For those of you who have been following along, you know that I was a bit uncertain about this “island hopping” tour, but it was actually really amazing. Several companies do something similar, but mine was organized through The Wilderness Phuket (Tel 0835565006221) and the tour itself was directly managed by Andaman Surprise (Tel 081-4266623). In my particular case, everything was setup by my guide on Day 5, Maria Wanpen Ngan-khang. Our main guide for the day was Tuktuk, but he had an impressive team of several people. I think that Maria had worked out some sort of a discount, so for the two of us (Elisabet and I) the cost was only 3400 THB ($89.85 USD) but it definitely would have been fair for it to be more expensive, so even if they quote you a bit more, I would still encourage you to go if you can’t get a better price.
We were picked up at Elisabet’s house in Koh Kaew at 9:00 AM sharp and taken to the meeting point where they had plenty of snacks and drinks available while we were waiting for other participants to arrive. All of this was included in the cost of the tour.
We waited maybe 30-45 minutes for everyone else to arrive, but it was a comfortable spot and we could also walk around in the immediate area, so it did not feel like unpleasant downtime. This also gave people the opportunity to either change clothes or even buy some extra reasonably priced swim/snorkel gear in the shop area where we were waiting. The area itself was very beautiful.
I opted to buy some swim slippers for 400 THB ($10.57 USD), since I have “baby feet” and knew that I would be uncomfortable walking on rough or hot sand. Then we received some basic instructions and the group was divided into two so that there would not be too many people in a single group. I didn’t count the actual number of participants in my group, but I think it was between 15 and 20; certainly, it never felt like there were too many people as there was plenty of space. We then headed to our boat.
I had been expecting something MUCH simpler, so I was extremely impressed by the boat and also very appreciative. The seating was comfortable and the tarp helped ensure that we did not bake in the sun while travelling around from island to island.
The first “stop” at 11:35 AM was viking cave. We were not allowed to actually enter, but evidently there are 2000 year old paintings inside as well as some sort of special bird. Even from the distance it was impressive.
I didn’t fully understand, but I think that originally the organizers had planned for us to do snorkeling somewhere else, but they had received word that the area there was very crowded, so they put down anchor and told us that we would do snorkeling here. For those of us who were not strong swimmers, they suggested that we use life jackets since we would be in the water over 30 minutes and there would be nothing available to hang onto nor stand on given the depth of the water. Both Elisabet and I decided to go with the jackets, even though the sea was very calm.
Like me, this was Elisabet’s first time snorkeling
I had been diving once before in Goa, and while I had liked it, had not been especially impressed with what I saw. However, I was certainly game to try. Incidentally, for those concerned about hygiene, we were each given new mouthpieces to use; although, I hope they were simply well-sterilized and then reused since they seemed like very sturdy, potentially costly bits of equipment.
Unfortunately, I had no way of taking any pictures, but it was absolutely amazing. The best was I can describe it, is that it was like swimming in a giant tropical aquarium. The variety of fish was stunning, as was the coral, even though much of it was bleached. As the water was crystal clear, it was easy to see all the contours of the nearby seabed as well as the fish, even though due to the life vest I was of course not able to dive down further to get a closer look. There was one type of blue fish which I would say was the size of a large trout which kept drawing my attention; it had several shades of blue, as well as a bit of green and yellow. Once I got a bit more used to breathing through the snorkel tube, I was having an amazing time. Words really do fail me, but this was definitely one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
We continued with snorkeling until about 12:20 PM. Despite how much I liked it, I think this really was the right amount of time. Even with the life vest, moving around in the water could be a bit tiring, and many people of didn’t have the extra support.
They had a handy freshwater shower system when we got out of the water so that we wouldn’t be itchy from the dried seawater back on the boat.
We then continued onwards until 12:35 PM where we had another stop. I forgot to ask where we were, but based on the map, I guess it was probably Pileh cove. Wherever it was, it was very beautiful.
There we had the option of going out on traditional wooden long boats which had an additional cost, paddling around in a clear acrylic rowboat, taking a try doing paddle boarding, more swimming, or just lazing around on the boat while appreciating the beautiful surroundings. We decided to just hang out on the boat and chat, also taking advantage of the plentiful included drinks and snacks whenever we wanted. We were there until 1:07 PM, which again, seemed like the perfect amount of time. Then we were off again.
We arrived to Maya bay at 1:15 PM. There it is prohibited to swim, but it was nice to walk around, and it was okay to wade in the water. This area had been completely closed to the public for many years due to excessive tourism, much which was the result of it being the main filming site of the movie “The Beach”. Even without the popularity of the movie, it was easy to see how the place had been overrun with tourists due to its amazing beauty. I was happy that the Thai government had been willing to take a stand on the conservation and recuperation of the site and even now was still strictly limiting which activities were permitted.
We were back on the boat at 2:05 PM and then had a short trip to Phi Phi island, arriving at 2:17 PM. Here was where we would have our buffet lunch and if time permitted, wander around until 3:20 PM.
From 3:20 – 3:27 we did a short jaunt to monkey beach. The name is of course self-explanatory.
We only stayed there until 3:36 PM and then continued onwards to Khai Mai island.
We arrived at 4:30 PM. The primary function of this island seems to be that of “island bar”. So far, it was by far the most stereotypical representation of Phuket area beach life which I had seen. Still, for one hour it was fine, especially since our tour organizers setup a table with multiple drinks and snacks which had no additional cost. Of course, many opted to buy alcohol and rent one of the beach chairs, but for the most part Elisabet and I were just content to wander around a bit, even though there really wasn’t far to go. Supposedly this island had lots of cats, and I was eager to see the same, but in total I only saw five, and none of them particularly drew my attention. Despite the later afternoon hour, the sun was now quite intense, and the beach also had lots of broken coral and shells which made it uncomfortable to walk without special slippers like those I had bought earlier. Still, we were only there an hour, and like everywhere else we had been, it was still in its own way a very picturesque place to hang out for a bit while on vacation.
At 5:30 PM we headed back to where we had started from in Phuket. The last boat trip was only 28 minutes, and with the stunning cloud formations and the beautiful sunset, it was a perfect ending to our outing.
So this entry is less than a “Day 6” than it is an evening 6, and it’s mostly just a recount of our trip to Phuket FantaSea. In order to use funds from my PayPal balance, I bought the tickets through Trip.com, but the cost was about the same as buying direct from FantaSea. To be certain, the main website states that all resellers are obligated to sell tickets according to the official stated rate. I opted for the show + buffet with theater gold seat upgrade. So for two people it was $116.78 USD; paying at the park would have been 5100 THB. That does make it look like I got a bit of a discount, but I suspect it was just due to a favorable exchange rate issue.
In addition to the theater and buffet hall, there is a connected small, but beautiful “night theme park”, and entrance to the same is free with theater tickets. The park and buffet opens at 5:30 PM, with the show starting at 9:00 PM. Elisabet took care of the round trip transport via inDrive, paying a total of 740 THB ($19.42 USD). It was 14 km (8.7 miles) each way, taking about 35 minutes each way, mostly due to intermittent rain and rather twisty roads. We arrived at 6:30 PM.
From the moment we arrived, everything went very smoothly with the process to first exchange our electronic voucher for tickets and then to go through into the park area itself. Due to the light rain, not everything was fully operating, but there were still beautiful displays and nice shops with prices reasonably comparable to what one would pay elsewhere.
This area is clearly all about the pictures and of course the shopping. As we didn’t do any shopping, we focused our energy on the photos. It would have been nicer without the light rain, but it was nevertheless a magical experience. At around 7:40 PM we went through to the buffet hall.
The buffet was very well organized in order to minimize any long lines. The food was “decent” but not amazing. There was a fancier “seafood upgrade” pack we could have bought, but as I’m allergic to shellfish, that didn’t make much sense. Around 8:45 we made our way over to the theater entrance where I snapped one last photo of Elisabet before we got in line.
Cameras and recording devices were strictly prohibited within the theater, even to the extent that we were required to turn in our cellphones before entering. While this was initially disappointing since even the theater itself was very beautiful inside, I have to admit that this was a good idea on the part of the organizers since lighting played a very important role in the show. With such a huge theater, I have no doubt that people would otherwise have regularly been destroying the atmosphere with the light from the their screens.
The entire show itself was only a little over an hour, but it was so incredibly well done that I in no way felt that we had paid too much. Words really don’t do it justice, but that’s all I can offer. It was a mix of several different mini shows which kept us entranced for the entire time. They began with some sort of traditional Thai dancers. They then transitioned into a very elegant shadow puppets story which was followed up by a comedic magic show. Following that were the four black light lit trapeze artists with the final show being a mini play of a love story where the “princess” was captured by a demon and then of course triumphant battle to get her back.
The show itself had at least fifty (I think more like a hundred different people), several water buffalo, a flock of chickens, a group of goats, flying doves, a tiger, and of course elephants . . . All of which appeared on the massive stage. Our gold seats put us squarely in the middle of the stage at a perfect distance to still appreciate the immensity of it all. The only thing that was a bit difficult for us to fully appreciate were the trapeze artists, since they were almost immediately above our heads, so we had to strain our necks a bit to see. Despite the trapeze part, I’m definitely very glad I paid the gold seat upgrade.
Certainly, if you are ever in Phuket, you should definitely see if you can go to the FantaSea show. I’m almost certain that you’ve never before seen anything like it. Yes, I can understand why some people would have misgivings about the animals in the show. I didn’t have enough expertise to notice the same, but Elisabet thought that some of the elephants’ ears looked “mistreated”. To be fair, I didn’t think the elephants themselves actually added that much to the show; they could easily remove them and it would still be an amazing spectacle, but then I suppose that would also sort of undermine the whole “elephant theme” which was definitely dominant throughout the park.
While not impossible, it did take Elisabet some time to hail us a car to return. As soon as we got back to the house, we immediately headed up to our rooms since upon Elisabet’s recommendation and with Maria’s (My guide on day 5) help, we had planned a full day island hopping trip for day 7.
As I don’t tend to be much of a beach/ocean person, I had my doubts about a full day in the sun, but I was certain that with Elisabet along I would have a good time. Our trip to FantaSea had far exceeded my expectations, so I was starting to have the hope that the same thing might happen with the various island visits.
As always, thanks for following along with my travels and hopefully I’ll see you with day 7.
Day 5 was a bit different as I had opted to go on a “full day” guided tour. As such, much of this entry could be read as a review. I first discovered the GetYourGuide app in Barcelona, but have since then referred to it several times. The app itself seems to be an aggregate of quality tours from different local providers in a given location. The prices there are always comparable or a bit less to those found elsewhere. I paid $58.50 USD for the From Phuket: Khao Lak Highlights Full-Day Tour and it was definitely worth that and more. I think the actual company that did the tour was TripGuru and my guide was Maria Wanpen Ngan-khang.
I was picked up at Elisabet’s house in Koh Kaew at 7:20 AM (10 minutes ahead of schedule) in a full-sized tourism van. I’m afraid that I neglected to write his name, but Maria said his name would translate as “chicken”. After about 5 minutes we picked up Maria, and that was when I discovered that I was actually going to be the only one on the tour; I had known that this was a maximum 10 person tour, but I was surprised (yet gratified) that they would still run it with only one person. The first stop en route was the Sarasin bridge which connects Phuket to Phang Nga province on the mainland.
Volunteers clean both the tanks and the turtles on a daily basis (or at any rate, that’s what I understood)Turtles are placed in different age groups, not being released until they are considered to be large enough to have a much better chance of survival.
I looked around at the conservation center until 10:03, and then we had a short trip to a Tsunami memorial center, arriving at 10:20 AM.
My guide Maria and the police boat which was left stranded on land to serve as a memorial for those who died trying to protect others.
It was a sobering experience to read some of the experiences of the survivors, including my guide Maria who had been on Phi Phi island that day. Now she is able to happily appreciate the beauty of today day as a survivor, but she remembers fleeing to the hills with her young son and the horror at knowing that so many others would not make it to high land on time. There wasn’t that much to actually see there, so by 10:40 we departed for the rafting center, arriving at about 11:15
I wasn’t really sure why we had to go this last little bit in the back of a pickup truck, but it was fine, just another addition to the whole experience.
The bamboo rafting experience was basically just me sitting while a very nice man pushed us along with a pole. Certainly the water was very clean looking, and the trees along the bank were pretty. The man managing the pole also kept an eye out for snakes etc in the trees and tried to point them out to me so I could take pictures, but with the distance and how well they were concealed, it was hard to capture them with my camera.
I was finished with the rafting by 11:50 AM, and Maria was waiting for me with coconut ice cream and an assortment of tasty toppings.
After eating my ice-cream with toppings I decided to go back to the restroom to change since I wasn’t planning on getting wet again that day. The bathrooms were very clean, and anyone would find them to be more than adequate.
By 12:25 we were back on the road headed towards Lampi waterfall, arriving at 12:50 PM. There were crystal clear pools of water around the waterfall where one could safely swim, but as I was traveling on my own, I didn’t see the point of getting in the water. Regardless, the area was very beautiful.
I was glad to see that the waterfall was officially declared safe for the day.The bridge was sturdy but a possible safety concern were the bolts sticking out of the top of the wood where one walks. They were long enough to puncture through flip-flops and definitely could easily trip up an unwary walker.
I could have stayed longer and no doubt would have had I been accompanied by a friend or even just some other traveling partners, but by 1:30 PM I decided I was finished. Maria and the driver asked if I would like to go get something to eat, as they estimated that it would otherwise be 3:20 by the time I was back to the house. I told them that unless they were hungry, I would prefer to just head back and get something to eat at the house. They both agreed that it was fine to head back, and due to extremely favorable travel conditions, I was actually back at the house right at 2:40 PM.
Upon arrival I prepared a simple snack and wait for Elisabet to get back from work. I completely forgot to take down notes about times etc, but she suggested that we go check out Bang Tao beach which was relatively close by.
We had originally thought to have dinner at one of the beachfront restaurants there, but it started raining fairly heavily, so we opted instead to head back to the the house and eat something simple there. It was an absolutely wonderful day, and I was looking forward to all of the great experiences I would have during my remaining time visiting with Elisabet in Phuket.
I hope this entry has helped you see more of the outstanding adventures you can have while visiting Phuket. If you would like more information about anything I’ve mentioned just let me know in the comments section, and I will do my best to fill in any gaps.
As promised, today has a lot more action than the first three days and there might also be a bit of controversy about the way I decided to start out the day.
After a lot of internal debate, early in the morning I decided that it would be okay for me to go see the seal and dolphin 11 AM show at Dolphins Bay Phuket. Yes, I’m fully aware of the associated ethical issues and also fully aware that a lot of my readers will be upset that: (1) This show even exists, and (2) that I went to it. For those who are upset with me, if it helps, all I can say is that all of the animals seemed to be in very good health, and at least during the show itself, there was nothing that might remotely be interpreted as abusive behavior. With that in mind, once I decided to suspend my concerns, this was a really wonderful show.
It took me 45 minutes and 350 THB (9.26 USD) with inDrive to get there. I had “reserved” a deluxe seat online ahead of time, but that doesn’t really seem to be all that meaningful since you don’t pay until you arrive. Nevertheless, even though I barely arrived at 10:56 AM sharp, a worker immediately met me when the car arrived, quickly steering me to the ticket booth and ushering me smoothly until the performance area. I had a great seat, near the middle of the stage in the third row
I suppose ones luck may vary, but the only difference with the first two rows and the third row was that spectators were more likely to get wet in the first two rows. Also, I guess the most unobstructed pictures would also be from the first row. Regardless, I was happy with my deluxe seat which had a cost of 900 THB ($23.77). It seemed like the only way to pay was with cash, but they probably also accept local “Thai pay QR codes”.
They started out with the seal show.
The seal show was great, but clearly they were just meant to be the opening act. There was no doubt that the real stars here were the dolphins.
The show itself was only 35 minutes, but I definitely felt that it was worth what I had paid. Yes, there was a lot of shillling going on to get people to pay 400 more THB to have a picture with a dolphin but running a show like this, including the proper care of the animals and salaries of the trainers is no doubt expensive, and the crowd wasn’t that big. The 400 actually seemed like a reasonable amount given that a whole family could have a picture together rather than paying separately for each person. So IF you are the sort of person who would be okay with going to see a dolphin show, this is one which I highly recommend. If however you think I’m an evil person for going to see such a show, please just forgive my moment of weakness while on vacation.
Since it had been a very long trip to get to this area of Phuket, I decided to see if there was anything else reasonably close by that it seemed I might want to visit. I saw that there was another temple complex, Wat Chaithatharam, just three kilometers away. The temperature wasn’t too warm and it wasn’t raining, so I decided to walk.
Along the way, it started raining, so I decided “to shop” for awhile in a grocery until it let up. Unsurprisingly I didn’t actually buy anything, but I did like seeing all the different products. There were several snack foods that interested me, but I was afraid they might have shrimp byproducts in them, so I took a pass. Still, it was nice to see everything. Due to my shopping detour it took me 90 minutes to arrive to the temple complex.
The main tower of the complex can be seen to the left.
It rained intermittently while I was there, but my umbrella was more than adequate. Admission to the area was free, and there was a lot to see. No doubt I would have appreciated things more with a knowledgeable guide, but even wandering around on my own, it was a very good one hour visit, and I easily could have spent more time.
These seemed to be covered in gold leaf, much which was flaking, and I saw a couple of people stick little papers with tape on them. I assume that’s some sort of a prayer?Here there were supposedly several Buddha relics. There was very little signage in English or Chinese, but there was quite a bit in Thai
It was 2:10 PM when I finished and then decided to return to Phuket town where I would be able to go to the Aquaria aquarium. I was a bit hesitant as I had already been to two different aquariums in Dubai less than a month ago. Still, it was more or less on the way back, so I figured that I may as well give it a try since my friend Elisabet would be busy at work until 5:00 PM.
It was 173 THB with inDrive to go to the aquarium, but I paid 200 ($5.28 USD) and by 2:30 PM I had arrived to the central Phuket mall, which is where the aquarium is located in the basement. There I paid a full price foreign adult entry fee of 890 THB (23.50 USD); I think I could have paid a bit less if I had bought the ticket through another online provider, but I wasn’t sure that I would be getting the “foreigner ticket” so I decided to just buy in person and go straight in. Again, as far as I could tell, it was either cash or “Thai pay” only; however, I didn’t ask.
The standard displays were nice enough but I was unfortunately comparing to my aquarium experiences from a couple of weeks ago in Dubai, so was not overly impressed. However, while the displays themselves were not outstanding as far as aquariums go, they did a good job with the two shows I saw, and that made it worth the visit.
The mermaid show which started at 3:00 PM was only a little over 5 minutes (maximum 10?) But they did a really great job with coordination of the music and the “mermaid’s” movements.
Then at 3:30 PM was the “feeding show.” In this case there wasn’t any music, but it still was rather interesting since for obvious reasons. The fish flocked around the diver, guaranteeing much better views, in particular some of the large manta rays. This went on for perhaps a full thirty minutes.
By 4:15 PM I had exited the aquarium and started finding my way outside of the mall. It is worth mentioning that if you are into that sort of thing, the mall itself also seemed quite nice, but I just wanted to get back to Elisabet’s house so we could visit once she was done with work. This time the quoted inDrive fare was 271 THB, but I again rounded up to 300 ($7.92) and was back at the house by 5:05 PM.
At 5:40 PM we once again went out walking, this time to The Boat Lagoon. It was a great walk and we had a wonderful time chatting, continuing to catch up with many different topics.
We then headed back towards Elisabet’s area for dinner, arriving at around 7:45 PM, this time eating at a tasty pizza and pasta place called Da Moreno Pizzería and Italian Restaurant; it’s definitely a place worth visiting if you are in the Koh Kaew area. A tasty, ample meal (truth be told it was probably too much food) for two was 750 THB (19.80 USD).
We were back to the house at 9:25 PM and both headed straight to our separate rooms. Elisabet was to have an extra long day at work the next day and I was to have a rather early start myself since day 5 was to be my special tour day.
I was a bit hesitant about doing a full day group tour to places unknown, but it promised to have many exciting adventures covering everything from sea turtles to water falls. While I was trying to keep my expectations in check, I really was rather excited to see what was to come. Spoiler alert, day 5 was even better than day 4! But, you’ll have to read the next entry to get the full details.
Thanks for continuing to follow along, and I’ll see you down the path!!
I’m trying to churn these out a bit faster now so that there’s also the possibility of getting back to trips I had earlier neglected, so don’t be surprised if the next few entries come out very quickly.
On day 3 I really needed to sleep in, so didn’t actually wake up until 9 AM. To be fair, back home in Bengaluru it was 7:30 AM, so I wasn’t being incredibly lazy. I had a good shower, lazy breakfast of Kellogg’s Special K with almond milk and finally decided to get a car into Phuket town at 11:30 AM. Theoretically I could have tried the bus again, but it seemed rather unreliable, and I was already running late.
There are other types of local transport used by locals, but I feel like you need to know Thai to use those and even then you would need to know a lot more about your destination than I did. Elisabet had tipped me off that the Grab app was very reliable for car hailing, but also rather expensive. A much better option is inDrive; which seems to be a more democratic version of Uber. I didn’t want to mess around too much with price negotiations so I got a car for 246 THB but ended up paying 300 (8 USD) because the driver had no change. For Thai visitors this isn’t a problem because they have a ubiquitous payment system that works with QR codes, but visitors will need to keep lots of cash, preferably with smaller bills, since most places seem to not take cards. It may seem a little expensive for those who are used to prices in Southeast Asia, but it was 13 km (8.1 miles) and the cars seem to generally be very comfortable with good air-conditioning, which is something you are likely to value here. Anyways, by 12 noon I was in the historic part of Phuket.
I was rather excited to see these public telephones, both which appeared to be fully functional even though nobody was waiting to use them.
While everything was rather pretty, it was basically just lots of shops and places to get a bite to eat. I am not much of a random shopper, so endlessly looking in stores generally doesn’t do it for me. Also, as I had eaten breakfast rather late, I wasn’t yet ready to eat.
I got another possible “fraud alert” in my email from HDFC so decided that I needed to find a place to sit so that I could call and try to work things out with them. The reported charges had all been made by me, even using my passcode, but I was worried they might block my card. I attempted to follow the instructions given in their email to notify of my trip via Internet banking, but the instructions didn’t actually work since the webpage has since been redesigned. After about an hour of trying to call different HDFC numbers in India but never being able to resolve anything, I just gave up after sending a reply to the fraud alert email, hoping that an actual human would read it. Really, HDFC India needs to have a number where international travelers can call to speak to an real human when they are abroad. To be fair, this is the first time I had a problem with them while traveling, but I just hope they don’t block my card.
I then continued my wandering and found a small Buddhist temple complex. I forgot to get the name, but it’s right there in the center of the town, so it would be easy to find.
The instructions about the proper way to dress when visiting the temple were both helpful and easy to understand.
I wandered a bit more but noticed it was basically more of the same. There were a couple museums listed nearby, but I wasn’t really feeling up to museum visits, and today was some sort of a local memorial day, so I thought it likely they might be closed anyways. So at 2:30 PM I opted to go ahead and get some food at an open air eatery, Loktien Phuket local food, that seemed to have a few customers. The menu was mostly in Thai and the server didn’t understand English. Given both the obvious propensity of Thais to put bits of shrimp into food and my anaphylactic reaction to the same, I decided to play it as safe as possible.
Spicy pork, fried egg, rice and dragon fruit drink 80 BHT (2.12 USD).
The pork was good but yes, a tiny bit too much chili for me. Much later in the night I did have a bit of an upset stomach, but I think it was not because of any cleanliness issue but rather that I just wasn’t used to that much chili. The menu was quite inexpensive, for everything and I suspect the food here would be a real “authentic” treat for both seafood lovers and those who can handle/like a bit more chili in their food. As I was in no big hurry, I then decided to walk towards the bus stop and head back to Elisabet’s place in Koh Kaew.
See if you can appreciate the tree formation to the leftHere you can appreciate the tree better. I think it’s dead, but still it’s striking
After an hour of waiting for the bus and also noticing locals come, wait for awhile and then walk off, I decided it was a lost cause and once again took out my inDrive app. This time it was only 220 THB (5.83 USD) and I was actually taken in a VIP taxi. I didn’t think to take a picture of the outside, but it’s evidently a rather big deal. Certainly it was both spacious and very comfortable inside. I guess it’s usually more expensive, but if you were to have four people and it’s an option, I would definitely recommend the same.
The driver seemed great and the car was very nice, so I would recommend that you try him. Of course usually it would be with the meter rather than with inDrive rates.
It wasn’t until I arrived outside Elisabet’s house that I realized that arriving in a car like this was such a big deal. Several of the neighbors came running to look at the car and speak to the driver. Elisabet was also shocked and worried that I had paid too much, but she was quickly mollified when I told her the amount and also that I had used inDrive.
We chatted for a bit and then we decided to go for a walk around the area before it was too dark to start out.
As it was getting darker, Elisabet suggested that we check out the local neighborhood temple which she had not yet visited. As you can see, it was very nice.
We then had dinner at a nearby restaurant which Elisabet really likes called NaNa Healthy Cafe and Bistro. I would definitely recommend others to visit it.
The bill for both of us, including my coconut milk soup with chicken was 459 THB ($12.15 USD). I really appreciate all the effort my friend is making to spend time with me. She has a full time teaching schedule, but she’s really making time to share with me every evening.
Next, we headed back to the house. It’s worth noting that Elisabet said she wouldn’t have been walking around in poorly lit areas like this by herself, and even with me, she steered us towards “more populated” areas. It may be that she is being overly cautious, but it seems like solo travelers, especially women, might want to exercise standard “reasonable caution” when wandering around at night in Phuket if they are a bit off the beaten path. It’s also worth noting that is not “normal” for people to walk around here, perhaps because of the heat and sun during the day?
We got back a bit late, had a little more chat and then Elisabet said she really needed to get to sleep, but that I would be welcome to stay up longer watching TV or something similar. However, I also wanted to get to bed at a reasonable hour, since I had quite a few plans for the next day while she would be at work.
As always, thanks for following along, and let me know if you want more information about anything I’ve mentioned. These first three days were a bit slow, but I think you will find both days four and five to be rather packed.
I know it’s been ages since my last post and many of you know that I’ve actually done some traveling since then. However, I was just too occupied to update. I will however later on try to do at least an overview of my trip to the Bordeaux region of France
Catherine Viart (Friend and former colleague from Stonehill International School in Bengaluru and I near St. Astier in July 2022
and also my quick trip up to Dubai which was just a couple of weeks ago.
Annie, Kimmie and I taking a dinner break after the aquarium and before the dancing fountain in Dubai in late September 2022
For now though we are focusing on Phuket, where I went to visit with my dear friend and former colleague Elisabet Becerra. Elisabet and I worked together from 2016-2019 at DAIS school in Mumbai, where we both taught Spanish. I had previously tried to visit Elisabet and her husband Sergio in January of 2022 but the gift that keeps giving, COVID-19, once again put a wrench in my travel plans. At that time all three of us would have been free to travel and visit together, but it just didn’t work out. Nevertheless, I was determined to keep trying to visit as long as Elisabet was still happy to receive me.
My trip began at 7:30 PM on October 24th, with an 800 INR (9.70 USD) Uber from Purva Venezia in New Yelahanka to the Bengaluru airport which took right at 50 minutes.
Diwali decorations at my housing society had already started when I left on the 24th.
Due to reports of massive crowds in the previous days, I had wanted to make sure to arrive to the airport a full three hours ahead of time. Because of various drivers cancelling (which is incredibly normal in Bengaluru), even though the trip itself was relatively quick, I didn’t actually arrive to the airport until right at 9:00 PM. However, at least for international travel, the check-in process with Air Asia was very quick and there was also no line to speak of for security, so by 9:35 PM I was already at the entrance to the airport lounge. On that note, first special thanks to Dorothee Chareyron for introducing me to airport lounges in India and then to Ranmali Hapugalle for teaching me that I could always use my HDFC platinum debit card to get lounge access in India for only 2 INR, which is essentially free.
Perhaps the best reason to take advantage of the lounge pass is the buffet, especially if you have a wait longer than one hour. This was my first of two full plates of food.
I had the goal of eating a lot at the lounge so that I would sleep through my entire 4.5 hour flight to Kuala Lumpur which was due to leave at 11:25 PM. The seats on the plane were cramped and with a non-adjustable headrest, but I was jammed into a window seat where I could lean my head against the wall. So, I put on a sleep sounds app and was able to sleep about 3.5 hours despite the uncomfortable conditions. Upon arrival to KLIA at 6:00 PM security was quick, and then I made my way over towards my connecting gate area.
The KLIA 2 main hall
While the hall itself was very clean and reasonably comfortable, there just wasn’t enough to occupy me for a six hour layover.
While I had to admit that it was clever the way the bathroom mirrors were made to look like airplane windows, I nevertheless found it slightly disconcerting.
Considering the paucity of entertainment , at 9:00 AM I decided to cross the second security check to get over to the P gate area; I reasoned that maybe there was more to do on that side. In summary, I was completely wrong.
The gate area is exactly that and nothing more. There was nothing to do but sit and wait. There were a couple of very overpriced but simple eateries, one selling old pastries and instant noodles, and another selling slightly more presentable quick dishes. With nothing else to do, at 10:30 AM I bought a wonton noodle soup for 7.39 USD.
While I give them credit for at least attempting to make it more presentable, it was essentially just instant noodles with a couple of wonton thrown in. It tasted fine, but should have cost less.
Fortunately the gate opened right at 11:30 and the departure went smoothly with us taking off promptly at 12:30 PM. I was in a middle seat, and it was still incredibly cramped, but the flight was only 1.5 hours. As the flight was approaching Phuket, I had to admit that the view was amazing, with majestic small islands jutting out of the sea, and vibrant green landscape with plentiful bodies of water breaking up what otherwise could have become a monotonous green stretch of land.
Things went extremely smoothly with immigration and by 1:30 PM I had already withdrawn 3900 THB from the cash machine. I generally wouldn’t have bothered, but my friend Elisabet had warned me that many/most regular establishments in Phuket don’t take cards.
This robot cleaner was busy at work in the Phuket airport.Maybe it’s just me, but I thought even the view from the airport window was quite beautiful with the vibrant green hilltop in the distance.
I was going to be staying with my friend Elisabet, and she would not be home until 4:00 PM, so I needed to kill some time before heading out of the airport. As I was also going to attempt taking the bus from the airport, per Elisabet’s instructions, I followed the signs to cross over to the domestic terminal. There were actually quite a few food options on that side, including a Burger King, but I opted for something more local since it was my first meal in Phuket.
Pork congee with soft-boiled egg and iced cappuccino 280 THB ($7.42 USD). It was tastier than it looks. I ordered it because I remember a character in a Thai drama I had watched was always eating congee.
I then asked around to see where I could get the yellow airport bus. It wasn’t “hard” to find, but you definitely won’t find it unless you are looking for it. Also, the bus schedule seems to be completely wrong. It was easy to pay the 100 THB (2.65 USD) in cash and tell the woman which stop I needed, and the seats were comfortable on the uncrowded bus. In contrast, a taxi would have been 650 THB direct from the airport or 450 if I were to have walked a bit away from the airport and then used a ride hailing app called inDrive. Of course taking the bus also meant I would have to walk some once I arrived, but I only had a light backpack so was fine with that since the weather was pleasant enough.
I had been warned that masks were expected on the bus, so I had mine available. Nevertheless I found it a bit silly that the woman went around checking our temperature five minutes after we had already departed. Still, I acknowledged that the ticket lady was “doing her job” well, since there was no obvious indication of the stops, and she made sure everyone got off where they had indicated upon buying the ticket.
I arrived to my stop by 4:08 PM and loaded up my Google map app with walking instructions to Elisabet’s house. The route was rather random and evidently not even the best way, but it was a nice walk with lots of interesting things to see along the way.
Woohoo! Together again with Elisabet Becerra after 3 years and 4 months!
After a leisurely 40 minutes I arrived and had a nice chat with Elisabet while getting settled into the guest room of her beautiful home. We went for a quick bite at a nearby restaurant, but we both agreed that the food although “fine” was uninspiring. Still, it was the company that mattered.
Tomorrow’s plan is to try to check out Phuket old town while Elisabet is at work, and then spend more time with her, exploring nearby after she gets home from work. Regardless of what actually happens, I’m sure it will be a great day. Thanks for reading along and feel free to let me know if you have questions about anything I saw or how to get around any of the places I’ve mentioned. I will immediately try to follow up with the next entries.
A beautiful background while I was walking to Elisabet’s house.
Hey everyone, I know it’s been some time since I last updated. As with my recent post about Costa Rica, this entry is of a more personal nature, so feel free to skip it and wait for my upcoming excursion to France. However, in particular if you are not from the United States, you might be interested in some of the information about USA Independence Day, the oddly North American (I’m not actually sure if Canada also does this.) practice of selling off the worldly remains of dead relatives, and Busch Gardens amusement park! Let’s start though with the joys of modern air travel.
As my basic practice is to buy the cheapest air ticket possible, with some minimal allowances for time of departure and arrival, I frequently don’t have the most comfortable flying experience possible. Many people assume that means that I am mostly on lesser known “budget carriers”, but it’s actually just as frequent that I fly with big name airlines. Spoiler alert, well-known does not mean a nicer trip. But hey, if you want to save some money, that might also mean that you have to pay for it in other ways. Certainly that’s the approach taken by American Airlines (the company, not all airlines from the United States).
Don’t get me wrong. It’s still a safe (I hope!) way to travel, but they really want to punish you for daring to spend less. But don’t worry; they will do everything possible to get you to spend more. This is also by no means a characteristic exclusive to American Airlines, but they really seem to have perfected the art of punishing the budget conscious traveller, especially on shorter international flights within the Americas and of course pretty much all domestic flights.
It used to be that getting a decent economy seat was all about timing. If you wanted a good spot, you simply made sure to be one of the first to show up at the airport. Later on, when online check-in became a thing (I remember being excited about this in 2004, but also feeling a bit sorry for the less computer savvy). Again, you were rewarded for being the first to check-in. Even if you’ve never flown, you know the phrase; “Do you prefer an aisle or a window seat”? Heck, you could even score a coveted exit row seat with its additional leg room. All you had to do was be conscientious about doing things early. Notice how nobody ever asks, “Hey, would you like the cushy middle seat?” There’s a reason for that. Now, it’s all about the money.
If you dare to not pay more for a specifically chosen seat, even the dreaded middle seat, you are assigned to group nine purgatory (more on this in a minute). Frankly, this is just spiteful punishment. I’m not saying I like the “additional charges” we’ve all come to expect from modern day air travel, but at least some of them make some degree of sense. A little over twenty years ago, it was expected that your economy ticket price would always include the following: a full size carry on bag, a usually unappetizing but still present meal, and wait for it . . . TWO full sized pieces of checked luggage for no additional cost! As mentioned earlier, you could frequently express a window/aisle preference, but we also knew that we might not get it, especially if we showed up late to the airport.
Now not everyone will agree with me on this one, but especially for domestic flights, I always found the included two pieces of full size luggage to be a bit much. I mean it was great that it was included, but did we really need it? Was it really that big of a deal when it was reduced to just one checked bag? I didn’t think so. However, when they took away the included ONE piece of checked luggage, I was a bit annoyed. Still, in terms of reducing cost, taking into account weight and space, it made sense. You could still have checked bags, but you would have to pay. Furthermore, did we really need/want a usually tasteless, rushed meal on a less than a 2-3 hour flight? Especially if you could actually get something tasty, I was fine with eliminating the included bland airline gruel in favor of paying separately for something you might actually want to eat. It was when they started to charge for seat selection, even if you weren’t getting more space or something obviously more comfortable, that I just became disgusted. Regardless, even though I thought it was wrong, I understood the logic. It was nasty, but it made sense from a certain viewpoint.
So what exactly is Group 9, and why is it so absurd? If you dare to want to fly without paying for any self-selected seat assignment, even if like me you paid for a checked bag (because you were transporting something in a large glass bottle for a friend) then you are punished by being in group 9. American Airlines tries very hard to find the most unpleasant seat for you, and you don’t board until everyone else has gone onto the plane, regardless of where your seat is actually located. To be fair, once you are on the plane if some better seat is unoccupied, the flight attendants are usually happy to let you switch to a better spot. The reason this is absurd is the part where they make you wait until everyone else has boarded to get on the plane, even if you are in the very last row of the plane and they are only boarding from the front. This ends up slowing down the boarding process for everyone, including those who have paid to choose their own seats. In summary, it’s just petty bullying. But hey, thank you for choosing American Airlines.
Here however is a cost cutting idea which I thought made sense. Almost everyone on the plane is already accustomed to watching videos on phones or personal tablets so why bother to put in those clunky LCD screens. Instead, they have installed handy phone/tablet trays. You can connect to the free plane wifi and stream their video selection on your own device.
My flight arrived to Norfolk airport at 12:10 AM on the 4th. This was my first time here, as in the past I’ve always flown into nearby Newport News. Most travelers will already know this, but if applicable, always check nearby airports to see if you will get better prices and/or better travel times. While Norfolk airport was 14 miles further from my final destination, flying into here saved me 12 HOURS of travel and was 100 USD cheaper than flying into my regular airport. That’s what I call a big advantage!
The airport was smaller than I had expected, but quite nice.There was a nice art display as I exited to the pick-up area.
It was easy to meet my sister and we were off to the house in Newport News. Unsurprisingly it had been more expensive to fly so close to July 4th in the USA, but it was important for me since for the last several years I’ve tried very hard to spend both Independence Day and my birthday (July 13th) with my family members. Obviously I missed two years ago, but otherwise had been going strong with this for 15+ years.
The morning and early afternoon of the 4th I helped my brother Chris with some woodwork.It was great to see how well he was doing. We were all very worried after his two strokes in November of 2020. His recovery is still underway, but he is much better now.For dinner we had this amazing ribeye, stir-fried vegetables and a mixed green salad.
After dinner Chris, Angie (my sister) and I headed to the nearby Independence Day celebrations in Newport News. Living in the United States can be very expensive, but the local park service here regularly has fun, free, wholesome activities which are open to the public. This was one of them, and I have to say that they did an amazing job.
First we got my sister settled in a good spot where she could both appreciate the concert and then the fireworks display.My brother and I wanted to check out the concession stands.There was a nice, orderly crowd eagerly awaiting the show.I enjoyed the concert much more than I had anticipated. These musicians were true professionals, including a particularly talented female vocalist.The unexpected highlight of the concert was a passionate original poetry reading/interpretation by retired Chief Master Sargent Rothwell. This woman is a national treasure!
The armed forces medley song honoring each branch of the armed forces was also much more moving than I would have thought. As they sang the song for each branch of the armed forces, current and retired members of the armed forces as well as their family members stood to be recognized for their sacrifice and service to the nation. With three siblings who are both current and honorably retired/veteran army members, I was the first to jump to my feet and and proudly stand both to recognize them and also to accept the recognition by association that comes from being a member of a family with so much public service to country.
Again, I was so thankful to be able to spend the holiday with two of my siblings.
Perfectly timed and starting out still being supported by music from the USAF American Heritage band, the fireworks started at 9:10 PM and continued without interruption until 9:40 PM. I know that human memory is imperfect, but I really do believe this was the best professional fireworks display I had ever seen. The pictures of course don’t do it justice, but take my word for it, they were amazing.
Oh the second to last full day of my visit, July 12th, we were off to Bush Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia.
On that note, professional displays like these really are much more impressive than the backyard ones many people in the USA like to do; they are also safer and probably cheaper. So if you are in the United States and have a high quality local parks service like Newport News does, rather than doing a backyard barbeque and amateur fireworks, just pack a picnic dinner and head out to the local public celebrations. You will find it to be an outstanding holiday celebration. Certainly that was our experience.
Rather than giving out sparklers, the parks service gave one of these plastic LCD wands to each person in attendance. While I was happy to have it, I also felt kind of bad about it as it seemed like the sort of thing which would only be used once a year. Certainly they CAN/SHOULD be saved for next year, but how many people will do that. Regardless, they were fun to play with.
The next day, July 5th, my brother and sister had to go up north to Fort Belvoir, so I used this time to visit my dear friend Janet and her husband Chris. I’ve known Janet now for more than twenty years, but only had the privilege of meeting Chris about 5-6 years ago. Janet and I first met doing English language community theater programs in Costa Rica and then continued getting together on a monthly basis to play charades, something which Janet always carefully organized for different English speaking friends in the San Jose, Costa Rica area.
Proving that it really is a small world, when Janet had left Costa Rica years ago, she moved to an area less than 20 miles away from my sister in Virginia! We visited for about 8 hours and every moment was great.
It was great to see that both Janet and Chris were in such good health. They are both really outstanding people.
Jumping ahead a couple of days, on July 8th my sister and I went to an estate sale. This may happen in other places in the world, but I’ve only seen it as a common occurrence in the USA. Sometimes they are auctions, but other times it’s more like a garage or yard sale where things are placed in and around the person’s home, with price tags attached. If you aren’t familiar with the concept, it’s fairly simple if somewhat bizarre for the uninitiated. I think they may also at times happen under other circumstances, but usually it’s when some family member dies and the remaining family members sell all their stuff that nobody wants. You can get high quality stuff for really good prices, but in many cases there’s a good reason no family member wanted the items. Most of the stuff here seemed to be of good quality.
All of these solid wood furniture pieces were priced at only 75 USD each and they were all in pristine condition. Some of the other stuff though seemed a bit pointless and other items was just sad, since it was clear they were items which had been of some personal significant to the deceased. I sort of understand with the large, more expensive items, but I think I would be more inclined to simply give away random dishes and trinkets. It would be very odd for me to stick pricetags on my dead loved one’s personal items. But then I’ve never really been in that position, so I don’t want to judge anyone else. Still, it seems weird.
The next couple of days were more or less uneventful with us just doing standard stuff around the house
My brother had things arriving from his old place on the 11th.Yes, this piece of chicken breast from Bojangles really was that large. It’s not a camera trick.
On my second to last full day in Virginia, we went to Busch Gardens theme park in Williamsburg, Virginia. We were there from 11 AM to 7 PM. Yes, it’s a fun place to spend the day, but it’s also crazy expensive. Even though I suspect that few people ever pay the full official daily entry fee of 99 USD per person, they have things setup in a way that means as a general rule, you will probably spend at least 75 USD per person and it wouldn’t be strange to spend more like 150. Of course, people who live nearby and really like going can get special season passes, but one way or another, they’re gonna get their money, and it’s a lot. Of course it is POSSIBLE to spend less using special passes etc, but that also means you will constantly be monitoring every dollar (no pennies here) spent all day long. Once you’ve accepted that and still decided to go, you can enjoy your day at the park.
It had originally been my plan to wear this dorky neck fan all day long, but there was enough shade, breeze and inside air conditioned spaces that it wasn’t needed. It also had to of course be constantly removed for rides.If I remember correctly, we rode five different roller coasters, but there was one we skipped, because my brother and sister said that their heads had been banged around on it before. Although they were all fun, especially when doing with friends or family, five was more than enough.Lunch in the “German town” section of the park was tasty, but like everything else, very expensive. To be fair though, it was a comparable cost to eating in most kind of nice (but not “fancy”) restaurants in this area of Virginia.I was eager to get these fifty-cent (limit two per person) glasses of Budweiser light beer, since a simple bottle of water was 4 USDChris really wanted this roasted turkey leg. He gave me a bite, and it was delicious.The lorikeets were very friendly.Angie in particular really enjoyed the concert by Landau Eugene Murphy, JrAnd then our fun family day at Bush Gardens was finished.
The following day, my birthday (July 13th), my brother and sister took me out to eat at a nearby branch of the Olive Garden after we had spent much of the day visiting with our family friend TJ. For some crazy reason I didn’t think to take any pictures during the visit with TJ, but she did give me a lovely painting which her daughter had made.
The next day was my final day in Virginia, but I didn’t fly out until the evening, so I was still able to convince Chris to take me to the nearby SPCA petting zoo in the morning. I was a bit disappointed that the rabbits weren’t out, but for three dollars a person, and knowing the money was going towards a good cause, it was still definitely worth the visit.
Then we were back to the house for a nice lunch of salmon and mixed vegetables.
Of course there were many other great events during the visit, just as every single day has many amazing moments. Sometimes, we just forget to pay attention. For my part, I plan on paying attention to every special interaction and every beautiful sight as I travel through each day no matter where I am. I invite you to do the same. Until next time, thanks for reading!
Hey everyone, a lot in this post is of a more personal nature rather than a general travel blog post, so you might just choose to skip it. Furthermore, those of you who do not know me closely may not realize that I’m actually a Costa Rican citizen, so my experience traveling back to Costa Rica was primarily to see old friends and take care of various items of personal business rather than to have a typical travel discovery experience. Regardless, you still may find something of value, and you are certainly most cordially invited to continue following along with some of my adventures.
My trip back to Costa Rica started with a 5 euro bus ticket to the airport from Atocha station. I’m not really sure why, but my Madrid pass didn’t work for that one. However it was easy to tap my international card from India and we were on our way. People told me I was being overly cautious, but it was a good thing I got there three hours ahead of time. Both check-in and security took quite a long time, and had I arrived later, I would have missed the flight. Despite the slow progress, everyone was friendly, and I didn’t feel especially stressed.
As I was worried about the food on IberoJet, I bought a quick snack to take on board. There was no time to eat anything more since they were already finishing up with boarding when I arrived to the gate.
Despite the stringent travel rules listed on their website, for the future I’ll know that IberoJet actually seems to be far less restrictive with their luggage rules than they claim. They didn’t weigh anyone’s carry-on bag, and standard maximum size carry on bags seemed to be acceptable. Furthermore, despite being expressly forbidden, they allowed both a personal item and separate carry on bag to be taken onto the plane. Still, I was actually happy to be traveling with so little.
Boarding went according to schedule, but then we ended up sitting on the runway for a bit over 2.5 hours, once more due to passengers arriving late from other planes (They were only an hour late, but we had missed our runway spot so had to wait for ground control to find us a new spot.) As mentioned in an earlier post, this seems to now be much more normal than has been my experience with past years of international travel. So, it was actually 5:30 PM when we finally lifted off.
Even though it was such a budget travel option, the economy seats were reasonably comfortable and there was a full in flight entertainment system, albeit with mostly rather old movies and television series. Still, the selection seemed alright.
I watched two movies, Tides (2021) which was a bit predictable, but fine for an airplane movie and The Farewell (2019) which was actually very good. Honestly I had wanted to sleep most of the trip, but it just wasn’t happening. In retrospect, as I ended up arriving at 7:20 PM instead of 5:00 PM which had originally been programmed, it’s probably better that I didn’t sleep. That way I was more prepared to sleep properly at night.
Perhaps the most amazing thing on the plane was this woman who was intensely doing word searches the entire trip! Her ternacity was admirable. The way she went at it, you would have thought she was working out a solution to a complex equation. I wondered, would I get to her age, and if I did, would some guy in his late forties be examining me out of the corner of his eye? Would I still be happily traveling across the ocean as she was? I hope so.
Two hours and twenty minutes before arrival they did the complimentary snack service.
The snack which was served near the end of the flight.The meal which was served shortly after take off. Notice the utensils; supposedly they weren’t plastic, but I couldn’t figure out their material.
During the snack, now resigned to not being able to sleep, I watched Charm City Kings (2020). I couldn’t actually decide if it was a good movie or not. Yes, it was impactful, but I couldn’t tell how much of it was supposed to be showing something real vs. how much of it was some sort of broken sad fantasy of life for a certain segment of the population in the United States
Upon arrival to Costa Rica and clearing immigration, even though it was already 8:00 PM, I decided to take two buses from the airport to my Airbnb in San Pedro. Doing this saved me roughly 45 USD but I would also have to walk roughly one kilometer through San Jose to catch the second bus. Metropolitan buses in Costa Rica are paid for using cash, generally not offering anything larger than a 2000 colon bill, but many times they will let you use a 5000. This was easy enough for me to manage and certainly possible even for someone who had never before been to Costa Rica, but I’m not sure I would advise it.
It works well if you only have a small bag, but would be very tricky with standard checked luggage. Of course, if by chance you are simply heading to the center of San Jose or Alajuela (only one bus) then it is even easier. While metropolitan area buses in Costa Rica are generally clean, affordable and efficient; the problem is that you have to either ask people where the stops are or already have a good idea ahead of time. Google maps won’t help you with the local bus lines and there are no reliable maps of the routes. So if you plan on using public transport in Costa Rica, which I highly recommend, you will have to be comfortable asking people for directions, and most of the time you will need to be able to do so in Spanish. However, Costa Ricans are generally very understanding of broken Spanish and will try to help you find your way.
It was right at 10:00 PM when I finally arrived to my lodging which was in a private home (Airbnb) about a half of a kilometer south of the center of San Pedro. My hostess was kindly waiting for me and I gratefully immediately crashed on my comfortable full size bed to sleep.
I woke up early the morning of the 29th to discover it was still drizzling, just as it had been the previous evening. I confirmed with my good friend Marco that we would meet later in the morning to have lunch. But before doing so I had an important errand, a visit to Paragüeria Rego!
The Rego umbrella factory is a Costa Rican institution. This is perhaps not surprising in a country where it rains heavily between 8-9 months a year.They take umbrellas very seriously, and they even have a repair station. A properly cared for Rego umbrella can easily serve you for ten years or more.Rego has a wide variety of styles and sizes. They are more expensive than cheap imported umbrellas from Asia, but they take deserved pride in their products, because they are high quality. If you buy nothing else in Costa Rica, I suggest you pick up a Rego umbrella. Take proper care of it and it will take good care of you for a lifetime. I paid 12,500 colones (18 USD) for my mini-golf umbrella which opens up to golf umbrella size but collapses into a size easily able to carry in a large purse or similar sized bag.The company was great and the ambience pleasant.Lunch for two at La Parrilita de Pepe was 14700 colones (21 USD). The food was “good” but I don’t think I will be going back. You can have much better in Costa Rica. But still, a lot of people like coming here.
After lunch, Marco had errands to run and I decided to wander around San Jose for awhile.
This statue, Al viento by Manuel Vargas M, marks the west entrance to the central avenue boulevard. Costa Rica’s oldest continuously functioning hospital, San Juan de Dios, is diagonal to the Al Viento statue. This was the hospital I used to always go to in San Jose.One block to the east of the San Juan de Dios hospital is the La Merced church.
It had been years since I had actually entered La Merced church (I think it officially has another name, but most people just call it the La Merced church), so I decided to see if I could go in to look around. It’s not one of the main “showcase” churches of Costa Rica, but it’s well known and has always been one of my favorites. The main doors were closed, but I was able to enter using the side entrance.
Notice the delicate, intricately hand painted pillars and the classic “mosaico” floors.I actually find the rich wood ceiling slats to be just as beautiful as the heavily painted ceilings seen in many other traditional churches.
Then I continued my walk up towards the San Pedro bus stop, passing through the main part of central San Jose.
This sculpture to honor the work of street cleaners is found in Central Park.
Soon after, heavy rains started once again, and I headed back to my room for the night, getting in bed by 8:00 PM. I was tired!
The next day, July 30th, I met my dear friend Carolyn for lunch at San Pedro Mall. This is not really a classy destination, but most of Costa Rica is not at all wheelchair friendly, and Carolyn can now only go out in a wheelchair. We wanted some place nearby where we could get something to eat and also walk around a bit, being protected from the probable rains, as we visited and also looked for a few small items that Carolyn needed to buy. Her full time helper Guillermina, a woman with whom I was very impressed, came along to ensure Carolyn wouldn’t have any problems while we were out being sociable.
We were able to find all of Carolyn’s purchases, including size 42 women’s “smart casual” shoes! This last one was a particular treasure since Costa Ricans tend to have smaller feet, and anything larger than a 40 is extremely rare for women.
The only thing we couldn’t find was a new laptop computer which Carolyn’s daughter had asked me to look for; however, we were able to confirm that Carolyn would feel comfortable using a large laptop form factor. This was also important because Kathryn (Carolyn’s daughter in Texas) wanted to give her mom a new computer, but she knew Carolyn would need help transferring her old files etc. As such, I had agreed to find the computer for Carolyn, and help get it ready, with Kathryn transferring me the money afterwards. I was disappointed we couldn’t buy it right away, but I now knew what to look for on my own.
Around 4:00 PM Carolyn wasn’t feeling that great, so we decided to head back to her house. There we visited for a bit longer and she played some of her favorite hymns on the piano.
Afterwards I had a simple traditional dinner and a beer at a nearby “soda”, paying only 3800 CRC (5.5 USD) and then headed back to my room to sleep.
Yes, that’s a “double size” beer. Pilsen is one of the two main national beer brands.
Despite my best efforts to the contrary, I was once again up at 5:00 AM on July 1st. As it had been more than 15 years since I had visited the Jade museum, I decided to reacquaint myself with this interesting site. I entered at about 8:20 AM.
Whereas many people will tell you there is no point in visiting San Jose, I vehemently disagree. Removing San Jose from your trip to Costa Rica is the equivalent of treating the entire country of Costa Rica like an amusement park. Yes, Costa Rica’s natural beauty is the main draw for tourists, but the city of San Jose also has a good deal to offer. Most notably, especially for such a small country, San Jose has a vibrant performing arts scene. Additionally, San Jose also has some outstanding museums.
If you could only visit one, I would probably have to recommend the Gold museum. However, the Jade museum is also a great cultural addition to any trip, and it can easily be fully appreciated with just a couple of hours. The stated entrance fee for non-nationals is 10 USD, but as a citizen I only paid 5 USD. While they don’t publicly state it, special admission fees can be arranged for student groups. Similar to many museums worldwide, you can easily access an audio guide to the museum on your smartphone, but this one is completely free; it is available in born Spanish and English.
There is no advantage to starting your visit on the first vs the fifth floor, so I decided to start at the top and work my way down. I appreciate that the fifth floor is open to the public, but it is more of a tidy storeroom than an exhibit hall. This is primarily a space for researchers, but the general public also has limited access.
There aren’t many explanatory signs as this is primarily meant to be a space for researchers, but artists in particular would appreciate the convenient grouping which facilitates the recognition of key artistic elements from different time periods and geographic regions.You can even open the many drawers, and I encourage you to do so.
Moving down to the fourth floor, you find that one half of the space is dedicated to honoring specific important women from Costa Rica’s history. The other half approaches jade and pottery with a focus on gender, similar to the other exhibition on this floor, highlighting the role of women in prehistoric Costa Rica.
In addition to the audio guide, throughout the museum there are these conveniently located video guides which give more information about specific sections. While the video guides are ostensibly for children, they are also useful for adult visitors. Audio is in Spanish with English subtitles.
Each of the other floors has a specific emphasis. I won’t go into all of the details since the museum webpage had extensive information which is easy to access. Still, there were some items which drew my attention.
While not “jade related” I was impressed with the work done by the curators to rescue and document the quality work done by female painters in Costa Rica. Without this effort, most of these artists would have been completely forgotten.The gift shop was sad and seemed like an afterthought. It was also a definite missed opportunity to sell classy jade reproductions. This can definitely be improved.
I was finished by 10:15 AM and then tried to go by the social security office to check on some personal business. Unfortunately, almost two months later, they still aren’t taking regular consultations due to a massive hacking attack by two different Russian groups. Daily operations have been mostly restored, but they are still having problems with full administrative functions. As that didn’t work out, I decided to meet up again with my friend Marco so we could get some lunch and then continue on the hunt for a new computer for Carolyn.
We decided to get a simple, but ample lunch at the Bourbon market. For two people it was only 3000 CRC (4.30 USD)
Computer stores are now hard to find in Costa Rica, and I was starting to get discouraged. I had the option of buying online, but I really wanted a physical store as I thought this would be easier for warranty purposes and possible future repairs. I commented to Marco about this and he mentioned that he was very happy with the laptop he had bought from PC Store right in the center of San Jose, and the cost had also been affordable.
Success! I was able to get a brand new 17 inch HP Windows 11 laptop with 8 gb of RAM for right at 500 USD. It wasn’t particularly powerful, but more than enough for Carolyn’s needs and with a large monitor which would be greatly appreciated. Within 4 hours it was all setup in Carolyn’s home and she was very happy with the new gift from her daughter.
Carolyn had been worried about switching to a laptop from her old desktop with a CRT monitor, but she handled the transition like a trooper. She still preferred the old keyboard and mouse, but that was easy enough to leave connected via USB.Guillermina prepared a wholesome meal which we all three enjoyed together.
I then headed to downtown San Jose to go to one of the many independent theatres. That’s one of the biggest things I love about this city. While most of the independent theatres have low brow comedy, even that frequently has deeper messages. Regardless, I think it’s amazing that so many theater groups are active in such a relatively small city. Shows are usually Thursday to Friday, so I figured I would be able to find something decent.
As I was looking at the offerings, I heard a voice call out (in Spanish); David, it’s me, David Josué. How have you been? David Josué was one of my two best friends in Costa Rica for many years, but due to various circumstances, we had completely lost contact for more than 7 years! There will be more about him tomorrow.
Some street art near a cluster of independent theatres.
I finally decided on Teatro Torres, even though it wasn’t actually a theatrical performance that night. It was a standup comedy night with four amateur comedians. It was a bit vulgar at times, but that’s typical of independent theatres in Costa Rica (and of much standup comedy everywhere), so it wasn’t that much of a surprise. Still, for only 4000 CRC (5.85 USD) with 2.25 hours of entertainment in relatively comfortable seats, it was definitely worth it. Also, given that they said upfront that most of them had never been on stage before, allowances had to be made.
Then I headed back to my room with the plan of meeting up with David Josué the next day at 1:00 PM at my favorite Korean restaurant in downtown San Jose.
On July 2nd I was once more up early and headed to the Curridabat branch of BNCR (National bank of Costa Rica), as it is open early on Saturday and I had some customer service issues to resolve. Since it was only about 1.5 km away and fortunately not raining, I decided to just walk over.
This space saucer looking place is called the national archive. I have no idea what is actually in there.The streets were mostly empty at 8:30 AM
It was easy to take care of my issue with BNCR, but also a bit disturbing. The online banking system had been acting up the last several days and $1000 USD appeared to be missing from my account. Hopefully they get this problem fixed quickly since the entire point of online banking is that you shouldn’t need to frantically go in person! Still, at least in my case it got worked out quickly and then I grabbed a bus to downtown San José.
Yes, I know this photo makes me seem like a scary stalker.WOW!, a bus driver who was a woman! I’ve never before seen a woman who was working as a bus driver in Costa Rica. It was the Zapote-San Jose route. Really, I was very excited to see that. Maybe it’s not a job that most women want, but it’s great to see that it now seems to be accepted fine in Costa Rica. Nobody seemed to be surprised to see her (except for me of course).
Once I arrived to the center, I walked towards the restaurant. On the way I passed by the national theatre and checked to see if there was anything on for the evening, but I didn’t notice any shows being publicized. Here there are frequently concerts, dance presentations and very occasionally a play. It’s been some time since I went there, but prices tend to be accessible to the general public. Unlike what happens at the independent theatres, productions here are understandably far more serious, with both high quality international and domestic presentations.
Like in most plazas across the world, there are pigeons galore. Even though it’s posted that feeding them is prohibited, there is clearly a reason that they still congregate.Large student groups like these are super common during the period from June-July. This isn’t really considered “the best” time to visit Costa Rica, but it’s when they have long vacations.View of the front of the national theatre
David Josué and I met at 1:00 pm for lunch at a great Korean restaurant called Fritos. The ambience isn’t amazing and the menu is limited, but everything is tasty and reasonably priced. It was completely packed when we were there.
We spent about two hours just catching up. Even after more than seven years with no contact, it was as if we had never been apart. That’s when you know that you are real lifelong friends. Ideally the lapses in time wouldn’t happen, but if you can pick back up right where your left with no awkwardness, then that’s an amazing feeling. Afterwards, for a change of scenery, we decided to head over to Mall San Pedro where we continued sharing until 9:00 PM! As I had mentioned earlier, this mall isn’t fancy, but it definitely serves it’s social purpose.
We finished up the evening with dinner at Revolución.
And with that the day was basically over and I headed back to my room for the last time. The next morning I once again easily took the bus to the airport and headed off to Virginia where I would be visiting with my brother Chris and sister Angie.
Again, sorry for the long post, and if you were hoping for a more touristy entry, then oops, but then you were warned at the beginning! My trip to Costa Rica (which will continue for a few more days after my visit to the USA) was probably very different from what yours might be, but I think you will still find it’s a great place to visit. If you have any questions or comments, just let me know in the space indicated below, and if your are really interested in what travels come next, just hit the subscribe button. Until next time, I hope your own lives are going well. See you soon!
View of Plaza de la Democracia (Democracy plaza) and the national museum in the background.
Hello again. As there isn’t that much to say about day 4, I will put days 4 and 5 in a single post.
On the 26th I got up a bit late, showered etc, and then went by metro to Barcelona Sants station in order to catch my 11 AM train to Madrid. The cost of the train ticket was 88 USD one way, with a trip duration of 2 hours and 45 minutes. I actually could have caught a flight for slightly less, but by the time one has to arrive early to the airport etc, for such a short distance, it’s actually better by train. Usually one travels in a much more comfortable fashion, with nice scenery and definitely with much less stress. Or at any rate, that’s the case when traveling in Europe.
I had an electronic copy of the ticket, but just in case, I printed a cardstock copy here.Yep, you guessed it, my train.
We arrived right on time at 1:45 PM and after buying a two day metro pass for around 15 USD (As I ended up walking most places, this wasn’t near as good of a buy as the metro pass I had purchased in Barcelona), I immediately headed out walking to the nearby D’ La Brasa restaurant to meet with my future Spanish teaching workmate Sonia and her family. This was to be our first time to meet in person, and I was very thankful to her and her family for arranging things so we could meet, especially as they were also dealing with a tight travel schedule. We had a wonderful extended traditional Spanish lunch and then all ran off quickly after two hours. Unfortunately we all forgot to take pictures, but we will once more have the pleasure of each other’s company soon. Unexpectedly, but much appreciated, Sonia picked up the tab, so I have no idea how much it costs to eat there, but all the food was outstanding.
Both the restaurant and my AirBnB were very close to Atocha station, so within 15 minutes I was in my room for the next couple of days. Lodging options are far less expensive in Madrid than in Barcelona, but I had still chosen an Airbnb due to the convenience of the location and yes, also the very good cost.
It drew my attention that despite the relatively few people of African origin I otherwise saw in Spain, everyone selling items on the sidewalk near Atocha station was a young man of African ancestry between 25 and 35 years of age.The window had steel security blinds which are common to Spain. I couldn’t figure out how to lower them the first night and actually ended up raising them all the way instead. To sleep, I had to hang a blanket on the window.The tiny housecat was incredibly friendly, meowing insistently to get attention from anyone foolish enough to listen.
After I had settled in, on Eventbrite I noticed a free dance exhibition called Dances of the Orient in a different part of the city. It would take 40 minutes to reach, but I only had an hour until the starting time of 6:00 PM.
Unfortunately, I got turned around two different times (on two different trains) in the subway and still wasn’t sure of how to get there, so at 6:05 PM I finally just gave up. It was much harder to navigate the subway in Madrid than it had been in Barcelona!
As luck would have it, I found myself near Puerta del Sol, which was undergoing renovations. The outing had been a bit of a bust, but it was still nice to see some of the architecture typical of the area.
I finished up the evening with an overpriced 5 euro beer and headed home for the evening.
Despite my improvised solution to the window problem, I slept well and was up by 8:00 AM on the 27th, determined to make the most of my only full day in Madrid. Lacking any other guide, I checked out the Lonely Planet top attractions for Madrid and decided to make that my general plan. I would start with the Basílica de San Francisco el grande and finish up the day at Parque el Retiro.
This time I figured out the subway lines okay, probably because I wasn’t in a rush. I still had to walk a bit from the subway station, but there were nice things to see.
I tend to not really appreciate street art of it’s where I live, but I like it when I’m traveling.From what I could tell, this was some sort of a headquarters for some charitable work in Madrid. The historical plaque said the building was in honour of Juan López de Hoyos.Typical Madrid buildings.
I arrived to the Basílica by 9:15 AM but it was technically closed. Fortunately I was still able to get in as there seemed to be some sort of small mass going on in one section. There were signs prohibiting photos, but I assumed as long as I wasn’t interrupting the mass and nobody stopped me, it would be fine. I’m sure this would have been a far more enriching visit with a guide, but honestly, I just wasn’t interested enough in all the specific details.
The big draw of this church is supposed to it’s painted interior dome, the third largest in Europe or something like that. The picture in the middle is of a 70 kg (154 pounds) six year old girl, Eugenia Martínez Vallejo . In perhaps the earliest case of fat shaming, the then king had both a clothed and unclothed painting done of the girl.As was expected, everything was beautiful.All the masses I’ve seen in Spain have had less than ten people in attendance. That was also the case here. I think there were six people in attendance. I guess props to the church for still doing the masses, but it seems kind of silly and also sort of sad with so few active believers. No doubt there are big crowds for weddings, funerals and main holidays?
I then continued my walk towards the palace. It was only about 22 degrees Celsius (72 F), which was the general temperature for my whole time in Madrid. Although Barcelona had not been uncomfortable, it was definitely warmer than Madrid.
These rather simple looking apartments with nice trees in front were right across the street from the palace. I wondered what sort of people might live there. Given the central location, I imagine they are very wealthy, but I’m not really sure.
Having not researched very well, I didn’t know that there was another important church coming up before the palace, the Aludena church. I didn’t really think I needed more church visits, but I was in full on tourist mode and had plenty of time, so in I went. From what I could tell, this was a fairly modern church, but still quite nice. I quickly realised that it seemed to have a more important role in daily life than the earlier visited basilica.
I think this wasn’t the main entrance, but it’s where I went in. A 1 euro entrance “donation” was requested but nobody was actively enforcing this.I didn’t understand why this was supposed to be more interesting than many of the other very beautiful paintings and objects in the church, but everyone was going up to see it, so I did as well.There was very good natural lighting in the main hall.I appreciated the mix of the ” modern looking” stained glass windows and the more traditional sculptures and paintings within the cathedral.
There is also a crypt below the main church where there were many “buried” people from the last 30 years. Besides all the tombs, there also seemed to be a general area for mass as well. Once more a 1 euro donation was requested, and while she wasn’t actually checking the coins, a rather severe looking older woman was making sure that something got put in the collection box and was also exhorting everyone to be quiet as a mass was in session. Understandably, the crypt area was more somber than upstairs, but still very beautiful.
I wasn’t sure of the rules/expectations but I was careful to not walk right on top of any of the tombs. Incidentally, this was quite difficult at times as there was very little space between the ones in the floor.A close up picture of some of the column detailsOne of many side chapels, most of which had locked iron gates in front
The palace was right next door. It seemed to be closed to visitors, but that was alright by me. It’s not like visitors are shaking hands with members of the royal family or anything like that. As was expected, the palace was stately and also had nice gardens right next to it that were open to the public.
After all of my careful work to capture a picture of a Magpie a few days ago in Ladakh, this one was practically begging for pictures and allowed me to get very close.
All of these things were very close together, I wasn’t spending much time in each place, so it was only 11:30 AM as I continued my walk down la Gran Vía towards plaza España and El Prado museum.
The day was nice and I had plenty of time, so I just wandered around a bit and appreciated the scenery. I know many will see this as borderline sacrilege, but I simply wanted some cheap calories (so I would have more to spend on museums etc), so I stopped into McDonald’s for a simple cheeseburger and small fries before strolling around a bit more before arriving to El Prado at 1:15 PM.
I was happy to see that El Prado museum has a wide range of ticket options which would allow anyone to easily enter and appreciate its treasures. As well as free entrance for students, and unemployed people, anyone can enter for free everyday from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. Due to my tight schedule, I just paid the full 15 euro entrance fee. However, if you are on a tight budget, you can still definitely visit.
El Prado had a strict no pictures policy, which I and everyone else ignored whenever possible, but unlike other places, guards were numerous and very unhappy if you got caught. Still, I snuck in a few pictures just to prove I could. Honestly, as long as I was not using a flash, I thought there was no reason for the no pictures policy. Probably it’s to keep people from doing selfies next to all the famous pictures. I admit that I would have been guilty of doing so had I had the chance.
I can’t say why, but I really loved this painting. I got a really good picture of it since I wasn’t being sneaky as I didn’t know better until a guard rushed over to tell me to stopIn perhaps the earliest well known case of fat shaming/fascination, the middle picture shows a nude Eugenia Martínez Vallejo, who at age 6 weighed 70 kg (154 lbs). There is both a clothed and unclothed life size painting of her in the museum.The version of the Mona Lisa shown here is claimed to be a draft painted by DaVinci BEFORE the more famous version pictured in the LouvreThe photo doesn’t do it justice, but the reality of the Dutch still life paintings was amazing.
Paintings which I was able to see which truly impacted me were the following: Las Meninas by Diego Velasquez, Saturn and The third of May by Goya and of course the Mona Lisa. These were all paintings I had constantly read about and seen pictures of both in books and on television. It’s hard to explain the awe I felt at actually seeing them in person. Like with most art galleries, one could easily spend days exploring, but like most of us, I was a bit overwhelmed after a few hours, so by 3:30 PM I left.
Things had gone faster than I’d anticipated and I didn’t want to go to El Retiro until later in the afternoon. So, I just walked around a bit.
This is not particular to Spain, but I’ve always been flabbergasted at the verisimilitude of the food sculptures displayed at some east Asian restaurants
By 4:00 PM I was enjoying myself but also felt I should make more of an effort to still see something special about Madrid during my only full day. More high brow culture was out, but this IKONO place described as an immersive art experience for the five senses was highly recommended.
This was perhaps a bit expensive at 15 euros for an adult entry fee, but I have to admit it was great fun, and certainly it helped reset my brain after so much cultural overload. Definitely this would be a great place to visit with a friend or family member, but it was also a decent amount of fun by myself. I think it is unlikely anyone would spend more than 90 minutes there, but it is still a very good time and a unique opportunity to get lots of cool pictures.
Like I said, it’s basically an Instagram photo factory!
Finally at 5:30 PM I headed over to Parque el Retiro, easily arriving by 6:00 PM
There were lots of used book sellers along the way across the street from the park. They seemed to be “regular books” rather than rare or expensive special editionsEntrance to the park is free and I suspect it’s one of the regular highlights of life in Madrid. The park is huge and clearly widely used by locals. There are plenty of spots to relax, enjoy nice live music, or just walk around in peace.Plaza de Costa Rica had absolutely nothing to do with Costa Rica, but it was still interesting to find.
I had a great time, but after two and a half hours in the park, it was 8:30 PM and it was time for me to leave. As the park is very large, with winding paths everywhere, it was actually a bit difficult for me to find my way out. I thought it might be nice to have some discreet exit signs posted, but I guess they don’t want people to feel rushed.
Since it was my last night in Madrid, I decided to get what I imagined to be a traditional dinner, not spending like crazy, but also not worrying too much about the cost. About 15 minutes away (walking) was a well rated place described as having down home cooking at a reasonable price: Restaurante San Román.
I can’t judge the authenticity, but the food was tasty and filling. With two bottles of 1906 beer, the cost was only 17.50 euro (18.50 USD).
With that, my time in Spain was basically over. I could have gone out on the town, but I had a 3:00 PM flight to Costa Rica the next day and had been strongly advised to be at the airport at least three hours ahead of time. With really only one full day in Madrid, I felt like I had made good use of my time. Certainly, I had many experiences which couldn’t be replicated elsewhere.
Since my upcoming trip to Costa Rica is mostly about visiting old friends and taking care of some personal business, I probably won’t post much while there, but who knows, maybe I will still have some interesting bits to share. So anyways, until I write again, I hope you also are having your own amazing adventures, even if they are only in your own back yards or just down the street from where you live. Thanks for keeping in touch, and goodbye for now.
Hey friends, as was to be expected after my early morning arrival back to the room, I didn’t get up until around 11:30 AM, and even then I was about an hour more before heading out. I didn’t have a clear mission in mind today, but for the moment all I knew was that I wanted food, and boy oh boy did I find it!
Based on the cost, I thought that this chicken meal maybe had something like a leg and a thigh, with a few french fries as decoration. However, it actually appeared to be an entire chicken!As I proved, it is possible for one person to eat all of this, but I think it makes more sense for at least two people to share, maybe even three would be fine.
I wasn’t sure about what to do today, but then I remembered that everyone says you are supposed to go to La Rambla, so I figured that I may as well tick that off the list as well. It was a short subway ride, and by 2:30 PM I was exploring.
I liked the way they had these waiting chairs. It was much nicer than benches.La Rambla was nice and all, but I didn’t really understand why people say it’s so amazing. The trees did help make it a bit cooler, so I guess there was that.I don’t know why, but I love taking pictures of clothes hanging to dry. I guess it just seems “real”.
So I had figured that I wouldn’t need much time to see La Rambla and I was right. Thus, before heading out I decided to take a chance and book a flamenco show for 5:30 PM at City Hall Theater. This was very close to La Rambla (It might even be right on the boulevard; I don’t remember now.) so I knew it would be easy to arrive after I was finished. The cost was about 25 USD, as I had chosen a mid-range seat. The cheapest would have been about 20 USD. Surprisingly, and happily, I think this was one of my best purchases for the trip. It was only about 50 minutes, but it was worth every penny and I highly recommend it should you get the chance.
Pictures alone really don’t do it justice. The combination of the live music, the intensity and precision of the dancers and the dramatic snap of their heels on the floor was mesmerizing. I can’t speak for other flamenco shows in Barcelona, but this one was spectacular. These were true artists, fully dedicated to their craft.
Exiting the theatre I noticed lots of people headed down one street and in the distance I could hear cheering and music. Like any good tourist, I once again decided to follow the crowd. It was a Pride parade and I was really impressed with both the organization and even the way they were immediately cleaning up as the parade finished passing by.
By the time the parade had finished going by, it was almost 9:00 PM. I didn’t want a repeat of last night’s desperate hunt for food so I resolved to just go into the first decent looking place I saw.
As luck would have it, I saw a fairly large restaurant called Wok Dao which had many people entering, most in modest clothes, so it seemed likely that the food must be both good and reasonably priced. The place was packed, and I was immediately seated by an efficient hostess. When I asked for the menu, she told me that it was only a buffet, but that it really was very delicious, so I should check it out. Having had such a large late lunch, I wasn’t eager for a buffet, but I also didn’t want to hunt for another restaurant. So I decided that 25 euros would be fine for my final dinner in Barcelona, and I went up to check it out. Clearly the biggest draw of this place is its seafood, and it DID look amazing, but I’m allergic (anaphylactic reaction) to shellfish, so all of that was out with me. However, the staff assured me that there was no cross contamination of food during preparation, so I guessed it was safe. Even without the shellfish, the buffet was definitely worth 25 euros. I ate way too much again, and enjoyed every bite.
From here, it was a quick and easy trip subway ride back to my lodging, arriving by 11 PM. I wanted to get a good rest as the next morning I would be traveling to Madrid by train. I hadn’t expected my final day in Barcelona to be all that interesting, but once again, fate kept me happily occupied all day long. Let’s hope that things in Madrid also go this well. Anyways, thanks for reading, and let me know if you have any questions. I’ll do my best to help with any additional details as needed.
This female dancer actually fell down near the end of her partnered dance, but she handled it like a champ and jumped right back up.
Travels with Jay 