Saturday, February 9
Awoke, as usual, to the calls of the howler monkeys, doves, and other birds, and to the sounds of the pool being cleaned. This happens every morning, but this was a bigger cleaning than usual. The pool had been closed for two days because it had gotten too dirty - too many swimmers wearing too much suntan lotion in a small space of time. When they closed the pool, they added a chemical that caused the oils and other stuff that clouded the water to precipitate out to the bottom of the pool. The precipitate looked like green algae all over the bottom of the pool, but it wasn't. The green color enabled the pool cleaners to easily see and vacuum up the precipitate. So, today the pool is clear and clean again, but almost no one is using it. The two large groups that most contributed to the problem have left.
We lazed about this morning and then walked down to the Creperie (La Luna Plata) for breakfast - waffles topped with fresh fruit and some delicious coffee. On the walk to the Creperie, we passed a restaurant that we had been to last evening - Delicias de La Mar. We didn't actually have dinner there, just drinks - a strawberry margarita for me and a Mohito for Bob - and a snack. Sitting outdoors was lovely. The food and drink was so-so.
Delicias de la Mar, Las Pamas, El Coco, Costa Rica. (Photo by Connie)
After breakfast and a little wandering around, we saw a fruit stand across the road from the Las Palmas development entrance. We ended up buying a chilled coconut (coco frio) into which the proprietor had punched a hole and inserted a straw. And we drank chilled and undiluted coconut milk. I liked it. It was "too sweet" for Bob.
Fruit vendor selling Coco Frio, Playas del Coco, CR (Photo by Bob)
Connie sipping Coco Frio (cold coconut milk). (Photo by Bob)
Bob at fruit stand sipping Coco Frio (cold coconut milk). (Photo by Connie)
After a relaxing afternoon, we freshened up to go out to dinner. A tour operator at the development, Luis, had recommended a restaurant to us - an Italian restaurant, (Villa Italia) newly opened, on the other side of El Coco. He made a reservation for us for 6:30 and set us up with a taxi that would pick us up at 6:15.
The pickup time came and went. We made some allowances for "Tico time", but at 7:00 pm, we finally called another taxi. We were late for our reservation, but there were still several tables available.
The dinner became a delightful surprise. The restaurant has a lovely outdoor European ambience. We had a glass of wine, then ordered our dinners. Bob had lightly fried calamari on a bed of greens, which he said was "out of this world." I had homemade fresh fettuccine with bolognese sauce and freshly grated cheese - also delicious. Portions were a little on the small size, but just right for us. And this gave us an excuse to order dessert - two absolutely delicious creations, for which we have no names, though we do have pictures:
Bob and Connie at Villa Italia, Playas del Coco, Costa Rica.
Back home, we are putting this blog to bed and then we will retire too. We are heading out early tomorrow morning for a trip to Palo Verde National Park. More about that soon.
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment