Travel Lust Fulfilled: Costa Rica

I've kept you in the lurch for a while on my Costa Rican vacation. Let me tell you- it was wonderful! At the end of a lot of vacations, you're ready to come home and resume normal life- not this one. I don't think I've worn a watch since I've been back!

We traveled to the Guanacasta region on Pacific coast for a wedding and stayed at the beautiful, all inclusive Villa Cascada. The accommodations were fabulous- great food, awesome pool and they were very helpful in planning excursions. I highly recommend it for your destination wedding or family get-together.

A short walk from the villa was a beautiful, black sand beach with a bar and grill right off the beach.

I loved Costa Rica because it was such a laid back experience and was incredibly beautiful. Everywhere you looked there were beautiful plants and animals- mimosa trees, mango and papaya trees, plants we only have here indoors, birds, butterflies, iguanas! And just wait until I tell you about the river boat tour!

We spent one day wandering around the city of Coco, a short cab ride from the villa. Lined with souvenir shops, bars, eateries, and oddly enough quite a few Italian restaurants, we enjoyed walking up and down the main street and seeing the sights. We also popped into the local grocery store to pick up some coffee and hot sauce to take home- I always think it's interesting to see what they're like in other countries!

After spending the rest of the afternoon playing in the waves and lying on the beach, we stumbled across a beachfront restaurant and had the best meal of the entire trip. A typical Costa Rican meal consists of rice and beans, plantains, a small salad and a meat. We decided to have the fish and fifteen minutes later they bring out a whole, fried red snapper. It was incredible.

As a gift to the guests, we took a sunset cruise on a beautiful sail boat, the Don Bosco. I hear it's for sale- any takers? Sail boats are one of my favorite things. I haven't been on many but they are gorgeous and nothing beats that feeling of cruising through the water with the wind in your sail. And I also love just being by the water- it has an instantly calming effect on me.

If you are looking for a tropical getaway, give Costa Rica a thought.  Rental cars are relatively cheap- it makes it easy to check out the volcanos, waterfalls and hot springs with ease. We only scratched the surface of things to do there!

Coming up soon- our Paolo Verde river boat tour experience!