Good riddance, North America. Hello, Central America!

I landed in Costa Rica yesterday morning as part of the very long journey to Ecuador.

I visited Ecuador last December but went directly from Las Vegas to Quito--and it nearly killed me Midnight flight out of Vegas, land in Fort Lauderdale around 7 a.m., then wait 8 hours for my connecting flight to Quito, arriving in Quito at about midnight. Never again. I'm way too old for that shit.

So this time I decided to break it into two: I'm spending 3 days in Costa Rica before heading to Bogota, Colombia, then Quito, Ecuador, and then finally Cuenca, Ecuador. That in itself will take the entire day. 

Costa Rica is amazingly beautiful. Lusciously green everywhere with a city plopped in the middle and a giant volcano looking over us. Just magnificent. My Airbnb hosts for this leg are delightful! They even picked me up at the airport, for which I am eternally grateful, because no one wants to watch an old, fat gringo lady try to drag three massive suitcases onto a local bus. 

The weather is about perfect--79 and partly cloudy--but living in Vegas, I had completely forgotten what humidity was. My nostrils has never been happier. My hair on the other hand ... 

The views from their apartment have to be seen to be believed. 

So today I headed out to explore the city, and my first stop was breakfast at Le Bistrot de Paris, not far from my Airbnb. I had the Huevos Benedectinos, which was delicious, and then I worked a bit at the table setting up this blog. The service was excellent too, and nobody rushed me. 

My hosts told me that the Museo del Oro (Gold Museum) is a must-see, so I hailed an Uber. You always sit in the front seat here, because taxi drivers hate Ubers and sitting in front makes it look slightly less like an Uber ride. I had a nice chat with my driver via Google Translate and within minutes I was at the museum.

On the short walk there, a man was playing a harp on the sidewalk! It was lovely.

The museum is actually underground and is three levels. It was $16 US to get in, and I was grateful for the air conditioning.

After I left the museum, I headed up Av. Central in search of the San Jose Central Market. It was a lovely day for a walk.

I found the Market about 6 blocks up. All kinds of goodies are for sale here: Tourist gifts, handmade items, dried herbs, fresh fruits and vegies, meat, seafood, and plenty of places to eat!

I bought enough food to last through tomorrow, which is my last full day here. It will be hard to leave.