Ending in San Jose: Costa Rica Part 4

This post is my last Costa Rica recap, I promise!

We flew out of Drake Bay and got to San Jose on Saturday night. San Jose is a fun city, but it is nothing like the paradise of Drake Bay! By the time we got checked into our hostel, it was already starting to get dark (it gets dark around 6 PM down there), and we were ready to find dinner. The hostel had a pretty good looking restaurant upstairs, but we wanted to be adventurous and eat somewhere local. 

We started walking down the street and realize that San Jose is sketchy at night! So we settled on a little restaurant that was right next door. We ordered some casados that were supposed to come with rice, beans, yucca, maduros, a salad, and a a choice of fish, chicken, or steak. We had learned that meat in Costa Rica often comes fried, so we were sure to ask the waitress if the meat came “a la plancha” (grilled) and not “frito” (fried). The watriess said, “Si” and confirmed that it was “a la plancha” and “no frito,” and this is what happened:

I ordered the fish and it came super fried!! I could barley find the meat! My roommate ordered the grilled chicken fillet and ended up with chicken wings! Language barrier, I guess…at least I didn’t get fish sticks!

We were hungry, so we ate it. Part of being a spontaneous traveler is having things not turn out how you expect and rolling with it. However, it was disappointing especially because there were no maduros (sweet plantains) even though the menu promised there would be! Of course everything can be enjoyed in moderation, including fried fish or chicken, but we don’t really enjoy fried meats…sweets are our vice .

I don’t mean to complain because that meal certainly didn’t ruin our night. We went back to the hostel, drank some Imperials on the roof top bar, made some friends, and went out dancing! 

With pineapple! We spotted fresh pineapple behind the bar (I guess for pina coldas or something…) and we requested them as a beer garnish .

The next morning we decided to take advantage of the non-sketchy hostel restaurant were they speak English. We got a delicious breakfast:

Banana pancakes with fresh fruit!!! We also got free Costa Rican coffee.  And all this for $3.50…heck yes!

Then we went and wandered around the city. There was a huge art festival going on that day with lots of music, dancing, and food. There was also a big market set up where people sold jewelry, bags, fresh jams, chocolate, clothes, etc.  It was so much fun! And we got some delicious arepas being sold on the street:

We watched them cook the dough on a big hot stove, cut them open, and stuff with some beans, and marinated cabbage. Couldn’t have been fresher!! This really hit the spot .

Then we ate dinner in the hostel, and woke up at 5 am to go back to the states. I’m ready to plan my next trip to Costa Rica .

Now I am back in Georgia with lots of school work, and I’m doing a triathlon in 2 days!!! That’s right, I leave on Saturday morning to go to Nachez Trace, TN for a triathlon on Sunday. I just went to spin class tonight, which was the first real workout I’ve done since before Spring Break. Whoops. I do not feel in shape! So this triathlon is going to be completely for fun, and I’m not even going to worry about my time….wish me luck!

Good Food + Beach = :) Costa Rica Part 3!

I completely forgot to include a really cool photo from Monteverde! Check this out:

It’s a banana tree!! If you don’t pick the bananas at the right time, they start turning into flowers. Who knew?! I was very amused by this.

After Monteverde, we drove back to San Jose to get on a plane to Drake Bay in the Osa Peninsula down at the very bottom of Costa Rica. 

Meal on the side of the road on the way to the airport:

cheese empanada with black beans, veggies, and lots of MADUROS!!

This was a lot of food, but it was so cheap! And really delicious. Somehow, I never got sick of black beans…This kept me very full on our journey all the way down to Drake.

Drake Bay is spectacular! It’s not crowded or touristy at all down there, and it has gorgeous beaches, lush rainforest, great weather, and cool people. It was our absolute favorite place in Costa Rica! I would never even *think* of visiting Costa Rica without spending at least a couple days here. I wish we could have stayed a month.

we were HERE!

We rode horses on this beach one morning (after riding through the rainforest also). We heard that there was a yoga center down in Drake Bay, but we never found it. But my roommate and I did our own yoga right on this beach! It was incredibly relaxing.

First night in Drake Bay, we got some ceviche with tostones, which are cripsy fried plaintains. They are made from unripe plantains, so they are not sweet like maduros.

big bowl of white fish and shrimp ceviche

Later when we were walking around, we saw a guy grilling out shrimp right in front of a cute little soda! “Sodas” are what they call small family owned restaurants in Costa Rica; going to these is the best way to find really good authentic food!  We decided we had to go there for lunch the next day!

Grilled shrimp and rice with a fresh salad! The salad had apples, cucumbers, heart of palm, shredded carrots, and cabbage.

Breakfast the next day was rice and beans with eggs (see Part 1) with a fresh fruit plate:

pineapple, cantaloupe, and papaya

and this view:

This was actually my first time trying fresh papaya, and I actually did not like it that much. I love dried papaya, and I was hoping to be blown away by fresh papaya, but it just didn’t appeal to me…but the pineapple and cantaloupe were fantastic!!! I only like cantaloupe if it is really fresh and juicy, and it was .

After Drake Bay, went went back to San Jose, and spent a couple days there before we flew home. I will post pictures from San Jose tomorrow!