After breakfast at Kay’s Cafe Pequeña Polonia in Atenas, we decided to drive to PriceSmart in Alajuela for some grocery shopping. This store is very similar to Costco in Canada and the USA.
It was Sunday and the store was packed. Lance was very wise and opted to stay in the car and read. I didn’t linger long and found what I wanted as fast as I could, in spite of those giant shopping carts jamming the aisles. A nice PriceSmart worker put me in a short lineup.
We did a dashcam video of our drive for those who may be wondering what the roads and scenery are like. Ignore the date on the video - it is not correct.
Here is a map showing the route we took from Atenas to PriceSmart:
During September, visits to this blog were received from the following 8 countries:
Each country is followed in brackets by the total number of visits received since records first started to be kept in November 2012.
From the time I started to keep track, the total number of countries and non-independent jurisdictions from which visits have been received remains at 135. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions - e.g., Macau, a special administrative region of China from which one visit has been received.
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The following is a summary of weather for September in the area where we live:
As in August, the average daytime high temperature in September was about 2°F (1°C) cooler than for the same period last year, whereas the average overnight low temperature was about 2°F (1°C) warmer. However, total rainfall for the month was only about two-thirds of the amount received last year. If the pattern continues, the total rainfall in 2023 will be substantially less than 2022.
Off Topic
Congratulations to Katalin Karikówho jointly with Drew Weissman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on October 2, 2023. I first mentioned her in my blog post on March 15, 2021: see the part headed “More About the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 Vaccine”. There, I noted that she had not been receiving the recognition she deserved. Things change!
For our English language reading material, we check out books from the free lending library at Kay’s Cafe Pequeña Polonia in Atenas. We had finished reading all the books we already had from there, so it was time to take a drive from Grecia to Atenas to have breakfast at Pequeña Polonia (“Small Poland” in English) and select some new books and return the old ones.
I wrote about Kay’s Cafe away back in 2011, not long after we moved to Costa Rica. You can read it here.
Here is the breakfast menu:
The prices are in colones. At today’s exchange rate, 1,000 colones translate to about $1.88 USD.
Lance ordered the American breakfast and I chose the special scrambled eggs. I forgot to take photos of the meals but I did take a snap of the decadent cold coffee drink I ordered. That drink was so worth it!
Pequeña Polonia is now carrying Polish smoked sausages and hams made by A Taste of Home - Poland. We bought a kielbasa sausage coil and some ham slices. Excellent quality.
Dashcam video of the drive:
Note: The time and date on the video is incorrect.
Our itinerary:
Turn onto Hwy. 107 and head SW to Grecia.
Into Grecia and downtown to the church.
Downtown Grecia continued and turn onto Hwy. 154 west.
Grecia and Hwy. 154 continued (MasxMenos grocery on right).
Grecia and Hwy. 154 continued (Compre Bien grocery on left).
Grecia outskirts and countryside (Vista Atenas peak in distance. Get off Hwy. 154 onto Hwy. 716.
Pass under Hwy. 1 (Inter-American) and down into the Rio Grande river valley.
Drive over a Bailey bridge, crossing the Rio Grande, then up and up to the top of the valley.
Hwy. 716 continued westward.
Hwy. 716 ends and we drive straight onto Hwy. 135 to Atenas.
Narrow and challenging Hwy. 135 towards Atenas.
Hwy. 135 into Atenas.
In Atenas, stop for jaywalking pedestrians. Arrive at Pequeña Polonia for breakfast, new reading material and more.
During August, visits to this blog were received from the following 11 countries and one unidentified location:
Each country is followed in brackets by the total number of visits received since records first started to be kept in November 2012. The same is true for Unidentified Locations.
From the time I started to keep track, the total number of countries and non-independent jurisdictions from which visits have been received remains at 135. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions - e.g. Isle of Man, a self-governing British Crown Dependency from which one visit has been received.
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The following is a summary of weather for August in the area where we live:
The average daytime high temperature was about 2°F (1°C) cooler than for the same period last year, whereas the average overnight low temperature was about 2°F (1°C) warmer.
With regard to rainfall, there was at least some rainfall on many days but the total amount for the month was only about 1/2 that received during the same period last year. Most mornings were marked by broken clouds followed by rain in the afternoons.
I have a lot of orchid plants ….. they are difficult to resist acquiring!
Two are in bloom now.
I think this is Guarianthe Aurantiaca. The orange colour of the blooms is amazing.
This is Phil the Phal (Phalaenopsis)
He has his own name tag:
When we stayed at La Terraza Guest House B&Bin December, 2022, I helped myself to a cutting from a lavender bush growing there. It took a few weeks to root in water and I then potted it up in soil. It’s flowering now and both the flowers and the stems have a wonderful aroma.
When I discovered that Northern Roots offered a mussel dish on their menu, we had to return once more for lunch which we did today. You can read about our first lunch at this restaurant HERE.
I love seafood and especially shellfish. On their menu, my choice is listed as mejillones con chorizo - mussels with chorizo sausage. Lance ordered shrimp with rice, which came with fries and a salad.
We started with a glass each of sangria:
Here is my mussel dish:
The toasted bread was perfect for dipping in the flavourful broth. In the centre of the plate are the chorizo, roasted tomatoes and onions with fresh dill on top. This is my new favourite and I will be ordering it again …. and again.
For dessert, we shared a crème brûlée. It’s so rich and yummy that one portion for two is plenty.
Cost for lunch for two: 23,650 CRC (approximately $44.00 USD).
Added bonus: as we were leaving, a mariachi band arrived and we listened to them for a little while. Here is a video I took of them (the sound quality is not that great):
During July, visits to this blog were received from the following 16 countries, Hong Kong and one unidentified location:
From the time I started to keep track, the total number of countries and non-independent jurisdictions from which visits have been received remains at 135. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions - e.g. Hong Kong which is a Special Administrative Region of China.
** Any single one of the Unidentified Location(s) could be a device that uses an IP address that is not registered to any country, region, or place or that is hidden by a proxy or VPN service. It could also be a device that is not connected to the internet directly, but through a satellite or cellular network that does not provide location information. It is possible that a ship or aircraft, or even the ISS, could use such a device and appear as an unknown location.
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The following is a summary of weather for July in the area where we live:
As is not unusual in July of any year, the ongoing "green" or rainy season included a mini-summer ("verano") with several consecutive days reminiscent of the dry season in Costa Rica (hotter days, cooler nights, no rain). The average daytime high and average overnight low temperatures were both slightly warmer than July 2022.
With regard to rainfall, and as the following chart illustrates, rainfall for the year until the end of July is significantly less (about 50%) than that for the same period in 2022. It will be interesting to see if the pattern persists.
