1/11: Bienvenido a Costa Rica
There's no way to sugar-coat it - travel is exhausting. You would think that sitting in a tube for five hours would be easy. "Sit back, relax" is oxymoronic in today's air travel.
I was able to fly direct from Dulles to San Jose which was nice and the 8:30 flight was not horrible since I was in an airport hotel but it still meant getting up at 5:00. I picked a seat near the back of the plane hoping that I wouldn't have a neighbor (no such luck) and because I didn't need to make a connection. I also figured I'd wait for Honora in the airport and we could head into the city together.
So while I waiting for the plane to unload 200+ passengers in front of me, I chatted up the flight attendants and enjoyed the first blast of tropical air. This is the view out the back door.
Here's what you see before your get to customs. Much nicer than the pitbulls at JFK.
It took easily an hour to get through immigration and customs, not because they were understaffed, but because there was plane after plane disgorging tourists.
I am sitting in a cafeteria on the ground level of the airport with doors that open to the street and although I not technically outside, it is an enjoyable mid-70s.
We took a cab to our hotel, which is a really cool, funky place with a hostel feel to it, but our room had a private bathroom.
This is the registration desk.
Nothing in the property is square. This little nook was on the way to the wing where our room was located. The walkway behind these chairs required multiple half-staircases. It's a hassle if you have a heavy suitcase but impossible if you're disabled.
This is the bistro/bar off the registration area. You can't tell from this picture but everyone here was under 35. Most of them had backpacks instead of heavy suitcases so no elevators = no problem.
Here's some of the wall art. My favorite.
(Next morning) Here is what our sleeping room looks like. The curtains make it possible for four unrelated adults to share the room.
Out of respect for my roommates, I had a "meeting" in one of the public bathrooms and then went exploring to see what the rest of the property looked like. They have a room they call the library.
This is the kitchen/common space.
And some other spaces.
What we saw of San Jose on the ride in from the airport was unexceptional. It is a big city that is pretty beat up. But the hotel is in an older part of town with some buildings that probably have some interesting history.
Honora and I went walking around the neighborhood looking for food.
We stumbled upon a a long pedestrian walkway that reminded me of Las Ramblas in Barcelona.
There were shops on both sides for about 10 blocks and sadly, about half of the food stalls were American fast food joints.
We settled on one of the nicer sit-down places and while it wasn't outside, it was still open-air.
I was able to fly direct from Dulles to San Jose which was nice and the 8:30 flight was not horrible since I was in an airport hotel but it still meant getting up at 5:00. I picked a seat near the back of the plane hoping that I wouldn't have a neighbor (no such luck) and because I didn't need to make a connection. I also figured I'd wait for Honora in the airport and we could head into the city together.
So while I waiting for the plane to unload 200+ passengers in front of me, I chatted up the flight attendants and enjoyed the first blast of tropical air. This is the view out the back door.
Here's what you see before your get to customs. Much nicer than the pitbulls at JFK.
It took easily an hour to get through immigration and customs, not because they were understaffed, but because there was plane after plane disgorging tourists.
I am sitting in a cafeteria on the ground level of the airport with doors that open to the street and although I not technically outside, it is an enjoyable mid-70s.
We took a cab to our hotel, which is a really cool, funky place with a hostel feel to it, but our room had a private bathroom.
This is the registration desk.
Nothing in the property is square. This little nook was on the way to the wing where our room was located. The walkway behind these chairs required multiple half-staircases. It's a hassle if you have a heavy suitcase but impossible if you're disabled.
This is the bistro/bar off the registration area. You can't tell from this picture but everyone here was under 35. Most of them had backpacks instead of heavy suitcases so no elevators = no problem.
Here's some of the wall art. My favorite.
(Next morning) Here is what our sleeping room looks like. The curtains make it possible for four unrelated adults to share the room.
Out of respect for my roommates, I had a "meeting" in one of the public bathrooms and then went exploring to see what the rest of the property looked like. They have a room they call the library.
This is the kitchen/common space.
And some other spaces.
What we saw of San Jose on the ride in from the airport was unexceptional. It is a big city that is pretty beat up. But the hotel is in an older part of town with some buildings that probably have some interesting history.
Honora and I went walking around the neighborhood looking for food.
We stumbled upon a a long pedestrian walkway that reminded me of Las Ramblas in Barcelona.
There were shops on both sides for about 10 blocks and sadly, about half of the food stalls were American fast food joints.
We settled on one of the nicer sit-down places and while it wasn't outside, it was still open-air.
Nice pictures - looks like a nice place to visit. While you are enjoying 70 degree weather, we went from the 60's earlier this morning down currently to the low 30's and dropping. Talk about climate changing...!
ReplyDelete