Our first stop in Costa Rica was to explore the capital city of San José. From our hostel, we walked a number of blocks down to head to the main street of the city. From there, we got amazing fruit juices. I need to go on a little tangent on this. Everywhere I’ve been in Central America – all 10 or 15 cities- the fruit juices have been just amazing. No matter where, I’ve never not gotten  a delicious fruit juice.

San José was quite alright. I thought it was quite lovely and much more developed than people had led me to believe. It feels old and cracked and vibrant at the same time. Tons of fast food places. I found it a bit Americanized. But alas. The best part about San José are the people we met. Everyone we met at the hostel we would eventually see elsewhere on our trip. The French couple we saw in Puerto Viejo. The French boys that we were always one day behind them. Julia who we met up with in Jacco and Manuel Antonio.

I didn’t take any pictures in San Jose – so here is one from the beach!

That first night of partying in Costa Rica felt very French. I’m not even kidding. I feel like I have a superhero power where I attract French people everywhere I go. One time, I drove home from NYC and the gas station attendant spoke French to me. I disgress. I think about 80-90 percent of the guests that night were from France. Even our bartender. Whats up Morgan!

Let’s ignore most of what’s happening in this photo

The hostel we stayed at was great. I met a girl from Chile who was travelling up South America and gave me her Lonely Planet book on Costa Rica. Our room was quite nice. There was a pool. There were lounge chairs. One afternoon, we watched the blue skies turn cloudy back to blue in a matter of minutes. For a few seconds, we feared for the storm. But, drunk on relaxation, Central American air and booze, we didn’t mind. I chatted a lot with a German guy who was biking his way around Costa Rica during his six weeks of holidays. SIX WEEKS OF HOLIDAYS. As someone who works in Canada and has about 4-5 weeks of time off I can take (if I include floater days, holidays and vacation time) I feel blessed and even more impressed and jealous of those who live in countries such as France, Germany and Italy, where holidays are a necessity in life and not something to haggle your boss over with.

From San José, we boarded a bus and headed to Puerto Viejo to experience the Carribean side of Costa Rica. And learned exactly what they mean by “Central American time.”

Off to play in these gentle things.