Yesterday (Sunday) we had lunch at the Red Door Restaurante y Cafeteria.
Their original location was on the plaza by the hospital but it permanently closed. Back then, their name was Cevichera Red Door and it was quite small.
They have now reopened at the old location of El Patio Gourmet in Grecia. Their grand opening was on January 23, 2022. The reopening received lots of positive reviews so we decided to try it out.
This location is much larger then their old one and the setting is very nice. You walk off the street into a shaded and cool open sided restaurant:
Lots of places to choose to sit:
As of this date, they do not yet have their liquor licence. Lance ordered a fruit drink smoothie and I tried the pineapple/basil herb drink (on the right) and it was delicious. I’ll try and duplicate it at home.
Lance ordered the grilled marlin, topped with a sauce that included shrimp, scallops and two mussels. He generously gave me the mussels because I do like my shellfish. It also came with hand cut fries and steamed vegetables.
For me, I ordered the breaded shrimp with buffalo sauce, cole slaw and fries. They must have been jumbo shrimp because they were really large, but I ate all of them but couldn’t finish the fries.
Our orders - mine is in the foreground and Lance’s is in the background.
As I have said many times before, food portions here in Costa Rica are generously large and we can hardly ever finish what we have been served. Once again, we asked for take away and tonight we are dining on grilled marlin, hand cut fries and vegetables.
If you are in Grecia, highly recommend you eat here. I’ve read good things about their ceviches and I think that is what I might order on our next visit.
February 12, 2022, marked our 40th wedding anniversary and February 14, 2022, marked our 6th wedding anniversary!
How did we achieve this, you ask? February 12, 1982, was when we married in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and February 14, 2016, was when we got married in Costa Rica. I did a blog post about this wedding and you can read it here.
We decided to drive to San Jose for a weekend stay. I couldn’t get reservations at Hotel Aranjuez, where we stayed for a week when we first arrived in Costa Rica May, 2011.
The Gran Hotel had vacancies so this is where we spent two nights. This is the high season so I was surprised we were able to get a reservation. The hotel has undergone a lot of renovations inside since the last time we were there but part of the historic 1930’s exterior has been retained. The Gran Hotel is in an excellent location - steps from the National Theatre, a pedestrian walkway which extends for several blocks, the Gold Museum, shops, cafes, the Plaza de la Cultura and so on.
Staff are very friendly, bilingual and helpful. We left our car with the parking valets out front and they whisked it off to a nearby lot. Parking is $25 USD for 24 hours. It’s worth it. Our luggage was first taken up to the 5th floor - this is where check in/check out is and also the piano lounge and dining area.
That done, our luggage was then taken to our room on the 4th floor. We had a king bed room with inside view. It was small but very comfortable, with a mini fridge, a safe, very large wall TV, toiletries, etc. Check in time is 3:00 pm.
We had dinner at the hotel. The view is excellent. Very good menu and bar drink choices. We opted to share the cured meats and cheese board which came with marinated olives and bread. Drinks: Tito’s handmade vodka.
The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel’s buffet. Lots and lots of choices, including Costa Rican traditional foods.
We discovered that John Fitzgerald Kennedy (USA president from 1961 to 1963) had visited Costa Rica in March, 1963 and stayed at the Gran Hotel. On the fourth floor we discovered this:
I sat in one of the chairs and imagined that JFK had sat in that very same chair. Here is a video of his visit.
Because we had been to San Jose several times before, visiting the National Theatre, the museums, the parks and so on, we just opted to relax around the hotel area. We went to their casino but were not that impressed with it. There is a Peri grocery store close by and we picked up some items to take home. I also had to pay our electric bill and we were directed to an ICE office not far from the hotel.
On the way there, a young fellow approached us and asked if we spoke English. He was very relieved to find out we did. He proceeded to tell us a tale of great woe …. he had been robbed - his backpack was torn off his neck (showed us neck injuries) - he needed to get to the airport to meet his parents - but had no money to get there. He had a vaguely British accent. Anyway, we gave him a few colones and he thanked us profusely. Yes, most probably none of his story was true but his performance was worth it.
Back to our hotel and decided to have cold fruit drinks at the Quiznos outlet. There we could sit, watch the world go by and relax. A tour group:
The National Theatre:
So after this exhausting day, and to give the housekeeper time to clean our room, we went up to the 5th floor lounge. There we could sit quietly, listening to the piano player and checking our emails. There are a lot of pigeons in the vicinity of this hotel. They hang around the Plaza de la Cultura where people feed them and tourists take photos.
The pigeons were quite active on the window ledges and seemed to be in tune with the piano player. I made this video of them through one of the windows.
One thing we wanted to do in San Jose was go for dim sum. This was one of our favourite meals when we lived on the west coast of Canada. We went to Restaurante Casa China (aka China House) on Sunday, before driving home. We have eaten here previously. Excellent dim sum and we ordered extra to take home with us.
During January, visits to this blog were received from the following 13 countries:
The total number of countries and non-independent jurisdictions from which visits have been received remains at 134. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions such as the Isle of Man, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, etc.
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The following is a summary of weather for the month in the area where we live:
January 2022 had cooler overnight lows and hotter daytime highs than January 2021. In each year, there was only one day with measurable rainfall. The relatively small amount of rain that was produced on the one day this year (0.09 inches) was actually a deluge lasting a very short period of time.
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Covid-19 Update
The following table updates information which appeared in my blog entry posted on January 11, 2022:
Since my last post, the death rates in all three countries have dropped significantly. I think this is due to the Omnicron variant which is not only much more contagious than the original Covid-19 and its Delta variant but also much less lethal. Although this may be counterintuitive for some, the death rates measured from the onset of Covid-19 and its Delta variant are muted when averaged with the much lower death rates of the many more people who contract the Omnicron variant and survive the experience.
This is borne out by what appears to be happening in Costa Rica. The Omnicron variant did not take hold in Costa Rica until a month or so after it arrived in Canada and the US. As a result, Canada moved ahead of Costa Rica with the lowest death rate (see my blog entry posted on January 11). However, as I speculated in that post, the numbers could change if the Omnicron variant took hold in Costa Rica. In fact, the numbers have changed. It once again appears that Costa Rica is handling the Covid-19 issue just as well as or better than either Canada or the US.
If you want to see how some other country is doing in comparison to Costa Rica, then visit the website of Worldometer. Numbers for populations, reported cases and reported deaths can be obtained from that site. All that is then needed is some simple math to calculate the percentage death rate for the other country and the death rate in that country compared to Costa Rica.
If you want more up to date information and statistics on the situation in Costa Rica, including various locales in Costa Rica, then the web site of the Costa Rican Ministry of Health ("Ministerio de Salud") is a good source. If you do not understand Spanish, then you should enable translation features on your web browser if they are available.
Lance discovered a new restaurant and we ate lunch there yesterday. It is the Chirinquitos del Rio, situated beside the Rio Rosales, El Poró, Grecia.
It’s located in a lovely setting right beside the river Rosales. As is usual in Costa Rica, the restaurant is open sided so the fresh tropical breezes blow through. Lots of greenery around the eating areas makes for a cool interior.
First order of business - drinks - sangria for two. Service is prompt and friendly.
It was excellent. The pork was tender, with beans, rice, avocado balls on top, tomatoes, etc. Very large portion so I asked for para llevar (for take away) for half of it.
Inside the giant masa shell was shredded chicken, refried black beans, and cheese. The link I have provided above refers to authentic Mexican chalupas which seem to be made differently then Costa Rican ones. Nevertheless, Lance said it was delicious.
The restaurant grounds are really nice so we walked around a bit after our meal.
A lily pond:
Orchids:
Staghorn fern:
Bananas for the kitchen:
Menu:
Staff wear masks and there are hand washing stations. There is a parking attendant on duty. We were the first to arrive but the restaurant started filling up quickly after that.
Yesterday, we were fortunate to meet Romeo Gallegos, a potter from the town of San Juan de Oriente (aka the town of potters), Nicaragua.
He and his wife create really lovely vases and other pottery items. The designs are beautifully done. Things are difficult in Nicaragua these days. To earn money for his family, he comes to Costa Rica and sells his wares for very reasonable prices.
He posted his available work on Facebook and I ordered a vase. Lots of other people were claiming the pieces they wanted. He travels around to Atenas, Grecia and San Ramon and I think he will take himself to wherever somebody wants his pottery.
We met him in Grecia and he saw me, pointed and said “Diana”! I pointed at him and said “Romeo”! He knows me from Facebook and also that I too do art - the caballos (horses) and vacas (cows) as he said.
He showed me a matching piece to my vase so I bought that also. I so admire how hard working this man is.
During December, visits to this blog were received from the following 18 countries:
The total number of countries and non-independent jurisdictions from which visits have been received has risen to 134. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions such as Greenland, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, etc.
Côte d'Ivoire (aka Ivory Coast) in West Africa is a new country. The visit from that country originated from the capital city of Abidjan.
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The following is a summary of the weather for the month and year in the area where we live:
In December, it became apparent that the “green season” was definitely over and the “dry season” was well underway. There were only 4 days with rainfall and the amount was minimal.
For the year as a whole, the following table summarizes the amounts and ranges of rainfall in the area where we live:
The following graph illustrates the amount and timing of rainfall in 2021 compared to 2019 and 2020 in the area where we live:
In other areas of the country, the amounts, ranges and patterns of rainfall can differ significantly from where we live.
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Covid-19 Update
The following table updates information which appeared in my blog entry posted on December 12, 2021:
The death rates in all three countries have dropped. That in Costa Rica has dropped by 0.03 percentage points. However, more dramatically, that in Canada has dropped by 0.40 percentage points and that in the United States has dropped by 0.20 percentage points.
Until these latest numbers, Costa Rica has consistently had the lowest death rate of the three countries. Canada is now in that position and the United States is moving closer. Speculating, the reason may be attributable to the Omicron variant of Covid-19. Apparently, the number of negative outcomes for those who become infected by this variant is significantly less than those infected by the original version and the Delta variant. Accordingly, as the Omicron variant surges as it has done in Canada and the United States beginning in early December 2021, the overall death rate drops when averaged from the onset of Covid-19 in early 2020.
In contrast, it appears that the Omicron variant just began to take hold in Costa Rica earlier this month. If my speculation is correct and the variant fully takes hold, then in the next month or two there should be a dramatic drop in the death rate in Costa Rica as in Canada and the United States.
I was very honoured last year to be asked to do a memorial painting of Jack, the much loved pet of the Bowman family in Ontario, Canada. Here is the final painting:
It is acrylic on canvas panel, 18”x24”. Photo reference: Jack’s owner Kim Bowman. I received final approval yesterday, have signed it and will be applying two coats of varnish. When I am confident the varnish is completely dry, Jack will be leaving Costa Rica on his way to the Bowman family.
So how did Kim find me? I follow Farmer Tim on Facebook. He is a dairy farmer in southern Ontario and shares the daily life of a farmer and promotes the Canadian dairy industry.
Once a year, Farmer Tim dedicates a post to his followers thanking them for their support. If you have a business, product, charity, etc., this is your chance to advertise for free on his Facebook page. His posts reach over a million people each month. So I took advantage of this offer and posted the link to my art website which is here. Thank you, Farmer Tim.
Kim saw my link and contacted me, asking if I would paint Jack and of course I said yes. Her reference photo was at an interesting angle. As the painting progressed, I felt I was getting to know Jack and I wanted to smooch his soft velvety nose!
Thanks so much, Kim, for trusting me with your Jack.
