A Wednesday in Atenas

Wednesday, March 13

Today started early - about 6 am - and in a delightful way. Still in our p.j.'s, we spontaneously started dancing in the living room, mostly to some latin tunes. Bob had brought with him his portable Bose speaker and his iPhone loaded with many of his/our favorite dance tunes. In El Coco, we danced a few times in our living room, but never in the morning and not since we've been in Atenas. It was fun!

A little later, we headed over to Kay's Gringo Postres for breakfast. We were the first people there, and it was a slow morning, so once again we were able to chat it up with Kay for a while. I asked her where in Costa Rica did she most like to visit and she answered "Arenal and Manuel Antonio." These are two National Parks and environs that I have wanted to visit too. She shared more information about related sights, restaurants, and places to stay. Both of these parks are far enough away to require at least one overnight, maybe two. I am hoping that we might still get to one of them before we leave, but time is running short.

We stayed at Kay's for almost two hours. After breakfast, I wrote and posted a blog post ("Is Progress Always a Good Thing?") and Bob started writing a piece comparing government regulation in the USA and in Costa Rica. This is a topic we have been discussing a lot since we arrived in Costa Rica. His post should go up soon.

Back at our apartment, we were relaxing around 12:45 when we heard the nearby church bells pealing like crazy. Our hunch was right. The bells were celebrating the fact that a new Pope had been chosen. We watched CNN for about an hour, until Pope Francis I made his appearance and speech on the balcony. It was fun to watch this history-making event unfold from our living room here in Costa Rica. Though there haven't been any audible celebrations in the streets today, I am sure that Costa Rican Catholics must be thrilled to have a Latin American, Spanish-speaking Pope for the first time ever.

Afterwards, we grabbed a light lunch at Gelly's - a restaurant facing the Parque Central. Gelly's specializes in light fare, especially gelato. We had not been here before, but we most likely will go there again. It is about two blocks from where we are staying. Delicious gelato!

View of Gelly's, shot from the park. Atenas, Costa Rica. (Photo by Bob)

 

Bob at Gelly's, Atenas, Costa Rica. (Photo by Connie)

 

After a relaxing afternoon of writing, reading, and napping we got ourselves cleaned up and we headed out to try a new (to us) restaurant, La Trocha. This restaurant had come up in an Internet search and had rave reviews. Our friends, Phil and Diana, had also given it high marks. La Trocha is located about a mile from our place, on a side road off Route 3 heading east. It was still light and we decided to walk. But when we arrived there, it was closed. Disappointing. Next time, we'll call first!

By then, it was getting dark, but we walked back to town anyway. Fortunately, we had a powerful flashlight with us to help us spot all the holes and other hazards along the way. We headed for La Trilla restaurant, which is also on this road, only a few blocks from where we live. We had been here once before and had enjoyed the ambience and the food. We both had beef dishes (filet mignon and sirloin) and the beef was disappointing, but the rest of the meal was very nice. A couple of frosty Imperial cervezas (beers) helped make up for the beef.

 

If you have been following this blog, you must have noticed how many times we have dined out. Today, we ate all three meals out. Most days, we eat two out and one at home. Although we have a small galley kitchen in our apartment, we have found it easier - and possibly less expensive - to eat out. The kitchen has a nice oven (unlike the one we had in El Coco, which didn't function very well) and refrigerator. However, this kitchen has almost no counter space for food prep, very few cooking pots (no fry pans) and utensils, and no cabinet space for storing food. In addition, we have found food prices to be high enough at the supermarkets that our groceries seem to cost as much, or more, than our meals out. We have found some places that serve very good food for very reasonable prices, and these are the ones we return to often.

It will be an early night tonight. Tomorrow, we plan to be on a seven AM bus headed for Sarchi via Alejuela.

 

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