[Itinerary Page]The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
December 11 - Dominical
After a big breakfast at Casa Turire (watching the rain ... again!) we packed up our little Toyota and headed back to the big city. I thought much about altitude in connection with Central America but there is some serious elevation going on here. The road out of Turrialba climbs several thousand feet of switchbacks before turning west. I am not sure of the elevation in Turrialba but I did see a sign as we passed through one of the towns en route that listed the altitude at 1443 meters, nearly a mile high!
We had rain all the way back to the Pan-American Highway, then it was just overcast. The highway winds down the mountain and effectively just ends in the street system of San Jose. There may have been some main route through town but we never saw it. So we just trusted the direction bump again and after a series of lefts and rights in bumper-to-bumper traffic, we ended up on the ring road around San Jose -- still largely a surface street in places but at least we could finally find ourselves on the map. After that little adventure in the big town, I can see why Alex recommended that we take taxis in and out of San Jose rather than trying to drive it.
Bless their hearts, Thrifty didn't charge us for the new dings and dents that must have surely been there when we turned the rental car back in! Then it was a cab to Escazu and a homecoming of sorts at Maria Alexandra. We spent some time getting settled in and generally kicking back until it was time to head out for a quick bite and a grocery run.
We had been craving pizza but the local pizzeria was closed on Tuesdays so we settled for a sandwich at Quizno's, hit the supermarket and went back to the apartment to watch movies on TV. My life as an action hero!
It occurred to me that I have been mentioning the various places we went in Costa Rica and many readers won't have a clue as to what I'm talking about ... or even where in the world Costa Rica is. Since there are not a lot of scenic shots to share, I thought I would make my graphic contribution a brief geographical orientation. I hope it helps. Tomorrow it is back in the dentist's chair at 9am.
© 2007 Restaurant Doctor