We're Here!

4am came awfully early, especially since we had gone to bed only about 4 1/2 to 5 hours earlier.  Our flight from Pittsburgh was at 7am and we were NOT going to be late.  JB got up to drive us to the airport, bless his heart.  You know that's a good friend...

The flight to Atlanta was only about an hour and a half.  We made our connection and boarded the flight to San Jose, Costa Rica.  From Atlanta, the flight is only 3 hours - not bad!  We were filled with anticipation regarding what our destination would be like and the new experience we were about to begin.  On the plane, about half the conversations we could hear were in Spanish, about half in English.  That ratio would soon change.

We landed about noon in San Jose and made our way pretty easily through Immigration and Customs.  That's where we took the picture at the top of the post.  The caption on the poster behind us says "Welcome to Costa Rica" - we were actually here!

We were greeted by a young woman hold up a sign with our name on it - a very welcome sight.  She sent us out to a man outside the terminal (through the gauntlet of shuttle drivers and representatives vying for our attention.  He hustled us off to a waiting van and the driver took us into San Jose to our hotel - about a 20-25 minute ride.

Check-in time was 2pm and we arrived about 1pm.  We had a little time to kill and we were both hungry, so we headed into the little restaurant just off the lobby.  Our first Costa Rican meal was a Chef Salad and a grilled chicken sandwich.  Not exactly traditional CR food, but it was good and it hit the spot.

After lunch, we were able to check into our room.  It’s a small room and sparsely furnished, with a queen bed and a twin bed (which was obviously not originally designed to be in the room).  The only places to sit are on the beds or a single chair that is in front of a long, narrow desk fixed to one wall.  We do have a flat-screen TV, a good air conditioner, and WiFi, so the basics are covered.  The louvered windows overlook a courtyard with a nice little swimming pool.  However, our 2nd floor view is blocked somewhat by some well-manicured trees outside our windows.  The bathroom is tiny but it does have a good-sized shower.  There is no dresser and very few drawers, so we’ll be living out of our suitcases.  It’s a bit crowded but we’ll make the best of it for our week-long stay.  Once the relocation tour starts, we won’t be in the room much anyway.

We’re here and we have a place to stay, so we’re off to a good start…

Posted by Mark.