Costa Rica!

Volcán Arenal

Do you wanna know a hard question to answer?

How was your vacation? 

Now, I guess if your vacation was miserable, a simple "it sucked" would suffice. But my summer vacations tend to be to exotic places (my parents and in turn, us kids, enjoy travelling) in which we explore a lot of historic sites and wander into a lot of areas. We learn and experience a lot, because we're that annoying type that just can't be satisfied with sitting and lounging all day. 

As a kid, I always dreamed for a non-complicated visit to the beach for a few days, where we would just rest in beach chairs, have pina coladas, and laze around like bums. And although that still sounds nice to me, I now would be restless in that situation. 

Look at little diminutive me!

So, how was my vacation to Costa Rica? 

Excellent. I hope that answer and the pictures of delicious & interesting things I have to proffer you suffice, as I have so many recipes on my queue of things to blog about, as well as a few other reviews, that I do not want to consume you guys with too many images of a wonderfully green and surprisingly super clean country.  

Started my morning with an Artie Lange cupcake from a
Crumbs shop in the airport.

Everyone says Ireland is really green - but so is
Costa Rica.

Horchata! Can you see the rice stuck in the straw.

Chicken Casados

Vegetarian Casados

Arroz con Leche

Very good fruit, akin to lychee.

Guanabana - soursop in English. I did not fancy its tartness.

Hanging Bridges tour. 

Artsy, huh?

Fresh mora (blackberry) juice.

Vegetables & fried yucca. I wish yucca were more
available in New Jersey. 

The bottle on the left contains Lizano sauce - AMAZING.
Especially with yucca fries. And fish. And chicken. And ..

"Corn Tamal"

Caramel Horn - filled with thick sweet dulce de leche.

Guava Pastry - thin layer of guava paste enclosed
in puff pastry.

This beautiful pair of oxen went round to crank a device
that turned out sugarcane juice. Have you ever had fresh
sugarcane juice? You need to, if you haven't. And don't
give me those eyes, I have had freshly squeezed sugarcane
juice in NJ. It doesn't compare to that of Costa Rica, but
still. Look around people!

Interesting - pear yogurt drink.

Also interesting - Guava Cream Cheese.

Mora shake, Resbaladera, Crema (vanilla) shake.
The middle was mine - it's a variation on Horchata,
but I didn't fancy it. 

"Filet de corvina, ensalada, chimichurri, y papas" -
grilled white seabass with salad, chimichurri, & fries

Chicken Tamale - oh god, I do not like tamales.

HUGE beet.

Caramel Cake from Stella's Bakery. 

Mango pie from Stella's Bakery.

Papaya Shake from Morphos Restaurant.

Cream of Carrot Soup from Morphos.

oh yeah. ATV-ing! Intense, awesome experience.

Sign on the ATV ... that was holding my brother & I.

I ordered the La Choza Arenal - yum.
(By the way, legal drinking age in CR is 18 - I was legal, ok!)

That scary looking pineapple face held a respectable
amount of boozy pina colada - yummmm.

THIS SUCKER WAS SPICY.
Looks so innocent, but this pickled little piece of
cauliflower was spicy as hell.

My "tipical" breakfast at the Arenal Paraiso.
That orange marmalade had cloves and was amazing.
I want to make it.

The rice noodles with tofu & algae was the best.

Clockwise: Chocolate Cream Cake with Ginger
a very bad Fruit Tart
Orange & Coconut Roll Cake
 piece of ripe, local papaya
Mango Cheesecake
Lychee Tart (excellent!!)

From a supermercado on our way to the airport.

BK is everywhere.