week of mariscos

This last week has been a great one.
Last Saturday I dropped my group off at the airport in the wee hours of the morning and then made my way to a nearby bus stop, where I passed up two buses on thier way to the border with Nicaragua-Peñas Blancas- and was rewarded when a bus to Esparza came rolling up 15 minutes later. And luckily the driver took my USD, because that was the only currency I had in my wallet! He was also nice enough to help me get my backpack under the bus, which was a feat with my small bag and my Café Britt bag.
I have to tell you that I am always a little leery of putting my bag under the bus...ever since I once saw a poor gringa arrive at the airport and not find her backpack, and you know she never got that bag back...!! I do not want that to be me. I got home around 6am and proceeded to fall asleep, and it was lovely!

The days that E works I usually end up going to the beach and waiting for him (though I don't dare to swim at the beaches here, them being ports of call and having pretty sketchy looking gray waves along with trash on the beach, and again I don't like leaving my bag unattended), and sometimes we get a little something to eat or we just head home. The days he doesn't work we relax, make late breakfasts and late lunches, maybe run errands. This week we have enjoyed a lot of seafood, mostly shrimp in various dishes and sea bass that E got from a local guy selling it, for an amazing price that we have made several different ways.

Truth be told, I am more of a breakfast person. I can make a delicious gallo pinto, I love making platano maduro, and if I had the right equipment I would make tortillas more often! But E is also a great cook in his own right, and he has a great touch with shrimp in white sauce with pasta...and shrimp and rice, and sea bass in sauce...basically I have been spoiled rotten this week with huge delicious lunches! And I have enjoyed it, but we both realize that we should probably cut back on the mariscos (seafood).
One dish I do have down pat is potato salad. E loves it! Guess I need to work on rounding out my comidas tipicas, haha!

We discovered a great restaurant while walking around Puntarenas. La Cueva del Diablo Playa, a little seafood place (again, marisos...!) and the owner owns another restaurant that E knows nad likes, also called La Cueva del Diablo, but it is not on the beachfront.
It had been a while since I had gone walking around in Puntarenas, and really, it's much better than I thought it was...there has been a real effort to clean up and revitalize the beachfront, the Paseo de las Turistas. There are several hotels, lots of little places to eat, lots of kiosks where people sell thier wares to the tourists that come off the cruise ship for the day...buses coming and going, locals walking around, Ticos on vacation and tourists and tour guides. We saw a sunset that was beautiful, and then a breathtaking moon on the rise.

It's already Friday, and I will be going to the beach later. But first, lunch. Anything but seafood, haha!

Pura Vida : )