Sunday, June 3, 2007 (East of San Jose, CR) Mom and I went on a tour today, one with a guide, in a van, seeing the sights....I realized on the return trip that we actually did most of what was listed on LP pp. 564-5, under Cartago and Around Cartago.

	We started by going out to Volcan Irazú. It's the largest and highest active volcano in Costa Rica and on a clear day (which it was not) you can see both the Carribean and Pacific coasts from the summit. That unavailable, it was still neat to be above the clouds. In the volcano's crater is a lagoon of greenish water, made so by the volcano's chemical makeup.

All the way up are blocks and blocks of farmland on the hillside, using creative draining systems to deal with the rainy season. Most of the crops are onion, potato, and fern. (Yes, fern.) There's even a town halfway up that's built into and up the side of the hill. Above the town I saw cows roaming freely by the road outside a fence. An another point was a line of cows going to be milked.

...the rest [of us] went on to lunch, stopping partway for a scenic overlook, I think the one referenced as being in Ujarras.

We...ate in...Paraíso, at La Casona de Cafetal, a restaurant in the former house of the largest coffee plantation in Costa Rica. The food was phenomenal and buffet-style (and included with the tour!). An amazing assortment of excellent dishes, four kinds of flan (plain, coco, frutas, y café), and probably the best coffee I've had in my life to date. and it was served old-school, through a cheesecloth strainer. We sat with a Mexican couple and mom conversed with them the whole meal, which was great because it let me practice listening to Spanish. I followed the basics of most of the conversation and even answered a few questions. I think this English was as good as my Spanish; she seemed to speak no English at all.

This is from the Lankaster Gardens, where we ended the tour that day. Though I have countless pictures of orchids* (okay, 10), I'll just stick to this one of me in a thicket of bamboo. BTW, did you know that if you touch bamboo when it's this dark green color it will make you itch? But it's safe to touch once it turns brown (like the bark I'm holding). Also, it takes a pineapple plant (not shown) one year to produce a pineapple. Major pineapple producers have methods of coaxing two, maybe even three, pineapples out of a plant each year, but it does bad things to the plant (and the fruit, I'd assume). Think about that the next time you eat una piña.

* The story of the orchid: Apparently the man who named the orchid had the following etymology in his naming. Orchid comes from the Greek orcho, which means testicle. He thought the orchid looked like testicles. Though it's definitely not the first shape I think of, I can see it now that it's mentioned.

Monday, June 4, 2007 (San Jose, CR)
We spent the day lounging....I have no idea why I didn't do any [non-Lonely Planet related] research before leaving. I did so much for Europe. But then, though I'm doing many things the same (borne mostly from experience) many things about this trip are different. I can't put my finger on the reasons yet -- it's just below the surface.

Cristine, Lisa, Patti, and Jessica arrived about 1:00 today. Chaos ensued. Then they went out to return their car. We went to the grocery store and cooked an enormous meal for the six of us plus three more of Cristine's friends.

Tomorrow Cristine and mom will finish at the apartment (she's already packed!) and I'm going to play tourist in the city of San Jose, Costa Rica.

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