Cross Country Skiing in the Bavarian Forest - Feb 2006

Eva and I bolted for the mountains for a weekend in February. I had a seminar the two days prior that was somewhat on the way. The day before we were to leave, the whole area got dumped with snow. At first, we were stoked - since we were then guaranteed good snow for skiing.

Then the storm just wouldn't stop. Some areas got over 3 feet of snow. We were worried that we wouldn't be able to get to the mountains - a bit less than a 2 hour drive from our place.

You can see some of the buildup in Lam below. Eva has been going there since her childhood and has never seen so much snow there.


Here we are on the tracks. I really love how the huge trees look when there is fresh show. The forest is packed with this type of tree and makes for some great scenery when skiing.


We got a a bit off the beaten path, and skied to the Czech border. For me, it would have been interesting to see this sort of border before the iron curtain fell. It was kinda remote, but my guess is that it would have been fenced off.


Along one of our favorite hiking paths is ths small chapel - loaded down with snow. Along the countryside, you saw people on their roofs shoveling off the snow. The snow was even dangerously deep even on the steep pitched roofs.

 

Ox Carts and the Buddy System - Costa Rica 2006

We had a day to kill. We wanted to slowly make our way to San Jose so that we wouldn't have a multi hour drive on a difficult infrastructure before our flight out the next day.

We stumbled on this small village that was known for woodworking. All over the country, you could find the various handcrafts. As with most tourists, we were searching for that perfect souvenir that wasn't 'Made in China'.

We went into one craft shop that was loaded with the Ox Carts - the national symbol. There were all colors and designs, in various sizes, of the things. We ended up chatting with the young salesman for at least an hour or two. He showed us the workshop.

The man below was son of the founder and had been working there painting ox carts since he was 7.


We ended up buying one large enough that we could use to store our various bottles of schnapps and liquor...then we fretted the next 36 hours about customs since we decided to bring it with us as a carry on (packed, it was the size of a large suitcase).

You can get a small feel for the artistry with the wheels below.


Afterwards, we were really hungry. We asked the salesman what he would recommend. He said that his store's cafeteria was ok...but overpriced. He sent us to his buddy down the street, and we had a great, filling meal.

The restaurant is to Eva's right. We would have probably never walked in without the recommendation, but it was definitely worth it.

 

Infrastructure - Costa Rica 2006

I don't have any good pictures of the famous Costa Rican potholes, but this bridge is pretty impressive. It was certainly sturdy, but it was definitely older and less maintained than what we were used to.


I was a bit too slow with this picture. I think the tree itself is pretty cool, but about 10 seconds before I took this picture, there were about 50 white birds in the tree. You can only see 2 or 3 now.


Our second to last meal in Costa Rica. Reality is slowing drawing near...

 

Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio - Costa Rica 2006

One of our trips from the resort was to the Manuel Antonio National Park (http://www.manuelantonio.com/). Like all places of interest in Costa Rica, there was an entrance fee which was (understandibly so) more expensive for foreigners.

The beaches here were some of the best I've seen, and there were monkees galore. Except these monkees were a bit different - they were very customized to humans and would constantly try to get into the various bags that people left on the beaches.


A spiked tree.

A self portrait from the beach. The hiking was pretty good as well, but the beaches were special.

 

Playing Tourist - Costa Rica 2006

At the end of the vacation, we wanted to spend a few nights in a resort to really relax before the long ride home. Fortunately, I could use some hotel points to book the place (http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/SJOLS).

It was outright out of place there in Costa Rica. While the place was extremely nice, well kept, with exceptional service (including bed turn down service at night), it was a bit of a culture shock after the first week or so in Costa Rica. We spent a day lounging at the pools, but then we got the itch to do something 'Costa Rican' and we bolted to Jaco and the other surroundings for the next few days.


The tourists weren't the only ones taking in the sun.


I really love pool bars! I could have spend the whole day there sipping beers.


The best part of the resort was the breakfast buffet. Every possible wish was fulfilled. We looked forward to each breakfast there.

For us, it was a chance to really live it up. We feel really fortunate to be able to go to such a place. Without the built up hotel points, it would not be feasible. It was a small taste of the proverbial 'good life'. I hope, regardless of our future situation, that we never take such a place for granted.

A bit on the downer side, we thought it was amazing how many people there were unhappy. For many of them, something was wrong: the service was bad, the juice wasn't cold enough, despite the 8 different kinds of jams and jellies, their favorite wasn't there. For us, we were just stoked to be there. Especially after seeing the relative poverty of many of the other cities of Costa Rica, we felt that we were in a fairy tale land. Hopefully, we will always keep such a perspective. 

Outdoor Beachside Futons - Costa Rica 2006

A few spots down from our bungalow, we found this great bar - not only was it practically on the beach, but it also had futons to lounge on! What a great way to enjoy a drink. It is sort of like 'lounge meets surf'.


Sunset on the beach...

 

Monkey-ing Around - Costa Rica 2006

After spending the last few days of 2005 in the rainforests and on various forest trails, we decided to rough it a bit more and head to the beach. We picked a 'local' beach, filled with mostly Costa Rica tourists (and the foreigners that read Lonely Planet).

On our hike the day before, we finally saw a few monkeys. It was a great trail, and we were practically the only ones on it. I think we surprised the monkeys a bit - they threw this apple like fruit at us and (we think) peed on us. Our goal of seeing monkeys - after countless hours on various trails - was finally achieved!

So, shortly after arriving on the beach, I went to the ATM to pick up some cash. Sure enough, there were monkeys in the tree next to the ATM. It took a bit of the 'high' from the previous day when we 'found' a monkey so easily in the village.


We had great breakfasts. There was a bakery and fruitstand nearby. Not having access to coffee to go, I had to settle for a Diet Coke - which cost more than all the other fruit and bread together.

Not only did we have a great outdoor breakfast each morning (our bungalow is on the right), but the beach was literally just past the trees in this pic below.


Here is our fruitstand. They also sold coconuts...while I'm not too much of a coconut fan, I do love Pina Coladas. The coconut milk was OK. Pina Coladas are better, but, for the 30 cents that it cost, I had to try one.


Here's a picture that I took from the beach of Eva reading. There were hammocks on my right that made for great napping.

New Year's in Santa Elena - Costa Rica 2005

With our trusty Lonely Planet (www.lonelyplanet.com) by our side, we decided to do this few hour hike to a waterfall that barely had a mention in the book. Turns out, at the end of an amazing hike, there was this huge waterfall. It was simply huge. We couldn't get all of the waterfall on one picture.

I was wanting to take a quick swim under the waterfall, but the water was ice cold. No way!


Here we are in the village for our New Year's Eve dinner. We had this awesome meal for about 6 or 7 bucks a person, including tip and drink. We got there a bit early, and a few minutes after we sat down, we heard the shot glasses klinking to the shouts of 'Frohes neues Jahr!' the table next to us.

It was New Year's in Germany, and the only other table in the restaurant was German. Small world.


A black and white of Santa Elena, with the locals and tourists standing in line at the ATM.


After driving the roads of Costa Rica, it is a wonder that there is any milk at all in the country. The roads are basically dirt roads, littered with huge potholes, washed out via years of rainfall and little maintanence.

Any milk truck, like the one below, after subjecting the fresh milk to these roads, is bound to get more heavy cream or butter than milk.


... but the trucks and these 'old fashioned' milk kettles are way cool ... 

The Source of the Addiction - Costa Rica 2005

This is where it all begins - the coffee plantation. These red beans are the source of that cup of joe that many of us crave each day.

While we were in Santa Elena, we took a tour of an organic, shade grown coffee plantation. On the way to the plantation, we saw a sloth (but no monkey). The red husk of the bean itself is pretty sweet, and the bean is white and very hard.


After we saw the plantation, we went to one of the sorting and drying centers in the area. The farmer below is bringing his beans to the center to be sorted and dried.

If there was one thing that really stuck out about the whole process was that it was almost 100% manual labor. Since the beans ripen throughout the season, machines cannot pick the beans like in vineyards. The picking is manual, the transportation is via oxen, the weighing and sorting is rudimentary, and the first phase of the drying requires spreading the beans on a concrete bed - with shovel and wheelbarrow.


Eva is posing here with some of the heros of the process - the oxen. As a sidenote, the ox car is a protected symbol of Costa Rica and celebrates the Costa Rican worker.


On these concrete beds, the beans are first dried. After a few weeks, they go to a mechanical dryer to complete the process. From there, the beans go to the cities where the beans are roasted.

 

What doesn't fit in this picture? Costa Rica 2005

You always have to be prepared for seeing exceptional things in a foreign country. In Costa Rica, we were, for example, expecting to see monkeys.

Lonely Planet (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/) did not prepare us, however, to see this very Bavarian style house in the sticks of Costa Rica.


One of the views along our ride to Santa Elena. The countryside was amazing...the pothole were huge.


In Santa Elena, we took a few hikes around the area and rainforests. Here I am sucking on sugarcane. Ummmmm...takes like...sugar.

 

WARNING: Volcano Ahead - Costa Rica 2005

Our first few nights we stayed relatively close to a somewhat active volcano. At night, when it is clear and if you are lucky, you will see the lava flowing from the opening. The volcano is perpetually covered with clouds - mostly clouds from the gases coming from the volcano.

So, like any other dumb tourist, we thought it would be coold to take a hike up toward the volcano. The trail was great, and the greenery was beautiful.

Below is a sign, mostly broken and deteriorating, telling us that we were progressing at our own risk. Didn't look like many folks turned back after that one.


The sign below was a bit further along the trail. As best as we can tell, it is saying that men cannot proceed. Since there was no caricature of a stickwoman, we assumed that women could proceed...not too sure why ;-)


Here is the view from the trailhead. We ended up hiking an hour or two toward the volcano, in what was a very cool hike with very few other hikers (and no monkeys) in sight.

 

Butterflies and Waterfalls - Costa Rica Dec 2005

After our visit in Texas, we headed off to Costa Rica for some R&R. We somewhat picked Costa Rica at random - based on locations that Delta flew to so that we could burn some frequent flier miles. We were looking for nature and some beaches.

We found both above and beyond our expectations.

Here I am doing my part helping nature by keeping this tree upright (sort of...).


We had a general plan what we wanted to see, but there was enough flexibility that we could do things at random.

So, on our way, we found this streetside butterfly pavillion and waterfall hike. We pulled aside, paid the entry fee (just about everything in Costa Rica requires an entry fee), and got started with our vacation.


It's kinda hard to tell, but that is a waterfall in the background.


The next day, we got up early and went on a 'Hanging Bridge' tour. We were there mostly before the tour buses arrived, so we could enjoy the sights in peace.

We were hoping to see monkies!