July 23: Costa Rica with Alexandra

Dear Friends and Relatives,

Well, it has been quite an adventure so far, and right now I have a good Internet connection at this mountain top aerie, while the fog lingers in the valley, so I thought I would catch you up on our latest exploits.  I say "our" because Alexandra, my daughter, is with me, and no adventure could be better without her extra spice and contribution!

On July 22 she left Cleveland for Dallas, with an intermediary stop in Houston, where she changed planes.  The first flight started late, which meant the tight turnaround to the second flight was in question.  Of course she missed the second flight by six minutes, and her luggage could not have made it to the second flight anyway, so she and her luggage got on the next flight, which put her into Dallas at 10:30 p.m. instead of 8:42.  She wanted to sleep at the airport, since we had a 6:00 a.m. flight to Ft. Lauderdale, but I nixed that, picked her up, and drove her to Hart's, where we spent the night and got up the next morning at 3:00 in order to get to the airport.  Alexandra called Uber, and within a few minutes we were on our way.  Even at 4:30 a.m., when we arrived, there were scads of people at the Spirit desks and in the Security lines.  We checked in rather easily, gave up our luggage, went through Security, and practically immediately boarded the plane to Ft. Lauderdale.  About 2 1/2 hours in length, it was an uneventful flight.  Once there, we shared a Cuban sandwich with cheese and ham, then boarded the next plane to San José, Costa Rica, another 2 1/2 hour flight.  One treat, just after we took off, was seeing Miami in the distance.  

At the airport, we passed through Passport Control and Customs without mishap.  The only little snafu was that Alexandra, somewhere en route, lost one of the double wheels to her new piece of luggage, but that did not impede the smooth roll of the luggage piece significantly.  Mine was intact, though I will be careful to handle it gingerly in the future.  Money at the ATM machine was next in importance, and so we extracted colones for the next few days.

Once we had attained the Arrivals Hall, we spotted Federico Herrera, our driver, interpreter, and representative of GlobeAware, the company my friend Kimberley Haley-Coleman runs.  He had come in a van, and with that vehicle spirited us away on a wild ride through the city of San José.  It was rather warm and humid, and tons of people were walking the streets, honking their car horns, dodging traffic situations I was glad I was not trying to handle.  Federico was absolutely masterful, asserting his right of way, inserting the van into the tightest spots, and talking and gesticulating at the same time.  A meek and mild driver is not what is called for here.  On the way to the Villa Alas Azules, where we are staying, we stopped at a grocery for supplies, and later at a fruit and vegetable vendor in Cartago, as well as another grocery store to buy coffee recommended by Federico, since coffee is one of Costa Rica's greatest exports.  Well provisioned, we proceeded to the villa where we were staying.

A word about Cartago: it was founded in 1563 by Coronado, and was Costa Rica's capital for 300 years before the center of power was moved to San José in 1823.  Like its ancient namesake, the city has been razed a number of times, although in this case by earthquakes instead of Romans.  The earthquakes were in 1823 and 1910.  Most of the town's fine buildings were destroyed.  

After Cartago, we drove to Orosí.  The Valle Orosí occupies a deep bowl nine km to the SE of Cartago.  Orosí is on one side of the Lago de Cachi, and Ujarrás is on the other.  Southeast lies a wildlife-rich park that is one of the best places for rain forest walking--the Parque Nacional Tapanti-Macizo Cerro de la Muerte.  The town of Orosí is in a little bowl between thick forested hills and coffee plantations.  It is considered to be one of the most picturesque villages in Costa Rica.  

We arrived at the Villa Alas Azules at about 4:00, and Fred and Mathilda, the two peacocks, were on hand to greet us.  The house is absolutely magical, sitting high atop a hill.  The flora is lush, and there is a gardener, Luis, to keep things in tip-top shape on that front.  There is a generous kitchen, den, and terrace, where we had dinner last night to a view of clouds rolling in over the valley and street lights illuminated in the distance, like strung pearls!  Magic!  We roamed the grounds, and then Alexandra and Federico stared cooking dinner, which consisted of rice and a stupendous sauce containing a  Costa Rican vegetable I had never tasted before and which I loved--chayote.  We also had a medley of cooked vegetables which included carrots, onions, broccoli, and celery, and a salad which included garbanzo beans, tomatoes, and cucumbers.  It was an all-vegetable dinner and so scrumptious.  Alexandra and I keep asking Federico all kinds of cuisine questions, and look forward to trying new things while we are here.  Last night, before dinner, we had sliced mango, which was superb.  

The sun sets here at about 6:30, and all of us were bushed anyway, so we called it a night by 7:00 p.m.!!!!  Alexandra and I slept in bunkbeds, she above me.  My most vivid recollections of bunkbeds are Alexandra on one in a rorbu or fisherman's hut in Nusfjord, Norway, and then one in Cesky Krumlov, in the Czech Republic.  We slept like logs!

It is pretty early in the morning of July 24, and Alexandra has just joined me.  Can't wait to try some of the superb coffee we bought yesterday.  At breakfast, we will also have a powwow as to what sites to see today.  I have at least four in mind from my research, so we will see what is feasible.  So far, so good!  Amazing place!  As ever, Sylvia. P.S.  It being Sunday, the voices of the members of a church choir in the valley below drift up to us here in our aerie.  Magical!  

Sylvia M. Venable, PhD

Instructor, German

St. John's Episcopal School

Dallas, Texas