. I know how to change a tire, but I couldn’t even lift the spare out of the wheel well. And who wants to change a tire anyway.

What to do, what to do. I called Lance and he suggested flagging down a red taxi and having the driver change the tire. This isn’t at all unusal here. Once we had an absolutely dead battery on a borrowed vehicle and Jorge came and removed the battery, took it to a shop he knew, and returned it the next day in working order.

So I waited until a taxi was dropping off a passenger and showed the driver my flat. He had it off and the spare on in ten minutes. I paid him for his time and efforts. He told me to drive directly to a gas station because the spare needed a bit of air. I did this, but the gas guy misunderstood me and also put air in the flat. Later that same day, we took our car to Llantas Algosa Ltda to have the flat looked at but it was holding air and they couldn’t find a problem with it. So it went back on and the spare came off.

The thought was that somebody had let the air out of the tire in the parking lot - this happens in tourist areas especially - and then they would offer to “help” and then steal something. Really highly unlikely in the Maxi Pali lot because there is a guard but I suppose it could happen.

I had to go out again the following day to Super Rosvil, parked, bought my groceries, returned to the vehicle and, yes, the tire was flat again. This time, three Rosvil managers came out to help me and the tire was changed in super fast time. They wouldn’t take any money and I must write and thank Super Rosvil for their employees’ immediate help.

Back to Llantas Algosa Ltda. The tire could not be repaired so we bought two new ones. Highly recommend Llantas Algosa - their speciality is tires, installation, alignment, etc. They have some high tech computer equipment for the alignments. Comfortable waiting room also. Nice people. The first time we were there they charged 1,000 colones to switch the tires (about $1.60 USD). 

Final cost for two new tires, plus installation, etc. - 76,000 colones ($122.00 USD).

First Year of Owning a Vehicle in Costa Rica - Vehicle Inspection

In Costa Rica, vehicle inspection is handled by a government agency generally referred to as "Riteve". As it seems, the inspection procedure turns out to be far more rigorous than we ever encountered in Canada. I expect the same is true for the U.S. For older vehicles, inspection can be an annual event.

The procedure involves not only checking exhaust emissions, tire tread wear, break lining wear, headlight alignment, do the blinkers work, but also checking under the hood, under the body, can the horn actually "honk", etc. What was different, at least compared to our past experience in Canada, was a bone rattling dynamic testing of the brakes.

The procedure is a step by step drive through procedure and you do the driving. You are expected to follow instructions in a very noisy environment. Unless you are absolutely fluent in Spanish or luckily get a Riteve technician who is fluent in English then you could have a problem. Normally, the whole procedure should take about 15 to 20 minutes.

In the absence of fluency, then for a nominal fee you should consider hiring a local mechanic to take your vehicle to Riteve, do the drive through, and report back to you on any deficiencies found by Riteve. Riteve does provide a report card (in Spanish). 

In December 2017, we purchased a used low mileage 2006 Subaru Forrester. Part of our due diligence dictated that we confirm it had passed on its last due date (and it had). The next due date was recent. We went online to Riteve and got an appointment. This was easily done (in English) HERE.

We FAILED! Riteve had four observations:

(1) Rear tires with mild tread wear but not requiring attention at the present time (not serious).

(2) One clouded headlight cover burned by the sun but not requiring attention at the present time (not serious).

(3) A "sunscreen adhesive" on the rear window but not requiring attention at the present time (not serious).

(4) One low beam headlight considered to be too low - a serious problem ("grave" in Spanish). FAILURE - NEEDS FIXING!

The "sunscreen adhesive" was actually a small "Baby On Board" sticker applied by the previous owner. We could easily scrape it off but decided to leave it in place. What bad guys would attack a vehicle if they thought a baby was on board? Possibly a naive thought - and not necessarily a good message for first responders.

We were given an initial three week deadline to return to Riteve and show that the low beam headlight problem had been fixed. We did so, but not before going through some hoops. 

First, we unsuccessfully looked for any advertised local service which could provide headlight alignment. Second, we turned to Facebook only to be advised by many that any competent mechanic could do the job. Not knowing who "any competent mechanic" might be, we went to an auto repair shop which had previously fixed a problem we had with vehicle air conditioning. They were very competent but not in the business of aligning headlights. They directed us to a shop which specialized in automotive electrical systems. While busy with other work, one person in that shop stepped aside, quickly checked the alignment of both headlights, fixed the one which was misaligned - and declined to accept any payment for the service - Taller Electromecánico y Baterías Bull.

We returned to Riteve and were cleared almost immediately when we got to the headlight testing station. But our exit was delayed because there were vehicles in the line ahead of us which seemed to be having some issues.

Eyes on Costa Rica - Update / October 12, 2018

Visits to this blog have now been recorded from 3740 towns, cities and other places located in 124 countries throughout the world. The most recent countries are Oman in Western Asia, Equatorial Guinea in Africa, and Zambia, also in Africa. Each is highlighted on the map below. While the vast majority of visits come from Canada, the U.S. and Costa Rica itself, it is clear that people from many other countries and many other places have their eyes on Costa Rica.

On the map, red dots (many of which are buried under other red dots) indicate places from where visits have occurred since September 29, 2016. Visits recorded before that date are not shown on the map.

In any given month, the number of countries from which visits to this blog are received is highly variable. The following chart identifies countries for the month of September 2018.

My video of "Landing at Juan Santamaría Airport, Costa Rica" has continued to attract interest not only through this blog where the video was first posted on August 26, 2017 but also directly through YouTube independently of the posting. In the first five to six months after the posting, the video was viewed about 1100 times. That number has now climbed to over 2590 views.

September Weather, 2018

A weather summary for the month of September in Hacienda El Paseo/Grecia during the period from the beginning of April to the end of September appears below.

In Costa Rica, September falls in the middle of the rainy or "green" season and is generally marked by more days with rain and lower daily high temperatures. On rainy days, at least in the area where we live, a day often (but not always) begins with a sunny morning. Around 11 am to 1 pm clouds begin to drift in holding the high temperature down. Then the rain starts and will typically continue for two or three hours.

The number of rainy days in September this year was the most we have encountered in any single month since moving to Hacienda El Paseo. Even though we were not here during earlier months (January, February, March), it is safe to say that there was no month which would have had more rainy days than September. The earlier months were all in the Costa Rican “dry” season.

The current rainy or green season should continue until late November or early December. Then begins the next dry season.

Kyo Gallery, Arlington, Virginia, U.S.A.

My cattle and equine art work is now represented by Kyo Gallery, Arlington,Virginia. They have an actual gallery and also promote artists virtually, which is where I am situated.

You can see my work here and also explore around looking at other artists’ work. 

I also have an art web site.

In the meantime, here’s a sample of my work:

Independence Day, Grecia, Costa Rica

Today, September 15, 2018, marks 197 years of independence from Spain for Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Savador and Honduras. It is an official national holiday, with festivities beginning on September 14th all over Costa Rica. You can read everything about this holiday on Costa Rica Guides.

When we lived in Atenas, we usually went to the celebrations. Now that we live in Grecia, we decided to see what this town has to offer in the way of celebrations. It was a perfect day for being in town and the park. First we had breakfast at Cafe Delicias. For a little under 10,000 colones total, we both had large breakfasts, including fruit drinks. Lance’s selection ended with a warm piece of french style toast, with whipping cream on top and a side of strawberries. He generously shared it with me. Highly recommend Cafe Delicias.

Then we walked over to the park and the festivities had already started. We listened to a couple of speeches, then watched the start of the parade arriving. First came the police cars and ambulances, with sirens blaring. Next up were the Grecia bomberos (fire department), some sports teams, a school - it was getting hot in the sun so we decided to head back to our car. We walked along the crowded parade route and saw the many school bands lined up waiting to go. I took some photos and here they are.

The setup for the VIP’s, where speeches were given:

Chairs decorated in Costa Rican colours:


The bomberos:

Crowds in front of the church:



I think this was a bank’s mascot:

Many, many school bands and dance groups:

How cute is this kid - I don’t know if they were supposed to be elves or ... ? Anyway, they danced and marched.

Weather for the month of August, 2018

A weather summary for the month of August in Hacienda El Paseo/Grecia during the period from the beginning of April to the end of August appears below.

There is not much to observe. Where we live, daytime high temperatures over about 80°F (26.7°C) are usually accompanied by relatively low humidities. Often, the result is a comfortable "feels like" temperature which is less than the actual air temperature. This was the case on the one day in August when the temperature reached 90°F (32.2°C).

In contrast, overnight lows which tend to occur around the time of sunrise are typically accompanied by relatively high humidities. The result as in the case of 62°F (16.7°C) on one August day can be very chilly and feel colder than it actually is - but at worst dictates nothing more than a warm sweater or jacket.

There were fewer days with measurable rainfall in August than in July, but the total amount in August was greater. The final week was characterized by clouds, overcast and drizzling rain on several days - reminiscent of typical winter days in Vancouver, Canada from where we came.

Car Wash and Breakfast

Last weekend, we took our vehicle to autolavado El Rápido for cleaning and detailing. They do a very good job - takes about 45 minutes. Everything is scrubbed inside and out - even the tires were black and shiny. They gave us  this little trash bag for the car:

El Rápido is just down the road from the Tribunales de Justica (Courts of Justice):

Then it was time for breakfast. We headed for Arte Latte - one of the few restaurants here that are open early for breakfast, except for the sodas. This is a really nice place to have a meal or one of their specialty coffees.

I ordered an omelette and a fresh fruit drink:

Our vehicle was parked on one of the streets next to Grecia’s red metal church, Nuestra Senora de la Mercedes:

A really nice park surrounds the church so we ambled around it:

The park is well used. Family and friends meet there, sit on the benches, talk, people watch. It’s much larger then the Atenas park.

Naans & Curries, An Ethnic Indian Restaurant

Yesterday we drove to the Lindora area of Santa Ana, an affluent suburb of San José, to try the breakfast buffet at Naans & Curries. This restaurant features gourmet ethnic Indian cuisine and the breakfast buffet is a recent addition to their menu.

The restaurant is located in the Momentum plaza, which itself is a really interesting place. There appear to be twelve restaurants to choose from - Aji Limon (Peruvian), Arden Beer Garden, Artisano Deli, Bambai (Mongolian), Door 74 (a club I think), Kotoy (Japanese), La Fabbrica (pizza), La Ostra (seafood and grill), La Paleteria (ice cream), Los Pitaz (Mediterranean), Lucha Libra (Mexican) and Naans & Curries. I can see us coming back here to try some other cuisines. Around the plaza are some large metal horse statues.

Naans & Curries has a large covered outdoor eating area and this is where the buffet foods were set up. They start service at 7:00 am but on this day they were a bit delayed due to unforeseen circumstances, so I would suggest arriving around 8:00 am. Excellent service and wait staff. They explained all the foods to us, what they were made of and so on. The owner introduced himself to us and apologized for the delay. We didn’t mind waiting a bit and ordered coffee for Lance and a mora lassi for me. Lassi is a drink made with yogurt, water, spices and the mora is a type of berry grown here. It was icy cold and delicious.

The food - all I can say is it was wonderful. There were so many choices available, starting with a fruit, cereal, salad and cheese (including paneer) table. They also had an omelette station and a parantha station - I think these were paranthas - very thin, rolled with a filling of cauliflower (or maybe potatoes). Wonderful, flavourful soups. A table of large tureens filled with different curries. We ended up so full that we couldn’t try a lot of the items that were available. Still, we were brought a dessert that we were told we had to try, “just have a bite”. A kind of pancake with chocolate poured on top and cream. Needless to say, we didn’t eat the rest of the day.

Food from India has to be one of the world’s great cuisines - the subtle flavours are incredible. There is such a wide variety of local and traditional ways of preparing food. What we had today was mostly from south India, which we had never been able to try before. Coming from Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, we were used to Punjabi recipes. This area is one of the world’s largest South Asian enclaves and most are Punjabi Sikhs (Wikipedia).

The price per person for the buffet and unlimited smoothies is 7,500 CRC, not including the mandatory taxes and service charge. Including both of these, the final total for two people was 18,500 CRC (about 32.00 USD). We added a tip.

We’ll definitely be returning. 

A part of the Momentum plaza:

My lassi drink and the table centerpiece:


Two kinds of rolls to eat with the soup, three kinds of sauces, a chickpea filled pepper:


What I think is a parantha, with two sauces:


Three horses running:


Look at the saddle - all fashioned with metal, even the reins:

Pizza il Capo, Grecia, Costa Rica

Earlier this week, we visited Pizza il Capo in the Mall Plaza Grecia  and right next to Pops ice cream shop. We had been wanting to try their pizzas. They open at 11:30am and we arrived shortly after, were seated right away and given menus.

For drinks, Lance ordered Gallo Tapado Irish red ale, an artensial beer brewed in Grecia. I decided on the limonada con hierba buena, which was icy cold and so tasty. For pizzas, I went with the gorgonzola and Lance had the Caribbean. We decided on the personal portion size (four slices) and we could only eat half so took the rest home for a later snack.

We’ll be back - they have pasta dishes too. Service was fast and friendly and the food was delicious.

Lance’s pizza (sorry for the blurriness):

My gorgonzola:

I had a sip of Lance’s beer - excellent:


The amazing limonada con hierba buena:

Weather in Hacienda el Paseo - July, 2018

A weather summary for the month of July and the period from the beginning of April to the end of July appears below.

The temperature reached 90°F on only one day and dropped to a low of 64°F on only two days. The number of days with rainfall (19) was coincidentally the same as that in June. However, in contrast to June, the total amount of rainfall in July was only a fraction of that in June - just over 5 inches compared to over 15 inches.

Breakfast at the Feria

This morning we went to the Grecia feria to have breakfast at one of the sodas - there are a number to choose from - and to walk around looking at all the gorgeous fruits and vegetables. You can also buy dairy products, breads, meats, fish, and plants and flowers, clothing and leather goods.

Most of the sodas do not have menus, but they may post what is available on a board. In any case, you need to know what you want to eat and you need to order in Spanish. We decided on coffee, scrambled eggs and gallo pinto. Cost for two meals was 6,000 colones, about $12 USD.

The coffee was super hot and strong, the way we like it. We drink our coffee black.

Here are our breakfasts (sorry that the picture is not in focus). You can see that the portions are generous. They also came with fried plantains, which are sweet and almost caramelized. We couldn’t finish all the rice and beans.

At the end of our meal, our server gave each of us a square of cajeta - a fudge like candy. I might try making these.

After breakfast, we wandered around. Rambutans are in season now (also known as mamon chino and lychee). I also bought a few mangosteens, because this is a fruit I hadn’t tried yet.

Rambutans on the left and mangosteens on the right:

Here is what they look like cut open. I like the mangosteen - it’s a bit tart.

Our final purchase was fresh flowers - gladioli and a white flower that I can’t identify. The flowers will continue to open up along the stem so it lasts for quite a while.

Road Trip to Zarcero, Alajuela, Costa Rica

We decided to drive to the town of Zarcero last Sunday morning. We hadn’t been there for a number of years and it’s a nice place to visit. From the center of Grecia to Zarcero is 39.1 km which isn’t far as the crow flies, but the winding, climbing mountain roads will add to the driving time. It’s a beautiful drive though.

Zarcero is at an altitude of 1736 m, so the temperatures are brisker than what we experience where we live. It’s an agricultural area - coffee, vegetables, dairy, cheese. There are two protected areas that attract tourists - the Juan Castro Blanco National Park and el Chayote Protected Zone. Another attraction is the Los Angeles Cloud Forest Reserve.

I think what Zarcero is best known for is all the topiary in the park in front of the church, Iglesia de San Rafael Arcangel. The church is beautiful, inside and out. We didn’t stay long because it started to rain but I managed to take a few pictures. 

Oops, I didn’t have time to smile!