"Best Day Ever" Whenever There's a Hotel Pool!

It's the little things that matter, clearly. Not the flights, the international travel, the planning, the stress....it's the hotel pool! (Does Ajax's Super 8 have a pool?) Best Day Ever and we haven't even picked up the rental car yet!

To be fair, it WAS a nice little pool shaded by enormous mango trees - Hotel Mango lived up to it's name! Swimming lessons are evidently worth the investment as we didn't need to pack life jackets. Proud dad moment!

Our first typical Costa Rican breakfast - to Lauren's delight, under the watchful eye of the hotel dog. I didn't realize before today that Costa Rica had "typical" food that was different than other Central American cuisine, but apparently that's a thing! (More on this later.)

Vamos car rental set us up with a 4WD car - along with a handful of stickers for Lauren and a map for Everest - and now the real adventure starts! 

Not to dwell too much on the mundane, but Loblaws should take note. This is an impressive kid-friendly cart, and the in-store samples rock! (Sizeable bag of corn chips + a ladle full of ceviche = one happy boy!)

For that boy's parents, Costa Rica is a national homage to coffee, and so we left the excitement of a San Jose grocery store and went to...Starbucks?

Yes, Starbucks acquired a micro coffee farm, research hub, and education centre: Hacienda Alsacia. I like sugary, creamy desserts as much as anyone, but it's hard for me to get my head around Starbucks as emblematic of serious coffee and research. Whatever the case, this is the BEST Starbucks in the world!

On limited sleep, the idea of a 90-minute tour in the mid-day heat through a coffee plantation -  wrapping up with a tasting that highlights the nuanced differences in coffee flavour profiles - sounds awesome! For me. For two kids who are dealing with jet lag and travel stress? Not so much. We took a pass on the cerebral and enjoyed the incredible terrace with a selection of drinks. Even with a sweetened steamed milk, Lauren was a little up and down in her mood.....in the span of two minutes. 

(Like our forecasted weather here, if you don't like what you get, wait a few minutes and it will change!)

Evy, on the other hand, was the epitome of happiness with his iced hot chocolate!

An ongoing joke in our household is that the kids try to drink my coffee. They know it's an "adult drink", so it's funny that they reach for it, right? Ok, kids, when in Rome! You want to try coffee in Costa Rica? I'm drinking straight up cold brew with no sweetener or cream. Lauren tried it first...

...and her expression suggests she didn't love it. Everest had a more moderated reaction: "I like it...kind of...not really...".

Impressed as I am, good-bye Starbucks, for the rest of the trip!

Hotel Altura wasn't far as the crow flies, but the twisting roads and slower speed limits (which are plenty fast when hugging the edge of a precipice with no guardrail!) meant that it was a reasonable destination for today. What a fascinating hotel / nature retreat for inquisitive kids!

A playground!

A soccer pitch! (With an emphasis on the word "pitch" as nothing is flat for more than a few paces...)

Amazing landscapes in every direction...

...including Poas Volcano - the impetus for this leg of the trip - and a not-entirely-sturdy-feeling viewing platform for taking it in. (Poas Volcano is behind the clouds on the left.)

Typical Costa Rican cuisine just 500m from the hotel at El Descanso restaurant....but we brought it back "home" to avoid driving after dark. Besides, we have this magical setting, a nightly bonfire in the common area, and an immense soaker tub in our suite.

With the kids (easily) asleep, Mindy and I marveled at the night-time birds we were hearing in the cloud forest around us. (True to the name, the cloud descended at nightfall making for an ethereal glow and soft edges everywhere as we walked the grounds at night.)

As I sit in this quiet room writing by the light of a dim lamp, the birds have quieted, and there's a rustling nearby. An armadillo outside the window? A mouse in the room? Nope....this common bug could be a late-night visitor in Ajax. (Well, the forecast is for snow this week in Ajax so I guess the beetles aren't out and about just yet...)

The photo may be deceiving; I didn't kill it. It fell on its back when I moved the paper bag it was crawling behind. I checked later and the beetle had moved on. Time for me to move on...to bed.

What's Your Favourite Thing?

For my 4-year old daughter Lauren, the worldwide hit show Bluey has popularized the game "What's Your Favourite Thing?", where the family gets together and tells their favourite things from the day. So...today, kids, is your favourite thing an early visit from the Easter Bunny on Saturday morning? Playing in the pool and swimming lessons? Or jet-setting out to Costa Rica?? (Ahem, if the bank account has any sway then the Easter Bunny had better not be in the running...)

While Everest was a world traveler at barely a year old (though my commitment to documenting those trips here was clearly lacking!) COVID and then the realities of two kids have meant that "deprived" Lauren's vacations have been local until now. Nonetheless, with her devoted brother by her side, she took on international travel with confidence.

 First flight for the girl...and first "experienced" flight for the boy who was too young to remember all the previous. A few nerves at the outset, but they quickly settled in.

Not shown: me crawling around passenger's feet and under people's seats looking for a stray Lego piece so that Everest could complete his in-flight building entertainment! Airplane floors are clean, right? Whatever! The Lego did the job until fatigue set in.

Everest knows I want our next car to be bigger, and so he thoughtfully recommended that I consider the big orange taxi van that delivered us from San Jose airport to our first night hotel. Umm, sure...

Late night arrival, so it's past time for bed. So tired!

Hanging with the family in Sorrento

It's rare these days that one-year old Everest isn't our "alarm clock", but make the poor kid sleep-deprived from a red-eye flight and he sleeps like....a baby! My parents went out to get groceries this morning - a questionable plan given the maze of impassably narrow streets that present every time Google Maps (or TomTom) provide directions - and so Mindy and I had our Bellavista home to ourselves. We relaxed and soaked in the views, including Mount Vesuvius jutting up from the expansive Bay of Naples.

(Also gave me some computer time, with frequent interruptions to look out and enjoy the scenery.)

I would say that Mindy is trying to get her "pre-baby" body back, but she returned to peak form long ago. Maybe this was just in preparation for a day of indulgence. (She made me partake in the exercise, perhaps knowing I would lead the way as far as indulgence!)

With our tummys tightened, we re-grouped for a Terry Fox photo-op. After all, we're not going to lose a nearly two-decade streak of the Terry Fox Run just because we're in Italy. (Ahem, for clarity, Everest's Terry Fox streak is a mere two years as of today. Not bad for a kid who is less than two years old!)

We proceeded to head en masse into of the most picturesque towns of the Amalfi coast: Sorrento!

As parking is a challenge in the downtown, we parked once (at the same grocery store where our host met us yesterday) and began to wander.

In Parco Lauro, trees have adapted to dry summers (I surmise) by making their roots well-equipped to gather every drop of water that falls on the ground!

Elsewhere, we saw trees supported by wooden frames(?)

Next, we stumbled across one of the many limoncello shops throughout the Amalfi region. This one grows its own lemons in the adjacent grove.

Finally, we were in and amongst the narrow streets, piazzas, and shops of Sorrento's city centre.

We found a secluded garden restaurant for a delicious lunch.

Everest wasn't allowed in this store for even a moment!

You know how people spread their arms wide to show how narrow some old streets are?

Most of Sorrento is perched high on cliffs, so the beach and shore are far below.

Finally we got back to the apartment for a nap for Everest, and downtime for us.