[travels] seattle

I had always been warned about the weather in Seattle, especially by the end of summer.  In anticipation for my trip, I checked the weather, packed my raincoat, and prepared for the rain.  Fortunately, the deluge held out long enough for me to experience the beauty of the city without having to jump through puddles.

Pikes Place Market
I have always loved the energy of markets places and the excitement of discovering a new food item or piece of art.  I love the weekly farmers markets, to the seasonal artisans markets, to the more famous, well-established market places like Reading Terminal Market in Philly to the Lexington Market in Baltimore.  Needless to say, Pikes Place Market was numero uno on my list of things to see in Seattle.  I was not disappointed.  I fell in love with the brilliant bouquets of beautifully arranged flowers and jewelry inspired by the local heritage.  Pikes place also offers foods from diverse countries (we ate Russian piroshky and Turkish delight).   And of course, I visited the original Starbucks.

Proof I visited the first Starbucks

View of waterfront from Pikes Place

Gum wall.  Pretty colors, but mostly just gross.

Seattle Center
Many of the major sights in Seattle are packed together at Seattle Center.  Here you'll find the theater, the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, Chihuly Museum, EMP museum, and the Space Needle.  Over the few days that we were in town we visited most of these sights.  Views from the Space Needle were unbelievable.

Beautiful view from the Space Needle with clouds sitting perfectly above the horizon

My favorite Chihuly exhibit

Marymoor Park
One aspect that I love about Seattle is how pet-friendly the city is.  This park has an extensive trail that allows dogs to run around unleashed through different terrain like woody areas, open grassy areas,  and over giant mounds.  Anthony's dog, Buddy, loves his trips to the park and this time, he made many new friends.

Buddy, king of the hill

Other highlights include:
1. Ivar's Seafood- went there with some college friends.  Loved the fish prepared in a local style.
2. Chinatown- had delicious ramen, bubble tea, and peaches.  The park had a pingpong table.
3. Capitol Hill- went to Capitol Cidar for some delicious cidar and fun with shuffleboard.  Accidentally aided the other side with one too many points.
4. Nighttime walk through Gasworks Park and Fremont.  Climbed to the top of the hill for unbeatable nighttime views of the city lights.  Enjoyed looking at the hipster shops of the streets of Fremont.  Stopped outside the huge Oktoberfest.

[travels] Costa Rica- Livin' la Pura Vida

Costa Rica is a beautiful country full of smiling locals and beautiful drives.  We only had one week to explore as much of the country as possible, way too ambitious.

Arenal
The Arenal volcano region is every adventurer's dream.  The local economy is built up around ecotourism, with many different companies offering different canopy, ATV, and rafting tours.  I always find it difficult to justify expensive excursions, so I searched for cheaper alternatives.

First of all, a car is your key to freedom.  All the tours are willing to pick up and drop off at your hotel, however, you can see more, save money, and travel with more flexibility when you have your own car.  However, driving in Costa Rica is not for the faint of heart.  Many areas are unpaved, which can be problematic during the rainy season.  The areas that are paved are pot-hole ridden and two-lane roads will suddenly converge to one lane over a bridge.  Manual transmission and 4-wheel drive are definitely helpful.

Yes roads are rough, and I deserve a reward for braving the terrain, but it was well worth it (I might be singing a different tune if our rental agency had charged us for damage to the car).  Having the car allowed us to see Costa Rica on our own schedule.  My favorite hike in the Arenal area was the Cerro Chato hike up an ancient volcano.  We hiked up through primary forest, which entailed climbing over large root systems and ducking under fallen branches.  I enjoyed the intimacy and truly felt like we were guests in the forest.  It was a fairly steep hike up, after a few false alarms, we finally found ourselves at the rim.  Of course, we had to do the even steeper hike down to the lake.  It took some creativity to get down and back up, but it was well worth the effort and muddy butts.

View from the rim of Cerro Chato, looking down into the crater.

The hike to Cerro Chato, among many, start from the Arenal Observatory Lodge.  From the same starting point, we also did a hike through secondary forest to a seasonal waterfall and a hike down to a stream with volcanic rock.

After a full day of hiking, I wanted to relax in the area's famous hot springs.  Tabacon is a world-renowned resort that shows off the natural springs.  Less well-known, is that right across the street, there is a bubbling brook that feeds from the same hot water source.

The perfect spa.

Papagayo Gulf
The next few days were spent at the Papagayo Gulf.  We stayed at a beautiful resort with a private black sand beach.  There were so many beautiful vistas.

Papagayo Allegro Resort.  I usually don't like to advertise, but this view is gorgeous.

View of nearby docks.  Apparently, where the rich and famous launch their water toys.

Of course, we had to check out the famous local beaches.  Our favorites were Cocoa Beach and Hermosa Beach.

View from Hermosa Beach.  It's beautifully framed in green and is adorned by palms.

Another destination in the area was the Vieja de Rincon Volcano, where we finally saw an active volcano!  Sort of.  It was too active to allow visitors to hike, but we were allowed to take a loop trail at the foot of the volcano that took us to the mud pots, water pots, and fumeroles.

We might be smiling, but that sulfur-smell is sure strong.

Monteverde Cloud Reserve
One of the highlights of this trip was the Monteverde Biological Reserve.  One of the lowlights of the trip was getting there.  I had to drive through miles of unpaved road, up and down the mountains.  I prayed that the wet season had not brought pools too deep for my rental car to traverse (I had, after all, promised my car rental agent to not take the car for a swim).  I prayed that the low frame would be able to handle the deep potholes and the giant boulders.  So maybe you might want to consider a tour group, or maybe even an SUV, but however you get there, it's a worthy destination!  I enjoyed the 2 hour tour that took us through the forest.  Our guide not only taught us about natural history, but also about the different animals that dwelled in the cloud forest.  After the tour, we hiked some of the well-marked trails on our own.  We hiked towards the continental divide, however, we could not see much due to the cloud coverage.

Can you see the continental divide?  I can't!

National Bird.  Selected for it's intelligence, not it's beauty.
It would sing when the rainy season was coming, alerting the farmers.

Our guide telling us about orchids, in all their shapes and sizes.  

San Jose
Of course, we can't forget about the capital city.  We stayed in the nicest Holiday Inn I've ever seen, in the heart of the city.  From there, we were able to take an early morning stroll through the center of city, by the famous National Theater.  As an added bonus, we found China town!

Teatro Nacional
 

For the first time, I don't look so out of place.

Overall, this was a phenomenal trip.  I hope to be back to explore the southern part of the country.  Due to my laziness, I wasn't able to cover all the phenomenal/not so awesome aspects of my trip, but here's a quick list below:
1. Canyoneering- rappelling down waterfalls, jumping into narrow pools, and ziplining through the trees.  Worth the splurge.  And even saw a cute piglet that our guide had rescued from the canyon.
2. La Fortuna Waterfall- somewhat overrated.  But yea, I was there.
3. Kayaking around Papagayo Gulf-
    Me: So is there a limit on how far out we can paddle?
    Guide: Nope!
    Me: Awesome!
    Guide: Just be back in 20 minutes.
4. Shooting a BB Gun- one of the activities at the resort.  Didn't hit a single balloon.
5. Took a photostop enroute to Arenal.  Got the car stuck in the mud.
6. Shopping at Cocoa Beach.  They won't budge when you try to negotiate.  However, we met an awesome expat from Italy who owns a gallery.
7. Compliments.  We were told we looked like a 'smart couple' by a tipsy lady.  I'll take it!
8. Tilapia Dinner- nomm
9. Wanted to take a picture of a cow.  He got angry.  Cow 1: Lucy 0
10. Related to point 9, we did see a lot of happy cows grazing the green fields.
11. Make your own hot chocolate!  So much melty goodness
12. Coffee samples.  The best may be exported, but the stuff is still good.
13. Fried plaintains!  For breakfast EVERY DAY.
14. Fresh watermelon and the best pineapple I've ever had.
15. Comida Tipica is quite delicious!
16. Wind farms and hydroelectric plants!  Can I pass this off as a business trip?