Tillie gets into the action of packing.
It’s Christmastime in Costa Rica. As we sit in the patio garden of the hotel, the Christmas music – worthy of any upscale mall in America – plays gently in the background. Jonathan had expressed hope that we might hear holiday music native to the country. Although that small hope was dashed quickly, we’re quite satisfied with the journey so far.
We left the house at about 2100 on Wednesday to catch our flight to Houston at 0030 Thursday morning. After picking up our boarding passes, checking the big raspberry colored bag, and navigating security, we got to the gate with two or so hours to spare. At that point, leaving the bags with Jonathan, I went to scope out the President’s Club, Continental’s First Class lounge. As we had used our points to book our flight in first class, I thought we might have a chance to partake of its services. The lady at the counter confirmed that as international first class customers, we were eligible. So we waited in the comfort of the lounge until we boarded. Arriving in Houston, after locating our gate for San José, we used the lounge there also.
Both legs of the flight were uneventful. At the San José airport, we deplaned via stairs and were bussed to the terminal, which is of modest size with about 10 jetway-equipped gates, with the middle third of the terminal under construction making about 1/3 of them unavailable. Passing immigration and customs, we booked and prepaid a taxi from the airport for the 20 minute ride into the city to our hotel. Riding into San José, you can see the usual signs of the global economy, with many multinational logos decorating the signs and buildings along the highway.
The Hotel Grano de Oro is described as a small boutique establishment that was once the home of a local coffee baron. It is an elegant hotel with a superb restaurant and a small gift shop specializing in Costa Rican artisans. We checked in about 1400 (Costa Rica is in the Central time zone), dropped our bags in the room and went for lunch. It was at lunch I offered Jonathan “condolences” on the Christmas music. (For clarification – I liked the music, and probably have some of it on my iPod.) We sat in the patio garden, which was decked out in poinsettias in the spirit of the season. Red bromeliads added to the festive air throughout the hotel also. For lunch I had a salad Nicoise while Jonathan had a goat cheese tart. Afterwards we took a nap that lasted until our dinner reservations at 1930. For dinner, I had boneless lamb chops with a macadamia nut crust while Jonathan had boneless pork ribs with a coffee based/infused glaze. The meals have been excellent.
Sitting at breakfast now, getting ready to plan the day, and prepare to be picked up by our Country Walkers guide tomorrow bright and early (0700).
Tillie gets into the action of packing.
Xena suggests to Tillie that she take a long one-way trip.
The obligatory shot of Jonathan while traveling (Houston airport).
The view of the small courtyard our room was on - a lot of red bromeliads add to the poinsettias.
Inside the room - very clean, tidy, and comfortable.
The patio garden's fountain was loaded with poinsettias.
We're both hopeless iPhone addicts.
We checked with the front desk about getting to-and-from the museums, and at the clerk’s suggestion, we headed out on foot. We walked along the main drag of the city directly to the museums. San José is not a lovely city, but it teems with life. After twenty minutes we reached the museum (Museos – Oro Precolombino – Numismática – Arte) located underground, below a city plaza. We were most interested in the gold museum and went there first. It was a good museum documenting more than pre-Columbian goldwork, but the pre-Columbian cultures of Costa Rica using gold as the theme with which to tell the cultural story. The pieces on display were exquisite in their design and workmanship. We also went through the “money museum” which described the use of currency in the country, eventually establishing colones (as in Cristóbal Colón – Christopher Columbus) in 1892 on the fourth centennial of Columbus’ discovery of the new world. After leaving the museum, Jonathan declared himself “museumed-out” so we never made it to the National Museum. Walking back to the hotel, we sat outside the lobby in the shade to cool off from the sunny walk, before adjourning to the hotel’s restaurant for lunch.
The restaurant in the hotel is excellent! I started with the gazpacho with guacamole and shrimp, followed by marinated chicken on orzo and vegetables. We returned to our room so Jonathan could take a nap – which meant we weren’t going to leave the hotel until picked up tomorrow by Country Walkers. I tried to nap but ended up reading my paperback. We had another excellent meal in the restaurant at dinner and returned to the room to set up our day packs and get ready for a bright and early pickup the next morning.