Costa Rica: Day 4.
The NatureAir flight was really cool, actually -- little baby plane with space for 19 passengers. Jason says he'd like to do this: be a shuttle pilot here, or maybe in Alaska.
We really only had time for dinner once we got to San Jose, but wow, was it one heck of a dinner. We went to the Marriott tapas restaurant, Isabela. We ordered eight kinds of tapas (I got asparagus and sausage that was really more like grilled pepperoni), and we had the most amazing sangria, which cost half the entire meal ($41?). So, so good though. We asked for the recipe:
2 bottles cabernet wine
1/2 bottle brandy napoleon
5 oz. lemon juice
6 oz. sugar
6 oz. triple sec
1/2 bottle club soda
5 oz. orange juice
chopped apples and pears
sliced lemons
5 teaspoons of passion fruit seeds
*you can put a teaspoon of passion fruit seeds into your glass before adding the rest of the sangria, instead of putting them directly into the sangria.
I've been in heaven for days now.
The next morning, we went to a butterfly garden, just me and Jason, because Lisa and Jeremy were still in sunburn pain and wanted to recover before the wedding. We had the 8 AM tour, which was evidently not very popular. We were the only two at that time, though the 11 o'clock tour was full.
We watched a movie about butterflies (most of which I already knew, but I've studied this stuff), and Diego, our fabulous tour guide, took us all around. We took a gazillion pictures. Lisa let me borrow hers for the morning cause she is great. We watched adults hatch from chrysalises, they landed on us, too. Jason especially -- he must smell like flowers. It was, once again, heaven. Words simply cannot do it justice. Pictures do a bit better. But again, truly amazing.
We went back to the Marriott, hung out at the hotel, watching a bad Barbra Streisand movie with Spanish subtitles. Good way to learn Spanish, methinks.
We had lunch downstairs. Jason and I had cuban sandwiches with fried yucca, Jeremy and Lisa had chicken sandwiches with plantain chips.
Then we got ready for the wedding and went down way early. We got seats way near the front and then waited until 6:10 for the wedding to actually start. It was scheduled for 5:30. It was spiritual and civil (Spanish-language only for the civil part).
There was a lovely passage from Khalil Gibran, and one from Corinthians, and a Scottish hand-fasting ceremony. Becca had the most amazing veil, and her niece and nephew were absolutely adorable as flower girl and ring bearer, even though Fiona was asleep in her carriage and her mom had to walk her down the aisle.
After the ceremony, which was super-short, a far cry from a Catholic wedding, we had cocktail hour. (Great mojitos, though they needed more lime.)
But the reception -- good Lord! There were five food stations: Italian, Asian, meat, quesadilla, and seafood. There was a separate dessert station, not counting wedding cake, drinks all night long, and this extraordinary band that managed to play salsa, meringue, Frank Sinatra, traditional Scottish music, everything.
We took a Smithie picture, since there were seven of us (me, Becca, Lisa, Val, Naomi, Erika, and a girl named Tricia who was in Glee Club and did her JYA in Costa Rica), and hope it will get into the Alumnae Quarterly. I danced, too, which was lovely. We left around 11:15 because we knew we'd be heading out for an 8 AM tour through Ecoscape today. We had breakfast, eggs and rice&beans, papaya and pineapple, OJ and coffee, of course, and now we're on our way to the Poas volcano. I'm starting to get used to the breathtaking beauty everywhere, but I'm still in this mindset of experiencing heaven.
We really only had time for dinner once we got to San Jose, but wow, was it one heck of a dinner. We went to the Marriott tapas restaurant, Isabela. We ordered eight kinds of tapas (I got asparagus and sausage that was really more like grilled pepperoni), and we had the most amazing sangria, which cost half the entire meal ($41?). So, so good though. We asked for the recipe:
2 bottles cabernet wine
1/2 bottle brandy napoleon
5 oz. lemon juice
6 oz. sugar
6 oz. triple sec
1/2 bottle club soda
5 oz. orange juice
chopped apples and pears
sliced lemons
5 teaspoons of passion fruit seeds
*you can put a teaspoon of passion fruit seeds into your glass before adding the rest of the sangria, instead of putting them directly into the sangria.
I've been in heaven for days now.
The next morning, we went to a butterfly garden, just me and Jason, because Lisa and Jeremy were still in sunburn pain and wanted to recover before the wedding. We had the 8 AM tour, which was evidently not very popular. We were the only two at that time, though the 11 o'clock tour was full.
We watched a movie about butterflies (most of which I already knew, but I've studied this stuff), and Diego, our fabulous tour guide, took us all around. We took a gazillion pictures. Lisa let me borrow hers for the morning cause she is great. We watched adults hatch from chrysalises, they landed on us, too. Jason especially -- he must smell like flowers. It was, once again, heaven. Words simply cannot do it justice. Pictures do a bit better. But again, truly amazing.
We went back to the Marriott, hung out at the hotel, watching a bad Barbra Streisand movie with Spanish subtitles. Good way to learn Spanish, methinks.
We had lunch downstairs. Jason and I had cuban sandwiches with fried yucca, Jeremy and Lisa had chicken sandwiches with plantain chips.
Then we got ready for the wedding and went down way early. We got seats way near the front and then waited until 6:10 for the wedding to actually start. It was scheduled for 5:30. It was spiritual and civil (Spanish-language only for the civil part).
There was a lovely passage from Khalil Gibran, and one from Corinthians, and a Scottish hand-fasting ceremony. Becca had the most amazing veil, and her niece and nephew were absolutely adorable as flower girl and ring bearer, even though Fiona was asleep in her carriage and her mom had to walk her down the aisle.
After the ceremony, which was super-short, a far cry from a Catholic wedding, we had cocktail hour. (Great mojitos, though they needed more lime.)
But the reception -- good Lord! There were five food stations: Italian, Asian, meat, quesadilla, and seafood. There was a separate dessert station, not counting wedding cake, drinks all night long, and this extraordinary band that managed to play salsa, meringue, Frank Sinatra, traditional Scottish music, everything.
We took a Smithie picture, since there were seven of us (me, Becca, Lisa, Val, Naomi, Erika, and a girl named Tricia who was in Glee Club and did her JYA in Costa Rica), and hope it will get into the Alumnae Quarterly. I danced, too, which was lovely. We left around 11:15 because we knew we'd be heading out for an 8 AM tour through Ecoscape today. We had breakfast, eggs and rice&beans, papaya and pineapple, OJ and coffee, of course, and now we're on our way to the Poas volcano. I'm starting to get used to the breathtaking beauty everywhere, but I'm still in this mindset of experiencing heaven.