Onto Wednesday, our final full day in Costa Rica. The plan was to wake up around 5:15 to see the sun rise outside our room. Well, when I started to rise and could see a hint of light peeping through the curtain, I knew that plan was done. I actually got out of bed around 7:30.
We drove to Tamarindo and walked down the beach. One of the things that made this speech interesting was how long the space of wet sand was. It really seemed that some waves travelled really far up the sand and some just really didn't go anywhere.
We spent about a half hour settling on the same refusing vendors offering us coconuts, duck calls, and massages. Interesting combination, to be sure. We then snuck onto the Diara hotel pool property. Sneaking on only required climbing a rock wall about one foot high. I tried to get two towels, but without a hotel towel card, that wasn't happening.
We sat under the palabra bar and preferred a couple drinks while playing farkle.
I'm actually going to stop for a minute and just go on a segue here. I'm sitting on a couch on my screened-in balcony and the sun has set about 30 minutes ago. There's something so peaceful about the ruggedness and the strength of these waves crashing against sand not too far from where I sit right now. That sound represents freedom, power, and action. I feel very close with nature in this moment and very much at peace as I hear the strength of that water. It's a beautiful thing and something I can never have in Chicago.
Ok, now back to my post. I'm now 6-0 against mom in farkle, which is remarkable considering she's such a good game player. I guess she's more into Yahtzee. We wanted to have lunch in the town, but only new restaurant seems to be open: a pizza place and another joint called Walter's, which didn't really excite us that much. Though we knew we would spend some money at the Marriott, we knew the quality would be wonderful. So we decided to head back to the hotel.
In the mood for something unique, we went to the one open restaurant on the property. We started with a jumbo vodka shrimp cocktail with mango ketchup, horseradish sauce, fried plantains, and avocado ice cream. I'm not a big shrimp cocktail, as it usually lacks flavor. But there were enough elements where it was really enjoyable. I had a pan seared jerk red snapper with caramelized plantains, Caribbean peppers, and rice and beans. The spiciness of the peppers was very apparent, but the sweetness of the plantains helped to counter. It was a wonderful dish, I just needed a little more sauce. Mom made a great choice by ordering the grilled octopus. I'm not even sure what else was in it, but it looked like a snake. But as I tasted the octopus, I could taste the flavors of lemon, white wine, fresh herbs, and garlic. I can't say I'll be eating octopus anytime soon, because I'm not sure who can make it correctly in the States. But this was an absolutely wonderful dish.
As the train began falling, I realize the odds of ping pong and volleyball happening were not very high. So I spent some time reading in the balcony and watched the sunset behind the clouds, with my bare feet buried in the wet sand. I eventually went to the gym for about an hour. Meanwhile, mom spent most of the afternoon at the spa. I have to admit, I would really like to try a volcanic mud wrap treatment, but I don't think I want to spend $150 to get it.
For dinner, we went to Tamarine, the Asian fusion restaurant at the hotel. I wanted to sit on the balcony of the restaurant, since it overlooks the pool, which at that time of night had colored lights on. With the leaves in the palm trees blowing in the night time wind, it created a wonderful atmosphere for a nice final meal. We split vegetarian egg rolls, a wonderful fresh tuna salad, and a bowl of Japanese fried rice. It was a very nice dinner, but as much as I love fried rice, there is no fried rice in the world worth $22.
For my last morning, I had one last workout, before hopping in the steam room and sauna. The travel was smooth as we got both our flights without a problem. We wound up getting home right at midnight.
I don't know if I would go back to Costa Rica, as I'd like a little more structure on my vacations. But I'm definitely open to experiencing some more adventure when I do go away. I'm certainly glad I got to spend six days there and experience a different country and culture. Pura Vida!
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