This morning we left the U.S for our second international trip, this time to Costa Rica for 19 days. This was the trip we had started to plan back in 2016, but the zika virus encouraged us to visit Iceland instead.
Our day started 6:30 am as we arrived at BWI airport for our 9:05 non-stop flight to San Jose, CR. Things were a bit tense when we saw long lines at check-in and security, but thankfully we made it to our gate with time to spare.
After a 5 hour flight, we arrived at the San Jose International airport. It took us a while to get through immigration, to buy several International SIM cards for our phones and to get through customs. When we emerged from the terminal, we were faced with a cacophony of drivers asking if we needed a cab. Thankfully, Zoe spotted a sign with our names held by our driver, Fransisco, who would be taking us to our first house in La Fortuna, about 3 hours north of San Jose.
Along the way, Fransisco give us some advice about the different things to do and how to navigate the country, while we enjoyed the scenery. The trip took us over some steep, windy two lane roads and included a stretch up in the clouds. It felt very familiar! Before we arrived at our house, we made a stop at a “soda” or Costa Rica diner and shared some cheese empanadas. We also bought a fresh pineapple to enjoy once we reached our house. After a quick stop at the supermarket, we arrived our AirBnB around 4 pm and got settled in.
Since it gets dark around 6 pm, we decided to try to walk to the nearby town, Zeta Trace, to find some dinner. We ended up at Restaurant Mi Casa, which promised “typical food”. We all ended up having some version of fish and everyone was really happy with their meal. That was the thing both girls wanted to remember from today. I think we’ll be back there during our time in La Fortuna.
Tomorrow we’ll be picking up our rental car so that will give us a chance to do more exploring in the area. Hopefully, we’ll also get some pool time, as the temps are supposed to be a bit higher. The pool was a bit chilly tonight.
* A big thank you to my mom for putting us up at Hotel German for the night before and for getting us to the airport bright and early. We also really appreciate her taking Maggie for the next 2 and a half weeks. She’ll be much happier with Judy than spending that long at “doggy jail”!
Costa Rica Adventures 
Yay! Hope you all have a blast in La Fortuna! We loved all the sodas we went to. They all had some similarities, but were also different. Delicious!
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Do you remember any of the ones that you liked in La Fortuna?
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I don’t remember their names, but they were the top rated ones on Trip Advisor. We went to 4 different ones- one was tucked away and harder to find, and one was out on the edge of the town near the main road that passes by the town. That one was more authentic and had more locals eating there. We liked them all!
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