Breakfast Sandwiches, Pierogies, Cabbage Rolls and Library Books

Yesterday - Saturday - we decided to drive to Atenas for breakfast. We went to El Fogon because we have had their breakfasts and lunches in the past and they were always good.

We both ordered breakfast sandwiches and fresh fruit drinks made with mora, a type of blackberry. We have a mora bush in our yard.

As you can see, the orders came with a side of fresh mixed fruit. The sandwiches were loaded - egg, ham, cheese, tomato, lettuce, a sauce - have I missed anything?

We had two additional reasons to drive to Atenas - stop at Pequeña Polonia Café and Restaurante to order two meals to go and to take advantage of their free lending library. Pequeña Polonia was formerly known as Kay’s Postres when we arrived in Costa Rica in 2011.

We met the then owners, Kay and Tom Costello, who always welcomed new arrivals. Time moves on and so did they. The present owners are Ania and Tom, who are from Poland by way of Canada. Their menu includes Polish items so you know that they are authentic. By the way, they no longer serve breakfast but are open for lunch and dinner.

We ordered two classic Polish dishes -  pierogies with sauerkraut and mushrooms, bacon on the top, and cabbage rolls with tomato sauce and mashed potatoes. Also included were a cucumber salad and a carrot salad. Don’t you wish you were eating these tonight?

The cabbage rolls, mashed potatoes and two of the pierogies have been devoured. The rest of the pierogies are for dinner tonight, along with a coleslaw that I made.

While waiting for our meals to be prepared, we selected a number of paperback books to take home. There has always been a free lending library at this restaurant. It’s based on the honour system. So we are set for the next few months with reading material. Nothing is better then being in a hammock with a good mystery/detective/murder story book.

We also met one of our former neighbours when we lived in Vista Atenas. It was so great to see Leticia again and get caught up on the local news. Atenas is a small town which is one of its advantages - you get to know your neighbours and townsfolk.

Click on images to enlarge.

Cabbage Rolls, Rainbows, Haircuts and COVID-19 - Costa Rica

Here is an update on the coronavirus in Costa Rica as of Saturday, May 23, 2020, https://ticotimes.net/2020/05/23/coronavirus-in-costa-rica-7-new-cases-7-more-recoveries.

We are still on driving restrictions. We cannot drive on Fridays or Sundays (determined by the last numeral on our vehicle’s licence plate). No car travel at all between 10:00 pm and 5:00 am during the week and between 7:00 pm to 5:00 am on the weekends. The repercussions of not following these restrictions can be severe - heavy fines and removal of your licence plates to name two. Beaches have opened but only between the hours of 5:00 am to 8:00 am - I believe this is primarily for the benefit of surfers (world class) - and of course with everyone following the usual protocols for keeping distance, etc.

A well known landmark restaurant in Atenas - Kay’s Café Pequeña Polonia (previously Kay’s Gringo Postres) - has reopened with limited hours and takeaway. They have a free lending library. Since we needed new reading material and were craving cabbage rolls, I put in an order and we drove there last week and picked them up, plus some new books. One order had dill sauce and the other tomato sauce and the orders included mashed potatoes, pickled beets, and cucumbers and onions. The portions are really large (two rolls each) so we got four meals out of the one order. Here’s the dill sauce version:

It’s really important right now to support all your local businesses. This is a very difficult time for them and many have closed, some permanently. 

We haven’t been going to barbers or beauty parlours and Lance really needed a head shave. He has a set of clippers so I volunteered to do the deed. Turns out I’m pretty good at it.

Tools of my trade:

Here’s Lance ready for the clippers and pretty relaxed.

The one thing I stupidly did not do was take an “after” photo - but the buzz cut came out so well that Lance has said I can do it again.

We found face masks at Compre Bien in Grecia. This one is washable and made here in Costa Rica. We are using them when in shops or around groups of people.

We saw a double rainbow from our house the other day - very rare. Isn’t that tree amazing? It’s the Guanacaste tree I mentioned in a recent post and it’s absolutely enormous.

I have a couple of orchids blooming:

So that’s about what is going on with us during this awful virus time. We are happy to be in this little country. Costa Rica is doing an excellent job of controlling, tracking and treating. Citizens are taking the recommendations and restrictions seriously for the most part.

Kermit is wearing his mask. Are you?