Out and About in Grecia, Costa Rica - Recent Ramblings

Our mechanic, Carlos, had our Subaru Forester for a few days recently to do the front brakes. In order to go into Grecia, we needed a taxi and our friend, Minor, helped us with that. This time he sent a taxi driver whose nickname was Pipo. Pipo had a good laugh when we called him that. I’m not sure what it means.

Before getting out of his taxi, I asked him for his phone number and he wrote it on the 1,000 colon note he gave us as change for the fare. You can just see the number on the upper left. The bill is very worn. Lance put it in his pocket. Click on photos to enlarge.

Walking along the street, we came up to an elderly lady selling small goods on the sidewalk. Lance didn’t buy anything but put the 1,000 mil note (about two dollars) in the dish she used for donations. I said, Wait! what? you gave her Pipo’s phone number and we want to call him to take us home! What to do? Take the bill away from her?

So what Lance did was show her another 1,000 note and then pointed out the phone number on the first bill and indicated he would do a trade. She thought that was so funny and we all had a good laugh.

Further along the street, we came upon a fellow selling Covid-19 face masks in all kinds of interesting patterns. I asked him how much - precio? A wag leaning against a building yelled out “one thousand dollars” - more laughs. I bought a mask with a nice pattern for 1,000 colones, not dollars.

We bought some groceries at Peri Mercado (a grocery store) and waited on the sidewalk until Pipo arrived. Grecia on a Saturday can be very busy with people and cars everywhere - lots of noise and activity. It’s very vibrant. I took a couple of photos. The lady sitting down in the first picture was selling juicy red tomatoes. You can see the twin spires of the cathedral in the distance. A landmark for people like me who have no sense of direction.

The second photo is of one of the entrances into the Mercado Municipal de Grecia, or the central market. It’s huge inside with many, many shops selling just about everything.

I found a YouTube video featuring the indoor market:

Once we had our vehicle back from Carlos, we decided the next day to drive into Grecia and have breakfast at Arte Latte. I think they have the best breakfasts around and certainly one of the best locations - across from the park and the cathedral. Great spot for people watching. They are under new management and have a new menu.

Lance ordered the carga de energia, or energy plate. I opted for the saludable, or heathy option. The portions are generous and include good coffee and an orange juice. My choice included tropical fruit with yoghurt, egg whites scrambled, slice of ham and, for some unfathomable reason, potato chips scattered over the top.

Lance’s plate included a corn tortilla, gallo pinto, fried queso, shredded beef, ham slice and the best sweet plantains I’ve ever had. The shredded beef, or carne mechada, was so good that I looked up a recipe on line so that I can make it at home. 

There were bags of coffee for sale and I bought one - Don Cayito. It has won three awards of excellence, well deserved. The bag has a little hole at the top where the wonderful aroma wafts out.

Even with Covid-19, we can still go out and about by carefully choosing where we go, always wearing a mask and frequently washing our hands.

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.

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.