On Thursday, I had a lazy morning catching up on sleep after my late night the night before. I also quizzed Francesca on places to check out in Rome, since it is my first time here.
I took off in the afternoon to explore a bit and get an idea of the general layout of town. I made it to the Colosseum and the older parts of town, then I headed up to the historical center and saw the Pantheon and the maze of streets around it. I finished up at the beautiful Spanish steps at around 6:30pm, then I met up with Francesca and a friend in San Lorenzo again for a drink.
Drinks wrapped up at about 9, then we went for one last one due to the rain. Fran had her scooter but no second helmet, so we didn't risk me hopping on the back. I headed for the tram stop and waited. And waited. In fact, two trams passed by, completely empty, without stopping. I think they must stop running at about 10, so I was stuck not really knowing how to get home. I went to a nearby sandwich stand and asked for a public phone, but they didn't know where one was. A woman offered to let me use her cell phone, so I tried to call Francesca, but it went directly to voice mail. Hmmm.... I found the street that eventually would take me home, and thankfully, shortly after starting off, I saw a bus and remembered that the 105 would take me nearly to the front door. What luck!
It worked out beautifully, and I was back at the apartment at about 11 and ready to stay in for the night. But Francesca was going to go out to meet her boyfriend for just one drink. Right. So I joined her and got my first Roman scooter ride in the process! A must for all...
It was nice at the small little bar she took me to, and we ran into several of her friends there, as well. Drinking in Rome seems to be very different from most other countries I've been to, and I like it. When you go out, your goal is usually to socialize and/or enjoy a couple of glasses of wine/beer/your poison of choice, not to get absolutely trashed. I think I just barely made it to tipsy during the week I was there, and that was just once. Very refreshing!
Back to that night... of course, things turned out as they usually do in Rome, and when 1:30am came around, I was ready to go home, and Francesca was ready to move on to the next bar. Rome stays up late. Due to the cold I was trying to get over, I had a good enough excuse to go home, so I got a ride with a friend of hers and headed home.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Doing as the Romans do, Day 1
As sad as it was to leave Derek and Dublin, it had to happen. My bank account was starting to get dizzy from the amount of money I was spending in Ireland. So, on Wednesday, I flew to Rome.
After taking the bus from the airport to the main transport hub in Rome, I caught up with my good friend Francesca, a genuine Romana who I met through tour leading. She trained me in Spain, then we ran into each other frequently in Central America.
I got to her apartment at about 6pm, and as we were walking the final block, she finalized some plans for us to go to a friend's (also named Francesca) birthday dinner later that evening. I met Fran's aptly-named Swiss boyfriend Roman, and at about 8:15, we set off for the neighborhood of San Lorenzo. First, we popped into a little cafe to kill some time, and we drank a glass of wine each, then we caught up with Francesca #2. We went to the restaurant and at about 10, we'd found a table at the bustling Rouge restaurant. After a menu tranlation, we ordered at about 10:30 and started our feast. I guess I had to get used to eating late some time! At around midnight, we'd wrapped up dinner and the bottles of wine and it was time to head over to a bar to grab a grappa before taking off. I think I made it to bed at about 1am.
Whew! I was exhausted!
After taking the bus from the airport to the main transport hub in Rome, I caught up with my good friend Francesca, a genuine Romana who I met through tour leading. She trained me in Spain, then we ran into each other frequently in Central America.
I got to her apartment at about 6pm, and as we were walking the final block, she finalized some plans for us to go to a friend's (also named Francesca) birthday dinner later that evening. I met Fran's aptly-named Swiss boyfriend Roman, and at about 8:15, we set off for the neighborhood of San Lorenzo. First, we popped into a little cafe to kill some time, and we drank a glass of wine each, then we caught up with Francesca #2. We went to the restaurant and at about 10, we'd found a table at the bustling Rouge restaurant. After a menu tranlation, we ordered at about 10:30 and started our feast. I guess I had to get used to eating late some time! At around midnight, we'd wrapped up dinner and the bottles of wine and it was time to head over to a bar to grab a grappa before taking off. I think I made it to bed at about 1am.
Whew! I was exhausted!
Friday, March 28, 2008
Ireland 1, Leah 0
Last weekend, I went with Derek and 9 of his friends (6 guys from school, 3irlfriends, 1 wife, 1 child) to Killarney in southwest Ireland, in County Kerry. Six of us took the train down together and were greeted to a downpour upon arrival to Killarney that left us soaked after the 15 second run to the station from the train, but thankfully, that was about it on the rain front for the weekend. It sprinkled a couple of times, but nothing major.
Since everyone had a 4 day weekend, they all decided to go somewhere together for it. We stayed in a fancy hotel and sucked down a few pints on Good Friday in the fancy hotel bar, which still had cheaper prices on pints than Dublin. Thankfully, we were in a hotel because alcohol is only sold in hotels and train stations on Good Friday. Something about it being illegal everywhere else on that day, but they don't want to turn away tourists from visiting Ireland. !!! We didn't go too hard on the booze, though, because we had big plans for Saturday: climbing Carrantuohill, which I learned is the biggest hill in Ireland. Ireland doesn't have any mountains, so it classifies as the highest point in the country, I think.
We got up and everyone slowly gathered themselves, lunches and gear together to climb up the hill. I was happy for the Thursday shopping trip I made with Derek's mom to get gloves, a hat, and a scarf because it was a mostly overcast day and in traditional Irish fashion, fairly chilly. We piled into cars and eight of us set off. About twenty minutes later, we'd arrived. We weren't the first to tackle the hill, though... I think there were probably already a good 30 cars there! In fact, after the other two cars in our caravan had parked, the owner of the parking area came over to us and said, "Can you hold off for about ten minutes? I've got to go move some sheep to make more parking room."
We cracked up and obliged before setting off up the hill. Sure looked like a mountain to me, but I guess it doesn't reach the altitude test for a mountain. Oh well. The path was pretty rocky and pretty soggy where it wasn't rocky, but it wasn't too hard going, except when we had a cross a river a few times. Two of the crossings were pretty straight forward, but the third was a bit more tricky if you wanted to get to the other side more or less dry. I started off walking with the two other girls and then joined Derek about halfway up. In the distance I saw what looked a bit like a big rock slide, and then I realized in horror that that was the way up!
Well, it looked worse than it was, but about halfway up, things started to turn a bit more frigid. There was a stream running down parts of the rocks and the wet mossy bits were starting to freeze. Well, about 20-30 minutes into the "Devil's Ladder," as they call it, I saw a few of the guys in our group coming down, despite the top of the rockslide not being all that close to the top of the hill. It had frozen across the top bit there, and it was too dangerous to cross without equipment. Doh! So, we all turned around and headed back down.
I wasn't horribly sad about that, although some of the guys were pretty bummed. The scenery was beautiful, it was good exercise, and where else would I be able to get a quote like the guy having to move his sheep? The walk down was fairly uneventful... nothing like the way up with Derek was nearly up to his thighs in mud that didn't look nearly as menacing as it actually was. (I felt bad, but I couldn't help but laugh at him while apologizing profusely for doing so...)
So, that's how it comes to be that Ireland defeats Leah 1:0.
Since everyone had a 4 day weekend, they all decided to go somewhere together for it. We stayed in a fancy hotel and sucked down a few pints on Good Friday in the fancy hotel bar, which still had cheaper prices on pints than Dublin. Thankfully, we were in a hotel because alcohol is only sold in hotels and train stations on Good Friday. Something about it being illegal everywhere else on that day, but they don't want to turn away tourists from visiting Ireland. !!! We didn't go too hard on the booze, though, because we had big plans for Saturday: climbing Carrantuohill, which I learned is the biggest hill in Ireland. Ireland doesn't have any mountains, so it classifies as the highest point in the country, I think.
We got up and everyone slowly gathered themselves, lunches and gear together to climb up the hill. I was happy for the Thursday shopping trip I made with Derek's mom to get gloves, a hat, and a scarf because it was a mostly overcast day and in traditional Irish fashion, fairly chilly. We piled into cars and eight of us set off. About twenty minutes later, we'd arrived. We weren't the first to tackle the hill, though... I think there were probably already a good 30 cars there! In fact, after the other two cars in our caravan had parked, the owner of the parking area came over to us and said, "Can you hold off for about ten minutes? I've got to go move some sheep to make more parking room."
We cracked up and obliged before setting off up the hill. Sure looked like a mountain to me, but I guess it doesn't reach the altitude test for a mountain. Oh well. The path was pretty rocky and pretty soggy where it wasn't rocky, but it wasn't too hard going, except when we had a cross a river a few times. Two of the crossings were pretty straight forward, but the third was a bit more tricky if you wanted to get to the other side more or less dry. I started off walking with the two other girls and then joined Derek about halfway up. In the distance I saw what looked a bit like a big rock slide, and then I realized in horror that that was the way up!
Well, it looked worse than it was, but about halfway up, things started to turn a bit more frigid. There was a stream running down parts of the rocks and the wet mossy bits were starting to freeze. Well, about 20-30 minutes into the "Devil's Ladder," as they call it, I saw a few of the guys in our group coming down, despite the top of the rockslide not being all that close to the top of the hill. It had frozen across the top bit there, and it was too dangerous to cross without equipment. Doh! So, we all turned around and headed back down.
I wasn't horribly sad about that, although some of the guys were pretty bummed. The scenery was beautiful, it was good exercise, and where else would I be able to get a quote like the guy having to move his sheep? The walk down was fairly uneventful... nothing like the way up with Derek was nearly up to his thighs in mud that didn't look nearly as menacing as it actually was. (I felt bad, but I couldn't help but laugh at him while apologizing profusely for doing so...)
So, that's how it comes to be that Ireland defeats Leah 1:0.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Traipsing around Dublin
I arrived! I've been here since Thursday morning of last week. I'm staying with my friend Derek and his family about 30 mintues from the city center by bus. I've been enjoying my time with him here, but the cold weather definitely is a bit of a shock to the system! I didn't do too much on Thursday or Friday, but on Saturday, we had plans to head into town.
In typical Irish style, it decided to piss down rain ALL DAY Saturday. Fabulous. We were going to grab brunch, walk around a bit and maybe take in the Jameson Distillery, but due to the rain, we ate and then walked around for all of about 30 minutes before landing in a pub to keep warm and to have a pint or two. The Foggy Dew was the pub of choice, and about 20 minutes after we arrived, the Ireland vs. England rugby match started. Derek wanted to stay to watch it, so we ordered up another round of pints and I got a lesson in rugby rules. Sorry Americans, but it's much more intersting and fast-paced than American football. I've heard it for years, but I've finally got to agree with the Brits/Irish/Aussies who've been telling me that.
Three pints after we entered, the game was over, and the Irish had a very poor showing, losing 10-33 to the English. Unfortunately, while we were in the pub, the rain did not let up. We decided to go home to change before going back into time that evening. That evening, we went to Whelan's to check out a couple of bands. Although the music was not really my type (heavy rock/metal-ish), it was good to see live music after only hearing salsa, merengue and reggaeton for so long. We also met up with Derek's brother and a few friends of his out.
Sunday was spent doing next to nothing until the evening, when we were going out to meet up with a few more friends of Derek's. St. Patrick's Day is a national holiday in Ireland, so most people have the day off. Since it landed on Monday, folks seemed to be going out on Sunday night; most people had to work on Tuesday. We had a few pints, first at the Blue Haven, then at The Morgue's before we called it an early night in order to avoid a hangover on Patty's Day, when I wanted to head out into town. However, before heading home, we had to stop off at the local chipper for me to get some "chips" (fries) and Derek a hamburger.
St. Patrick's Day, we went out to Dun Laoghaire (pronounced Dunn Leery), which is on the coast and has a long pier to walk along. Lots of people were out and about, and we strolled for a good couple of hours along the coast before grabbing some pub grub at the Purty Kitchen. Great food! I had corn fritters on top of a great salad.
Afterwards, we walked back to the car, stopping to get some green ice cream along the way. No, they don't do green beer on St. Pat's Day here in Ireland, but I guess they do green ice cream. And they sometimes will put the shamrock on the top of a pint of Guinness, but mostly only at the touristy places, and only on Patty's Day. We drove over to Dun Drum, dropped off the car, and hopped on the tram into town. We managed to miss the parade (intentionally), but when we got off the tram, we saw masses of people decked out in green with crazy hats, spray-painted hair, and Irish flags draped across their shoulders. Many were about 16 or 18 and already drunk at about 4pm. I guess everyone of age had to work the next day or were already in the pubs. We walked around taking in the madness for a little bit before we ducked into the Turk's Head for my token Guinness on St. Pat's Day. We stayed for one then slowly cruised back to the tram and had a quiet evening at home hanging out with the fam and then watching the last movie in the Bourne series.
Yesterday when Derek was at work, I decided to get more familiar with the bus system and cruised into Dublin town by myself. I bought a new ipod (80gb!), poked around in a few of the shops, then went to the Jameson Distillery for a tour. It was packed! Surprise, surprise, though really... what were all of the foreigners in town for St. Patrick's Day suppoesd to do the following day other than cruise through the Guinness and Jameson factories? Despite that, I managed to get myself chosen to be one of the 6 whiskey tasters in the group at the end of the tour, which meant that in addition to my free shot of Jameson, I also got to compare 3 different Irish whiskeys, one Scotch whisky (Johnnie Walker Red) and one American (Jack Daniels). They also gave me a nice certificate for it. That certainly made the €12.50 tour worth it!
That's all for now... next weekend, it's off to Killarney in the southwest, and next Wednesday, it's off to Rome!
In typical Irish style, it decided to piss down rain ALL DAY Saturday. Fabulous. We were going to grab brunch, walk around a bit and maybe take in the Jameson Distillery, but due to the rain, we ate and then walked around for all of about 30 minutes before landing in a pub to keep warm and to have a pint or two. The Foggy Dew was the pub of choice, and about 20 minutes after we arrived, the Ireland vs. England rugby match started. Derek wanted to stay to watch it, so we ordered up another round of pints and I got a lesson in rugby rules. Sorry Americans, but it's much more intersting and fast-paced than American football. I've heard it for years, but I've finally got to agree with the Brits/Irish/Aussies who've been telling me that.
Three pints after we entered, the game was over, and the Irish had a very poor showing, losing 10-33 to the English. Unfortunately, while we were in the pub, the rain did not let up. We decided to go home to change before going back into time that evening. That evening, we went to Whelan's to check out a couple of bands. Although the music was not really my type (heavy rock/metal-ish), it was good to see live music after only hearing salsa, merengue and reggaeton for so long. We also met up with Derek's brother and a few friends of his out.
Sunday was spent doing next to nothing until the evening, when we were going out to meet up with a few more friends of Derek's. St. Patrick's Day is a national holiday in Ireland, so most people have the day off. Since it landed on Monday, folks seemed to be going out on Sunday night; most people had to work on Tuesday. We had a few pints, first at the Blue Haven, then at The Morgue's before we called it an early night in order to avoid a hangover on Patty's Day, when I wanted to head out into town. However, before heading home, we had to stop off at the local chipper for me to get some "chips" (fries) and Derek a hamburger.
St. Patrick's Day, we went out to Dun Laoghaire (pronounced Dunn Leery), which is on the coast and has a long pier to walk along. Lots of people were out and about, and we strolled for a good couple of hours along the coast before grabbing some pub grub at the Purty Kitchen. Great food! I had corn fritters on top of a great salad.
Afterwards, we walked back to the car, stopping to get some green ice cream along the way. No, they don't do green beer on St. Pat's Day here in Ireland, but I guess they do green ice cream. And they sometimes will put the shamrock on the top of a pint of Guinness, but mostly only at the touristy places, and only on Patty's Day. We drove over to Dun Drum, dropped off the car, and hopped on the tram into town. We managed to miss the parade (intentionally), but when we got off the tram, we saw masses of people decked out in green with crazy hats, spray-painted hair, and Irish flags draped across their shoulders. Many were about 16 or 18 and already drunk at about 4pm. I guess everyone of age had to work the next day or were already in the pubs. We walked around taking in the madness for a little bit before we ducked into the Turk's Head for my token Guinness on St. Pat's Day. We stayed for one then slowly cruised back to the tram and had a quiet evening at home hanging out with the fam and then watching the last movie in the Bourne series.
Yesterday when Derek was at work, I decided to get more familiar with the bus system and cruised into Dublin town by myself. I bought a new ipod (80gb!), poked around in a few of the shops, then went to the Jameson Distillery for a tour. It was packed! Surprise, surprise, though really... what were all of the foreigners in town for St. Patrick's Day suppoesd to do the following day other than cruise through the Guinness and Jameson factories? Despite that, I managed to get myself chosen to be one of the 6 whiskey tasters in the group at the end of the tour, which meant that in addition to my free shot of Jameson, I also got to compare 3 different Irish whiskeys, one Scotch whisky (Johnnie Walker Red) and one American (Jack Daniels). They also gave me a nice certificate for it. That certainly made the €12.50 tour worth it!
That's all for now... next weekend, it's off to Killarney in the southwest, and next Wednesday, it's off to Rome!
Leaving Costa Rica (and GAP-world)
After La Fortuna, Costa Rica, I headed to San Jose, the capitol city. Three of my former colleagues at GAP Adventures had just gotten an apartment and they were kind enough to let me crash at their place. I spent my last few days basically getting ready to head to Europe.
I bought some new non-sandal shoes (which gave me blisters on the first day... shoes you have to wear with socks are over-rated), bought a few new clothes, mailed some stuff home, and started trying to get my work laptop ready to turn over to the Central American office. Well, the first few things were easy enough, but backing up my photos and music was not so easy. First problem: My ipod was dying. Second problem: Electronics are super expensive in Costa Rica due to taxes. So, the ipod would not be enough store everything on as I didn't have faith that it would last me until Ireland. Correct guess - it completely died the night before I left Costa Rica.
So, off to Office Depot. I started looking into getting external hard drives and found that those taxes were indeed hefty! An 80gb hard drive (called "disco duro" in Spanish, which made me chuckle) cost about US$180, at least double some of the prices on the internet that I'd found. I sucked it up and bought it after checking that it was compatible with both apples and pcs. 20 minute taxi ride home, and guess what! Not compatible with macs.
Next day: chatted with two techie friends, one of whom suggested I buy and burn DVDs with the info. 20 minutes back to the Office Depot, 2 10-packs of DVDs bought. 20 minutes back to apartment. DVD inserted, selected to burn media on iTunes, DVD comes spitting out and I'm instructed to insert disc. DVD re-inserted, re-spat out. It seems that my laptop wasn't a DVD burner. Doh! So, either I say goodbye to all of my music and photos (!!) other than those that I'd uploaded to flickr, or I suck it up and buy an even more expensive external disco duro.
I convinced my old co-workers to go out for a nice meal at an Indian restaurant not too far from Office Depot so I can pick up a 160gb hard drive. Mission accomplished, and I enjoyed a fabulous dinner full of laughter and fabulous food with Mayra, Blaine, and Caroline, some of the ladies who are in charge of making Central American operations run smoothly. We got home and finished up a bottle of wine as I worked on packing. And then I tested out the apple compatibility of my new disco duro. Guess what- it worked! (I did have plan D ready - Give-Up-And-Cry - and was prepared to get to Office Depot at 8am the next morning on my way to the airport to return the damn thing.) But thankfully, that wasn't necessary. And now, I've got something on which I can store my photos while I'm on the road.
The next day, I left Costa Rica and headed to Dublin, Ireland. Although I'd been on the road for about 2 months following the end of my contract with GAP, my move to Europe was pretty big. It felt like a start of my travels... and perhaps it is. I've left behind my old stomping grounds (which happened to span Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica) and have moved on with my travel, completely un-connected to GAP. In every country I visited during those two months, I either purposefully or accidentally bumped into other tour leaders or ex-tour leaders. Although they were my friends, ultimately talk always turned to GAP. I was still somewhat in the GAP world, albeit slightly disconnected.
My last fews days in San Jose, I was totally in the GAP world again, hanging out solely with GAP employees, spending time at the office, chatting with my old boss, who is also a friend. I became up-to-date on the changes that had taken place in the Central office (most of them positive changes, to my delight).
But then on Wednesday, I flew away from all of that and landed somewhere I hadn't been for 4 years. It feels very freeing, and I have finally cut old ties. My time with GAP was a great time, but it was also a stressful time with too much work for too few people, and I'm happy to be away from it all. Let the adventure begin! Here's to moving on!
I bought some new non-sandal shoes (which gave me blisters on the first day... shoes you have to wear with socks are over-rated), bought a few new clothes, mailed some stuff home, and started trying to get my work laptop ready to turn over to the Central American office. Well, the first few things were easy enough, but backing up my photos and music was not so easy. First problem: My ipod was dying. Second problem: Electronics are super expensive in Costa Rica due to taxes. So, the ipod would not be enough store everything on as I didn't have faith that it would last me until Ireland. Correct guess - it completely died the night before I left Costa Rica.
So, off to Office Depot. I started looking into getting external hard drives and found that those taxes were indeed hefty! An 80gb hard drive (called "disco duro" in Spanish, which made me chuckle) cost about US$180, at least double some of the prices on the internet that I'd found. I sucked it up and bought it after checking that it was compatible with both apples and pcs. 20 minute taxi ride home, and guess what! Not compatible with macs.
Next day: chatted with two techie friends, one of whom suggested I buy and burn DVDs with the info. 20 minutes back to the Office Depot, 2 10-packs of DVDs bought. 20 minutes back to apartment. DVD inserted, selected to burn media on iTunes, DVD comes spitting out and I'm instructed to insert disc. DVD re-inserted, re-spat out. It seems that my laptop wasn't a DVD burner. Doh! So, either I say goodbye to all of my music and photos (!!) other than those that I'd uploaded to flickr, or I suck it up and buy an even more expensive external disco duro.
I convinced my old co-workers to go out for a nice meal at an Indian restaurant not too far from Office Depot so I can pick up a 160gb hard drive. Mission accomplished, and I enjoyed a fabulous dinner full of laughter and fabulous food with Mayra, Blaine, and Caroline, some of the ladies who are in charge of making Central American operations run smoothly. We got home and finished up a bottle of wine as I worked on packing. And then I tested out the apple compatibility of my new disco duro. Guess what- it worked! (I did have plan D ready - Give-Up-And-Cry - and was prepared to get to Office Depot at 8am the next morning on my way to the airport to return the damn thing.) But thankfully, that wasn't necessary. And now, I've got something on which I can store my photos while I'm on the road.
The next day, I left Costa Rica and headed to Dublin, Ireland. Although I'd been on the road for about 2 months following the end of my contract with GAP, my move to Europe was pretty big. It felt like a start of my travels... and perhaps it is. I've left behind my old stomping grounds (which happened to span Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica) and have moved on with my travel, completely un-connected to GAP. In every country I visited during those two months, I either purposefully or accidentally bumped into other tour leaders or ex-tour leaders. Although they were my friends, ultimately talk always turned to GAP. I was still somewhat in the GAP world, albeit slightly disconnected.
My last fews days in San Jose, I was totally in the GAP world again, hanging out solely with GAP employees, spending time at the office, chatting with my old boss, who is also a friend. I became up-to-date on the changes that had taken place in the Central office (most of them positive changes, to my delight).
But then on Wednesday, I flew away from all of that and landed somewhere I hadn't been for 4 years. It feels very freeing, and I have finally cut old ties. My time with GAP was a great time, but it was also a stressful time with too much work for too few people, and I'm happy to be away from it all. Let the adventure begin! Here's to moving on!
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Moving on...
Not all that much to report today. I had a fabulous 8 days in San Juan del Sur and have now moved on to La Fortuna, Costa Rica.
In San Juan, I caught up with all of the friends I wanted to, managed to time my visit to correspond with a surf tournament, spent lots of time at the beach, and I even squeezed in a scuba dive! My days were pretty chill and usually involved heading out to Playa Maderas, where I would spend my day reading, chatting with friends, cooling off in the ocean and working on my tan. (Yes, I am actually pretty tan at the moment.) I would usually grab one of the delicious smoothies that my friend Alfredo the Peruvian sells out at the beach - orange, payapa, pineapple, passion fruit, banana, a bit of protein powder and topped off with a sprinkling of cinnamon. Yum!
The evenings usually involved either cooking dinner or grabbing a bite somewhere, then most evenings, I would head out for "a drink or two" with friends, which usually turned into a few more than that. It was a fun week.
On Friday, I got up early and hit the road at 6:15am. After 1 taxi, a border and 3 buses, I arrived to La Fortuna at about 3pm. Since I'd gotten about 5 hours of sleep the night beforehand, I had an early dinner and was in bed before 9. Yesterday (Saturday) was a good day... I caught up with my good friend Angie from high school who was here with a group (She's a tour leader.) and we went waterfall rappelling in the morning and hung out in the afternoon. Last night was another early evening, and today, I'm heading off to San Jose to catch up with some old co-workers. Wednesday, I've got a flight off to Dublin, and I'm totally looking forward to my time in Ireland!
In San Juan, I caught up with all of the friends I wanted to, managed to time my visit to correspond with a surf tournament, spent lots of time at the beach, and I even squeezed in a scuba dive! My days were pretty chill and usually involved heading out to Playa Maderas, where I would spend my day reading, chatting with friends, cooling off in the ocean and working on my tan. (Yes, I am actually pretty tan at the moment.) I would usually grab one of the delicious smoothies that my friend Alfredo the Peruvian sells out at the beach - orange, payapa, pineapple, passion fruit, banana, a bit of protein powder and topped off with a sprinkling of cinnamon. Yum!
The evenings usually involved either cooking dinner or grabbing a bite somewhere, then most evenings, I would head out for "a drink or two" with friends, which usually turned into a few more than that. It was a fun week.
On Friday, I got up early and hit the road at 6:15am. After 1 taxi, a border and 3 buses, I arrived to La Fortuna at about 3pm. Since I'd gotten about 5 hours of sleep the night beforehand, I had an early dinner and was in bed before 9. Yesterday (Saturday) was a good day... I caught up with my good friend Angie from high school who was here with a group (She's a tour leader.) and we went waterfall rappelling in the morning and hung out in the afternoon. Last night was another early evening, and today, I'm heading off to San Jose to catch up with some old co-workers. Wednesday, I've got a flight off to Dublin, and I'm totally looking forward to my time in Ireland!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Hardcore bookin' it
Following rafting, I got a ride into La Ceiba in preparation for the following day's travel. I'd been recommended a hotel just across from the bus station, so I headed straight there. I check in at about 7pm, and then I headed to the bus station to buy my bus ticket. The first company, which was about 4 blocks away, was sold out of their 3:30am bus tickets to Tegucigalpa. But they recommended another company that had a bus that left at 3:10am. Conveniently enough, it was only about a block from my hotel. I bought a ticket and headed back to my room.
Why so early? Well, I wanted to avoid spending the night anywhere between Tegucigalpa and the Nicaraguan border... I wanted to get to Nicaragua in one day. And, I found out that evening that there was going to be a nationwide strike which would involve closing down bridges for the morning... and to leave La Ceiba, you have to cross a bridge. But the strikers didn't want to wake up too early, so things were going to be affected as of 6am. All the more reason to get the heck outta Dodge.
I went to bed at about 9pm and woke up at 2:45am and finished my packing. I was sitting on the bus at about 3, and then I popped a Dramamine, which causes drowsiness. (I can't sleep sitting up without something to help me.) I more or less slept until 7am, when we had a breakfast stop.
Now, the night before, I'd made my last run to the ATM, but I'd forgotten to figure in my hotel that night, so I knew that funds were going to be tight if I were to get by on Honduran Lempiras until the border. I figured I had about 50 Limps (~$2.50) for food until I found out exact prices for buses. I spent about 40 limps on breaky and we continued on to Tegus.
At around 10, we rolled into the bus station, and I caught a taxi across town to another bus station. There, I learned the prices of the next three buses to the border. And I had another 15 Limps or so to spend on food! Hooray!
I rode to Danli, switched over to a bus to El Paraiso, then in El Paraiso, I had another snack and a coke (13 Limps). After paying for my last bus ride, I had a total of 3 Limps in my pocket - about $0.16. I paid the Nica entry fee at the border with my last US$7, and when I went to use the bathroom, I was faced with a 3 Cord fee - I asked if I could pay in Limps instead, and they agreed. I managed to leave Honduras with the exactly correct amount of money.
Once I hit Nicaragua, I continued my bus surfing and used 4 different vehicles to get to Granada, arriving at 8:30pm, just 17.5 hours after I'd left La Ceiba. I spent the night there, and after pampering myself in the morning with a pedicure ($3 for an hour's work!) and a fabulous brunch of a panini sandwich with hummus, fruit salad and iced latte, I headed on to San Juan del Sur, one my favorite beach places. Now, I've been here a week and will be moving on on Thursday or Friday.
Why so early? Well, I wanted to avoid spending the night anywhere between Tegucigalpa and the Nicaraguan border... I wanted to get to Nicaragua in one day. And, I found out that evening that there was going to be a nationwide strike which would involve closing down bridges for the morning... and to leave La Ceiba, you have to cross a bridge. But the strikers didn't want to wake up too early, so things were going to be affected as of 6am. All the more reason to get the heck outta Dodge.
I went to bed at about 9pm and woke up at 2:45am and finished my packing. I was sitting on the bus at about 3, and then I popped a Dramamine, which causes drowsiness. (I can't sleep sitting up without something to help me.) I more or less slept until 7am, when we had a breakfast stop.
Now, the night before, I'd made my last run to the ATM, but I'd forgotten to figure in my hotel that night, so I knew that funds were going to be tight if I were to get by on Honduran Lempiras until the border. I figured I had about 50 Limps (~$2.50) for food until I found out exact prices for buses. I spent about 40 limps on breaky and we continued on to Tegus.
At around 10, we rolled into the bus station, and I caught a taxi across town to another bus station. There, I learned the prices of the next three buses to the border. And I had another 15 Limps or so to spend on food! Hooray!
I rode to Danli, switched over to a bus to El Paraiso, then in El Paraiso, I had another snack and a coke (13 Limps). After paying for my last bus ride, I had a total of 3 Limps in my pocket - about $0.16. I paid the Nica entry fee at the border with my last US$7, and when I went to use the bathroom, I was faced with a 3 Cord fee - I asked if I could pay in Limps instead, and they agreed. I managed to leave Honduras with the exactly correct amount of money.
Once I hit Nicaragua, I continued my bus surfing and used 4 different vehicles to get to Granada, arriving at 8:30pm, just 17.5 hours after I'd left La Ceiba. I spent the night there, and after pampering myself in the morning with a pedicure ($3 for an hour's work!) and a fabulous brunch of a panini sandwich with hummus, fruit salad and iced latte, I headed on to San Juan del Sur, one my favorite beach places. Now, I've been here a week and will be moving on on Thursday or Friday.
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