San Jose Wednesday March 24 From La Fortuna, Talina and I took an afternoon bus back to San Jose. We wandered aimlessly around the city for hours, going in circles for much of it. We walked down Avenida Central - one of the busiest streets in the city, despite being just as narrow as all the others. Many of the big stores were American-based. The sidewalks were blocked by vendors selling bananas, avocados, and bags of pork rinds. I bought a mango which we ate sitting on a park bench in a crowded public square. At one point during our wanderings, Talina and I encountered a bewildered Canadian on his way to the Rainbow Gathering, which apparently was being held in southern Costa Rica. He spoke even less Spanish than we did, so we walked him to the Coca-Cola bus station and helped him buy his ticket. Our last stop for the night was a huge supermarcado, not that much different from a Safeway in America. I bought Costa Rican coffee beans as a present for my friend Mary. That evening, as a reward for being so frugal during most of our holiday, we treated ourselves to dinner at a nice restaurant. I had the black bean soup, which came with a side of rice and a bunch of peppers and onions. I assumed that you were supposed to put all that stuff in the soup. Talina ordered hot chocolate and a seafood pasta - which unfortunately was very bland. The hot chocolate was delicious, though, spiced with cinnamon. After stealing many sips from her cup, I tried to order some hot chocolate as well, saying "I would like some hot chocolate too" in Spanish. The waiter just smiled and nodded politely and I didn't get my hot chocolate. Later I discovered that what I ACTUALLY had said was literally, "I like hot chocolate too" - no wonder the waiter gave me that look. We stayed the night again at the Bucaneers Hostel, this time shelling out the additional $5 for a private room. We left Talina's bikini in the communal bathroom with a note pinned to it that read "Gratis! It's wet and kinda ugly, but so, so free." The next morning when we woke up to catch our shuttle to the airport, the bikini was gone. NEXT: We leave Costa Rica Home | Pictures 1 2 | Beck and Forest in Fiji | Forest in Australia 1 2 Poppy in Australia 1 2 | Mp3s | Beck and Talina in Costa Rica Beck and Descie in Europe