A few days at the Gran Hotel…. I spent four days in San Jose on a working vacation (meaning work during the day and have fun in the evenings) this past week. The weather was picture perfect and I was able to score a great rate at the Gran Hotel Costa Rica. The Gran Hotel is well situated: right next to the Teatro Nacional (National Theatre) and directly in front of the main pedestrian artery, Avenida Central, which is great for shopping and people watching. While the Gran Hotel, now 75 years old, is not as grand as some of the [View Full Entry]

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It’s been a fairly quiet week here at Angel Valley Farm Bed & Breakfast. Well, not perfectly quiet. This past week has seen to brought many cows, calves and bulls in our yard! One more, we were awakened early by the bloodly loud sounds of Osita and Reina yelping at the top of their lungs. From my window, I couldn’t tell what they were barking at, but later on, we discovered a bull had gotten loose and came right into our side yard, most likely to feed on the various vegetation growing there. Later in the week, in full view of [View Full Entry]

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Well, a new year is upon us. They just fly by and I’m not getting any younger. Yikes! There’s plenty to do in the coming year and the next few months are very busy with customers—which is good given that the B&B, under our ownership, has only been in business for about 6 months. Manuel Antonio—again I spent a few days over New Years in Manuel Antonio. I must admit I love that place! The beach is terrific, the people are friendly, the food is decent, and if you look hard enough, you can actually find a hotel room at a [View Full Entry]

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It is hard to believe that I have been living here in Costa Rica for six months already. Who would have thought that at this time last year, I would be living in this developing country paradise “south of the border.” A year ago I wasn’t working, figuring out where to go, what to do—essentially trying to determine what my next move would be. I had some good options but none of the places in the United States I could have moved to motivated me very much. Even the jobs offered to me did not do much for me. I think [View Full Entry]

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It has been a very busy few weeks which has put me a bit behind in writing my blog. With Thanksgiving and many guests and friends here over the past few weeks, I’ve barely had time to check my email, let alone update my blog. My original intention was to start this blog entry by announcing (unofficially, of course) the end of the rainy season in Costa Rica given it has not rained in the past week and an half or so. Well, with the rain last night, today and this evening, my intended announcement may have been premature. Yes, it [View Full Entry]

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Wow, what a busy few weeks! Plenty of guests, plenty of friends and plenty of Turkey!! Finally, after being here for several months, I decided one afternoon to take a walk down to the Barranca River which runs near my property. There is another river (I think it is a different river but I’m not sure) up above me but the hike is more difficult. The dogs decided they would follow me, which was nice actually, as they kept up with me, and most importantly, stayed out of the water. It was a nice downhill hike perhaps a half mile first [View Full Entry]

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Today I write you from Bogota, Columbia, yes, BOGOTA. I am visiting a friend here. Yes, my travel blog is primarily and usually about Costa Rica but it’s my blog and I’ll write what I %$$#%%# please! Actually, I figured since I was away from the farm (literally) for a few days, why not write about a different place and then be fresh next time for another entry on Costa Rica? So here goes…. I didn’t know much about Bogota or Columbia in general before visiting here except some of the intimidating things I’ve heard about: 1. 1/3 or more of [View Full Entry]

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I will work my way back from today, Sunday, through much of a busy few weeks and back again to Sunday! Sunrise/breakfast…. Today I woke up at 5:30am—definitely early for me! However, the sun was coming up and there was barely a cloud in the sky. What a bright crisp morning it was here! Makes the move here with all of the trials and tribulations (more about that later) worth it! This has been a very busy few weeks with non-stop guests every day, touring around, finalizing some of the work around the house and finally settling into a routine. I [View Full Entry]

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This blog entry does not have a theme—not that any of my other blog entries have had themes—rather, it is a collection of ideas or items that I have noticed this past week. PLEASE NOTE: I have a new email address: ANDREW4CR@GMAIL.COM More on the people… I again this week have focused my thoughts on the people who live around me, mostly by observing and wondering what they are thinking, and of course, what they think of me. I have come up with a few conclusions this week. I don’t know how accurate my conclusions are, and certainly others’ opinions wi [View Full Entry]

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I only have a few subjects to write about today, in fact, one of them I didn’t even write! To start with, I want to clear up the many inquiries I have had on what a “casado” is. I’ve reprinted an article from an online newspaper, “AM Costa Rica,” in its entirety as I think this should be the last word on the infamous “casado.” Reprinted from AM Costa Rica (10/28/05).... Article (and pictures) from AM Costa Rica removed due to a threatening email I received for my reprinting of t [View Full Entry]

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