Cross Fit Weekend!

Well, here I am in Costa Rica for over a month and still living with Kate. She has been traveling out of the country for the past few weeks, and I have looked at several apartments. One in Escazu that was so cool, I even took the bus to test out how long the commute would be.....about 40 minutes. Not great, but the apt was so cute, already furnished and painted a really pretty yellow. The only problem? The owner was an american assh$#@......even after I met him I knew I would not like living behind him, but felt like I had to get a place quickly. IIn the end he actually turned ME down. I told him that I would have guests over for dinner and that friends and family would be visiting during the year. He never even replied to my email again? Anywhoo, since Ernesto arrived last Thursday, he has looked at a couple, but we haven't made a desicion yet. Kate has offerered us to stay with her too....hmmmmmmm???

Here I am in front of her place. Her apt is on the 3rd floor. There is a mango tree in front, and yes I have eaten them. I also love that I can walk to work in 10 minutes and it is a very central location. Close to everything.

Saturday morning I wanted to take Ernesto to the outdoor fruit and vegetable market in Pavas. We also wanted to go running....so we decided to run to the market. Ah-ha! It is not that far, it only took us about 20 minutes, but you would not believe the hill that we had to run. I can't believe I ran up the whole way without stopping...I have to say I feel like running here is harder.......or maybe its because I have only run 3 x in a month?????? That night we made a delicious Mexican chicken stew with the fresh vegetables we bought earlier. ps. They dont have pinto beans or hominy here......Houston? We have a problem...............

Thank god, Im a follower. Ernesto had the map Sunday morning and was ready to go explore. I knew it was going to be a long day of walking, and my calves were sore as hell from that hill we ran the day before. I put on my Chacos (thanks for recommending them Schhhirner, they are so comfortable) and we crossed the street to the bus stop.
Ok, Wait! One thing before that! Everyday when Im walking down the street there is a line of leaves that I have to cross. 5 million ants are carrying leaves 3x their size and the trail ends up being a line across the sidewalk. I followed the trail and here they are leaving the tree with the leaves. This makes me smile, they are such hard workers....sometimes they tip over while carrying it, and just got back up. I remember that when I was here a long time ago, we were driving and came up to a thick green line across the road. We got out to see and it was them.

While walking along Paseo Colon, the main street in downtown we notice a lot of painted cows. This same exhibit went on throughout Atlanta last year (different artists I assume) I really like this one:

I love all the colors, it looks like some of the handicrafts I have seen from Sarchi. (A city just over an hour west of San Jose). Also along Paseo Colon there was a little stand selling churros. Now, I have had churros before in Mexico, but I must say these are the best Ive ever tasted. They are basically long donuts, served warm with sugar sprinkled on the outside (same as Mexico) but here there is dulce de leche inside. Que Rico! I know its fried, but I have to allow myself some junk food, right? I really havent been eating any candy...they dont have black licorice here. They DO have KFC.......but I dont eat that crap in the US...I vow I will not eat there in Cost Rica. I did pose with the Coronel.......cute huh?

We wanted to check out the Mercado Central, unfortunately it was closed Sunday. We did find a smaller market, but it was totally geared to tourists and although I didnt see anything I had to have, I wanted to check out the prices. Of course they had a lot jewerly...but not my style.

We made our way through several beautiful parks en el centro. Parque Nacional was really nice, with this 1856 National Warrior Monument.....where I rested for a minute.Im not sure what park this was Parque Espana yo creo??.......but I really loved this bench and the mosaic behind me.This dome in Parque Morazan was beautiful. Its called el Templo de la Musica. The only reason I know this is because after posting this picture in Facebook, my boss Mitssy saw it and commented "This is the 'Templo de la Música' and was designed by my grandfather the Architect Gerardo Rovira who migrated to Costa Rica from Spain!!" That is crazy! Its really ornate and has a gorgeous turquoise ceiling. Don't I look super-imposed in this pic?We actually walked so far that Ernesto looked on the map and said the Parque Zoologico was 2 seconds away. Yes! lets go! It was only $3 to get in.....and it didn't take that long to walk through. It was really small, but so beautiful. The nicest zoo I have ever been to is the San Diego zoo, and they do an awesome job with the foliage, just like here. It makes a big difference. You want to feel like you are in the jungle with the animals, right? There actually werent that many animals....... monkeys, crocidiles, a jaguar and lions....No bears, giraffes, hippos, etc....but there were tons of birdies....and you know that is what I like. I kept bugging them till one finally said "hola" and copied my whistle...yes success!!! There is a reason I am known for my persistance!! Toucanes tambien....they are wild here, I really need to go on a bird watching trip!The neighborhood we were in was called Barrio Amon, and I really loved it, the buildings had a lot of character; it was very charming. (although I was told it is very seedy and peligroso at night.) Nevertheless, I would rent this house if it was available...seedy or not. Look how beautiful!! I just love the creeping fig .......At this point, it was 3pm and we were pretty thirsty. Up ahead we saw a really nice open air bar at the Clarion Hotel.
Ceviche and Cerveza.....mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

What?????????????????????

Too many pictures of Meeeeeeeeeeeee???