Sayonara San Jose; Buenos Bogota

Our final day in Costa Rica was a pretty slow day in San Jose. We figured out how to do our laundry - easier than we thought - by simply dropping it off at our very accommodating hostel. Given the consistently humid weather in Costa Rica we wanted everything properly dried (done by a machine, not air dried) before packing it up for Colombia. Then we headed for a nearby coffee shop to catch up on some emails and back-logged blog posts. Sarah was especially excited to stop at Viva Café because they had - you guessed it! - iced coffee.

The baristas told us they were jealous because we came from New York - a place they said had an "excellent coffee culture." I would've thought Latin America had a pretty strong coffee culture too, but I guess nothing beats NYC!

Around mid-day we headed to lunch at Mantras Veggie Café - we wanted to try something new and a little on the healthier side. It didn't disappoint. Sort of hard to find (like a lot of places in San Jose) but worth the trip.

Then we just walked around one last time and tried to see the last few remaining sites we hadn't seen on our previous stays in San Jose. The weather was actually great (the best we've had yet in San Jose) and we were pleasantly surprised by some of the views we got.

Iglesia Santa Teresita.

Parque Nacional.

The highlight of the day came at dinner. We met up with a friend-of-a-friend who grew up in San Jose for dinner at Restaurante Grano de Oro, one of the best places in town. We've been budget-conscious eaters up to this point so this luxurious treat was very welcome. It was a very fun evening and the perfect end to our time in Costa Rica.

Today we woke up early to get to the airport for our flight to Bogota. We over-estimated the amount of traffic and lines at security so we had a little extra time to take in the views one last time.

Not quite the same backdrop as LaGuardia.

Another thing we did not anticipate was the meal service on a short (albeit international) flight. We ate breakfast at the airport, but were offered a full meal on board (and a full open bar) even though we would only be in the air for an hour and a half. We'll have to keep this in mind for the rest of our flights coming up...

Airport security in Bogota did not take long and the taxi line was short; it took longer to get through downtown traffic to our hotel than to get out of the airport. We're staying at Hotel La Mansion which is in a residential neighborhood about half an hour's walk from the Zona Rosa (nightlife district). After we got settled in, we figured we'd walk down to check it out; felt a lot like SoHo - lotof restaurants and shops. We moseyed around for a bit, then grabbed a bite at Central Cevicheria. Sarah and I shared a couple different small dishes and all were great - if you're ever in Bogota, we highly recommend you stop by!

Beautiful sunny afternoon for a walk around Bogota.

Since we got free lunch at 11am on our flight we were hungry for dinner a little early and basically had Central Cevicheria to ourselves.

Obligatory food picture - we got the chowder, fried fish balls and (of course!) ceviche.

Tomorrow we'll explore more of the city; for now, we're beat after a long day of travel and are heading to bed!

One other note for anyone interested: after we leave each country, we are going to upload our favorite pictures in the Galleries page; you can check out Costa Rica and Panama now!

Back to San Jose

Sunday and Monday revolved primarily around getting from Bocas back to San Jose but before describing those days in detail, I am compelled to detail one of the worst meals Alex and I have ever had. On Saturday evening, after a perfect day of sailing, we cleaned up and got ready to head out to dinner. It was so nice outside we figured we would just walk for a bit and find a cute spot for grabbing a bite, deciding for the first time to “live on the edge” and not consult Tripadvisor beforehand. All I can say is, what a mistake! (Link to my own Tripadvisor review). Each dish was a letdown – limp, tough ceviche that appeared to be from a can and fish that was described as salmon but certainly was not. I couldn’t bring myself to photograph this “meal” but If you find yourself in Bocas Del Toro, do NOT eat at El Limbo on the Sea. I am certain we won’t be checking reviews before every single meal but it’s going to be hard to do after this one.

Now that I have that out of my system…Sunday was a pretty gloomy day, almost like penance for the gorgeous weather we had on Saturday. Alex wasn’t feeling well (probably from our horrible meal the previous night) so we mostly spent the day reading and ran some errands before packing for the trip back to San Jose on Monday.

Scarred from our previous dinner, we went back to Fat Boy Treats for a reliably delicious meal of cheesesteaks. 

Delicious cheesesteaks in Panama - one chicken, one steak.

Not pictured is the $0.75 cherry cupcake I scarfed down immediately afterward. So delicious I almost forgot about Saturday’s dinner. After a late lunch, we headed back to our hotel to relax and get organized. Later on, we decided to take a walk and grab a drink to watch the sunset. We perched at La Buga and had a really nice time enjoying the scenery.

Last sunset in Bocas.

Street view from La Buga.

Afterward, we finally checked out the falafel stand run by the Jewish Chabad next door, which was cheap, tasty and satisfying. We’ve been really impressed by the different types of cuisine we’ve found throughout Costa Rica and Panama so far.

We woke up on Monday at 6am to get ready for our 13 hour day of travel back to San Jose. Having already done the Panama / Costa Rica border crossing, we felt much more prepared for what was to come. Unfortunately, I felt pretty sick the entire day and my stomach was really tested when we drove past a putrid garbage dump covered with vultures and pouring onto the main road out of Almirante. Having powered through that odor, I was tested once again when we had to walk the last half mile to the border - a protest had shut down the road! Once we finally reached Puerto Viejo and had lunch (plain cheese quesadilla for me please), I started to feel better so the journey back was a lot more pleasant.

Tired and hungry we arrived in San Jose just as the sun was setting. We checked back into the Costa Rica Guesthouse and shared a burger at our dependable local spot, Craic (funny enough, we found this place randomly without Tripadvisor and it has become a staple while in San Jose!) Tomorrow is our last day in Costa Rica but we are excited to be heading to Colombia after that.

Limoncello at Last!

As aspiring foodies, Alex and I wanted to track down a few local places known for both their cuisine and affordable prices. After spotting Limoncello on Tripadvisor, which was noted as the 8th best restaurant in San Jose (and 0.4 miles from our hostel), we were determined to head there for dinner. The address translated to "behind the movie theatre" so we struggled to find the actual location without an address on our first day, but today we finally found it - and we are so glad we did!

I am wearing the nicest outfit I packed so expect to see it multiple times.

Let me just say that the reviews on Tripadvisor are spot on. For the cost of a sitdown lunch in NYC we had a bottle of wine, basket of homemade rolls, massive antipasti platter and two pasta entrees - mine consisted of a spicy tomato sauce with clams, mussels, calamari and shrimp; Alex's ravioli was stuffed with prosciutto and mozzarella. Eventually we need to stop eating like we are on vacation for a year! While we had a pretty hard time locating Limoncello, we would highly recommend it to anyone passing through San Jose.

Earlier in the day, we started with free breakfast at our hostel - they actually asked us what we wanted and then prepared it! We spent the next few hours walking around San Jose before the daily rainclouds moved in.

A cathedral in central San Jose.

Inside the cathedral.

Near the courthouse and decked out in full-on backpacking gear. So far the nicest areas we have seen are located around government buildings.

Government offices in the center of town (and Alex's shoulder).

After exploring the city a bit more we made our way a few miles west to Parque La Sabana. It's hard to compare to Central Park in Manhattan, but it was a welcome respite from the often gritty streets of San Jose and the trees were really beautiful.

"Rainbow trees" according to Sarah.

Museo de Arte Costrricense.

The trees are huge.

By the time we made it back to our hostel it was time for a nap before leaving to track down our dinner spot. Tomorrow we leave for La Fortuna for 3 days and are looking forward to exploring the volcano.

Southbound

Well, there's no turning back now! Sarah and I left early this morning on our journey. My dad was kind enough to drop us off at Newark Airport shortly after 5am so we could catch our flight to San Jose, Costa Rica.

One bag each, ready to go.

We almost always fly out of LaGuardia or JFK; we forgot there is a pretty cool view of the city from Newark.

Nothing notable from the flight to report. It was on-time, had little turbulence and the woman in the window seat next to Sarah didn't make us get up once.

We landed around 11am local time (2 hours behind New York) and were able to easily grab our luggage and meet the shuttle to our hostel. Yes, this is my first time in a hostel. No, it's not a shared room with 15 other single people. It's actually a perfect accommodation for what we need: a place to stay for tonight and tomorrow as we explore San Jose before heading up to La Fortuna to see the Arenal volcano on Friday. The highlight of our shuttle experience was when Sarah tried to tip our driver with an old Colon note she somehow got at work - which is actually no longer in circulation. What's "oops" in Spanish?

We settled into our room and headed into town to grab lunch. Afterward we walked around some more, but it started raining so we cut our sightseeing short. Still more to explore tomorrow but we did see a few landmarks.

Teatro Nacional de Costa Rica.

Teatro Nacional de Costa Rica (from the inside).

View from one of the pedestrian streets.

The rain kept up so we headed to the hostel to relax a bit before dinner. We did some research to find a good place to eat (ended up deciding on a local restaurant called Limoncello), but we were unable to find it! They don't publish an address on their website (only general directions on how to get there) and no one seemed to have heard of it...despite the glowing reviews online. In any case, we ended up just having a burger at a pub close to our hostel that turned out to be amazing. Sarah described hers (which had mozzarella, bacon and short rib on top) as one of the best burgers she's ever had.

$2 beers were also a big win.

We're both pretty tired after a long day but looking forward to another day in San Jose tomorrow. Fingers crossed it's a little less rainy!