Air Conditioning, Breakfast, and Fruits and Vegetables

The air conditioning in our 2006 Subaru Forester has been unreliable for the past few months. It would operate just fine, then stop, then start. We don’t always use AC in the car, but it sure is nice to have it when needed. Last Saturday, we took it to Frio Grecia - a shop that specializes in automotive air conditioning. We were immediately ushered into a diagnostic slot and in a short time we were told part of the problem was a dirty filter (it was, we saw it being removed) and some minor repairs to the compressor. We decided to wait for the work to be done, which took a little over an hour. Final cost: 45,000 colones (about $80 USD). This includes a two month guarantee. We highly recommend Frio Grecia. I wonder what this would have cost in Canada.

Notice that I am called “Diana Florence” on this invoice! I get that a lot here. My full name is Diana Florence Miskell. I think it may have something to do with how females are named in Costa Rica. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe they think “Florence” is my father’s last name and “Miskell” is my mother’s. Anyway, when waiting for my name to be called in lineups, etc., I always listen for “Diana Florence” or “Diana Florence Miskell”. 

Then we went to Cafeteria Arte Latte for breakfast. This popular place is conveniently located near the Grecia church and park. Friendly service and a good breakfast. We had a ham and cheese omelette, a tomato and mushroom (fresh, not canned) omelette, a mango smoothie and Lance ordered a cappucino. Price: 9,030 colones (about $15 USD). The omelettes were large and came with a slice of toast. Some of the dessert items on the menu looked amazing.

We discovered a new (to us) place in Grecia to buy fruits, vegetables, organic eggs and lots of other things. It is called La Gran Bodega and they also have another store in San Ramon, about 32 km from Grecia. Although it is fun to go to the weekly feria, La Gran Bodega is really convenient and they have lots of parking. We went there today and loaded up on eggs, granadilla (passion fruit), chard, sliced almonds, apples, potatoes, papaya, sweet red peppers, tomatoes and a small bag of parmesan cheese. Apparently some of their prices are cheaper then those in the feria.