A Seventh Wonder-ful Layover

We got into Egypt very early this morning & got a cab to AJ's apartment, smooth sailing.   Unfortunately, because of the way the streets are numbered, we had a difficult time locating it.  His apartment is number 20 and while we found 19 and 21 with no problems, nobody could tell us where 20 was.  Turns out this was mostly because, in a stunning feat of logic, it was over a block away.  Our cab driver was wandering up and down the streets, asking everyone in sight and in the meantime we were sitting in the back of a cab next to two of the filthiest dumpsters I've ever seen in my life with trash literally overflowing into a sea of garbage that feral cats were grazing on- welcome to Cairo.  Eventually he got AJ on the phone, he came to retrieve us, and our cab driver shed tears of joy- or possibly regular tears from the overwhelming stench of the mini dump he had inadvertently parked in.

We had some greatly needed showers after that debacle and then a driver picked the three of us up and drove us to the pyramids.  I thought driving through the streets of Cairo was so interesting, for one because it's a very monochromatic city- the majority of buildings were a sandstone color, which I felt like contributed even more to it's ancient feel.  Coming from Thailand to there, reminded me of being at work and going from the bright, fun colors of the children's hospital, over to the adult side where everything is beige.

 

It was so crazy to see the Pyramids of Giza in the distance as we were driving and know that we were about to visit something that we'd seen pictures of and learned about in school for years.  Even knowing in advance how large they are and how long the Egyptians spent building them, I wasn't really prepared for how enormous and incredible they are.  They don't call them one of the 7 wonders of the world for nothing.

 

This was a pretty hilarious little scene.

Although though it was scorching hot, we actually picked a good time to visit- there was hardly anybody there because of the combination of it being summer, the middle of Ramadan, and tourism being down post-revolution.  So it was really nice to not have to fight throngs of tourists and have space to wander around and explore- at one point we were the only people at the Sphinx, it was crazy!

 

The only down side was the vendors were pretty aggressive with asking us to buy things, take pictures, ride camels, etc, because business was down.  AJ actually got the worst of it because he's a guy- the opposite of how we found it to be most other places- but he fended them off.  One guy did ask him how many camels he wanted for one of us, an offer he probably entertained taking him up on.

After an exciting morning of that included not only pyramid viewing, but racing a guy on a camel in the car (he won-those things can move!), we traveled on to the Citadel.  This complex was stunning beyond words.

Among other things, it houses the Mohammed Ali mosque which is easily one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen.  The walls are all detailed with ornate gold, there are stained glass windows, in the center there is a giant intricate chandelier and all above your head there are winding rows of glowing globe lights.  I think that because I had no prior knowledge of what I was about to see, it was even more striking.

 

After spending some time in the mosque we walked to the viewpoint where there was a fantastic overlook of the city.

Since it was now after 1pm, blazing hot, and we had a accomplished quite a bit of sightseeing, we headed home for a little siesta before dinner.  Since it was Ramadan we had to wait until the sun went down to go to the restaurant- and when it did go down it was quite a spectacular sight from AJ's balcony.  The upside of urban smog is it does create some beautiful sunsets!

We set out to get some traditional middle eastern food but the place we wanted to go to had a huge wait because everyone was out breaking their fast for the day.  AJ & his two roommates decided we should go get some grape leaves and a drink at another place while we waited the hour and a half.  The grape leaves were a success but our hunt for a place to get a beer was not- nobody was serving any because of the holiday.  But we got a nice tour of the city & it was interesting to be there in person to see the city square that had been the backdrop of so many news reports during the revolution.  All around the city, but particularly in that area, there was tons of political graffiti- portraits of leaders, martyrs, and all kinds of liberty themed images.

 

 

 

After killing some time we returned to Taboula and as promised it was worth the wait.  We ordered a ton of stuff to share- hummus, babaganoush, tabuleh, falafel, chicken meatballs, kiba, mussels, salad, fried cheese.  It was all absolutely delicious- one of my favorite meals of the trip, and in typical fashion we ate until we couldn't eat another bite and then had a couple more.

After dinner AJ and Rafi decided it would probably be wrong of us to come to Egypt and not have a shusha, so they took us to this little plaza where everyone was sitting outside under shimmering silver Ramadan decorations, smoking hookahs.  We ordered one lemon and one cantaloupe & just told stories and relaxed.  It was a phenomenal way to end the last night of our crazy journey and check my 6th continent off my list!

 

 

Us vs. the Volcano

Having decided that the 3.5 hour drive each way to Arenal to see the volcano was a bit much, the plan for today was to visit the closer, if smaller, volcano in Rincon National Park, about an hour outside of Liberia.

My mom elected to skip the hiking portion of the day in favor of hanging poolside so the 4 of us set out for another adventure.  After only one wrong turn and subsequent turnaround- some sort of record for us- and a 14 (fourteen!) mile ride down the bumpiest dirt road in the universe, we arrived in one, overly jostled, piece.

At the ranger station we got the lowdown- the trail to the volcano crater was closed due to activity and they were out of maps, but invited us to take a photo of theirs.  So we didn't see a volcano, but we did see many other interesting things, despite the lack of a map.

Hanging bridges

Waterfalls

Mud Pots

Water Pots

Mineral deposits

Giant trees

Interesting Foliage

Streams

Two hours later, the "easy hike" left us looking as though we had completed some sort of survivalist training and we piled our sweaty selves back into the car.  As we bumped on out of the park, we saw a sign for a $10 spa at a geothermal spring and decided to stop.

The woman running the show at Symbiosis escorted us to the changing room and after we emerged, scantily clad in our tiny blue towels, she led us to the sauna.  It was highly enjoyable for about 7 minutes, then the fact that I had eaten a coconut cookie for breakfast and then gone on the ironman nature walk took effect and I had to remove myself from the area and sit with my head between my legs, turning six shades of pale and trying not to pass out while our nice hostess fetched me a glass of ice water.

After I revived, sauna time was declared over and we moved on to the next area.  Here there was a giant pot of hot volcanic mud and 4 large paintbrushes.  You really haven't lived until you and three of your closest family members have spent a semi nude afternoon painting yourselves (and occasionally each other, for those hard to reach spots) with mud.

Next it was drying time & we were instructed to lie on the provided wooden lounge chairs and bake in the sun.  This was semi-relaxing, it probably would have been more so if we weren't so worried about keeping our legs crossed so we didn't have to charge the nice couple getting a tour of the facility for a free show.

Next it was time for the geothermal pool rinse.  There wasn't much getting around it- the towels were coming off.  After a little eye averting soak to remove our mud, followed by a cool shower, it was time to return to the towels.  Two more quick dips in the mini pools where we elected to just go knee deep, except for aunt dawn who opted to just wear her towel into the pool, and we were ready to go- only slightly scarred.

Well past the point of hunger we continued down the road and stopped at the Canopy Bar at Hacienda G.  We ordered some Tico Tacos and out came an interesting dish-

Chicken rolled in a flour tortilla and fried, covered with fresh cabbage and topped with mayonnaise and ketchup (though I would be hard pressed to identify it as ketchup in any taste test).  Our waiter also brought us a little ceramic jar with hot pickled vegetables to put on top.  He warned us it was hot but this stuff was no joke and my lips burned for about an hour after we finished.  This combination of items sounds pretty gross as I write it, but it actually tasted quite good.

We arrived back at the house in time to catch the sunset which was really spectacular and the resort next door had a live band playing so it made for a nice final trip to the beach.

After a much needed shower (funny how I didn't feel clean after a muddy splash about in the volcanic waters & putting back on my hiking clothes that didn't need to be washed, so much as burned) it was off to try and have dinner at Picante again.  Our persistence was rewarded and we had a very enjoyable meal of plantains with bean dip, fish and shrimp casados, fish tacos, coconut shrimp and pork with spicy blackberry sauce.  The hotel was really nice with connecting infinity pools overlooking the beach & if I ever get to come back I would definitely invest some time in day drinking here.

Back at the house it was a craaazy last night of packing and finishing our books.

A Costa Rican Mother's Day

Since we went to bed around 7:30 last night it wasn't much of a challenge getting up.  That said, I woke up at 6, realized nobody else was up and about and went back to bed for an hour until Emily and Aunt Dawn returned from their walk on the beach.

We kicked off the day with a pot of Costa Rican coffee that put the ol Keurig at work to shame and assembled  a random little mother's day breakfast with the eggs, toast and fruit the previous guests had left in the kitchen- as our expedition to the supermercado did not actually result in the purchase of any food.

After breakfast and quiet reading time were over, we headed for Playas del Coco- 2 blocks away.  I'd never been on a black sand beach before and it was an interesting contrast of looking filthy but being clean.  The water was super clear & you could see your feet but it looked like you were standing in mud and the sand actually had sort of a clay like feeling to it higher up on the beach where it was damp from the waves.  April is the end of the high season so there was hardly anyone else around- it was kind if like having our own private beach.  We did see a leathery looking dude, whistling by in a green mankini but judging by his "tan mom" hue, I'd guess he's a local.

 

 

Much to the delight of my mother who has been spoiled by owning a pool and thus refused to go in further than shin deep, we retreated to the condo to take refuge from the blazing noon sun. We lounged by the pool until hunger forced Emily and I to venture back to the supermercado- with a list.  And not a moment too soon, as I had already reached my granola bar quota for the trip and it was only day 2.

We parked on the strip to steal some wifi and double check that all was right with our mothers day surprise.  And since nothing is ever simple, I opened my email to find that since the woman had sent us an invoice but we didn't have the Internet to know & pay it (despite having already given her our credit card info), they assumed we didn't want to go & would not be sending anyone to meet us at the beach.  Since that email had been sent just 5 minutes before we checked- I frantically emailed her back explaining that it was sort of a special occasion & was it possible to still go.  Long story short, emails were exchanges, invoices were paid and crises were averted.

After a quick jaunt through the grocery store (props to costa rica for selling booze in the supermercado though apparently the sale of Reisling is not allowed) we hurried back to the house to get ready.

Lest anyone guess our surprise or think we might be doing something enjoyable we told the moms, among other things, that we were going on an 8 mile hike through a bat cave and that we were going to drop them off somewhere and see who could find their way back first. My mom in particular just loves all of those things so when we drove them down to the beach I think she was relieved.  That lasted about 5 minutes until the tiny rubber boat that takes you out to the sailboat pulled up & I was pretty sure when she and Aunt Darlene sailed off in it- because we couldn't all fit at once- she was probably asking him to drop her back off at our condo.
 




Once we were all safely aboard the Seabird, we settled in for a private 3.5 hour sunset cruise with an open bar and snacks- how's about that for good daughters??

The crew was phenomenal, bringing us drinks, keeping us from falling overboard, even letting us take control of the iPod.  Since the quality of my Spanish is directly correlated with my consumption of alcohol, by my second sangria I was chattering away with them in Español, learning about which famous people have houses on which beaches & what time Ladies night starts at the lizard lounge.  I will have much to report in my weight training and celebrity gossip class with Trudog next Wednesday.

The sail was very relaxing, with the exception of one minor incident when someone's mother fell down on the boat trying to switch sides to see the sunset (the identity of the uninjured party shall remain nameless to protect what is left of their dignity).

Despite the consumption of sangria and "surprise me" drinks, everyone managed to disembark in one piece and a happy mother's day was had by all.

After the sail we headed into town for dinner.  Emily had seen a sign yesterday above a restaurant boasting that it was voted 2011's Best Pizza in Costa Rica by Lonely Planet and being the marketer's dream that she is, hadn't stopped talking about how we should go there.  We ignored her. as we are apt to do, walked up the street browsing restaurants, saw a guy on his bike get hit by a car (though from the chaos on the main street I can't believe it took as long as it did to see someone get taken out), walked back down the street and ended up at Lonely Planet's Best Pizza in Costa Rica 2011.  I do have to give it to them, it was damn good- I'm just a little confused as to why the only Spanish food I have had so far was guacamole- that we made ourselves.

Back at the house we played a couple hair raising rounds of Yahtzee and called it a night, a full 2.5 hours later than our previous nights bedtime.