Java, Lava, and Wat(er)

The right way to make coffee
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It's been a great (and quick) few days with my father here in San Jose.  We signed up for a few day tours that left from here at the Marriott, and spent the first of those days on a tour of a coffee plantation about half an hour outside of San Jose.  It's called Cafe Britt, and they do a two-hour tour and a lunch at their plantation.  The whole thing could probably take about 45 minutes, but Cafe Britt has hired actors who parade you around the grounds showing you the different beans, how they're roasted, and a little history of coffee while they're at it.  It's pretty kitschy, but at least we learned a little about coffee, and as you can see from the picture, they know how to make a pretty decent cup.

The pool at the Marriott... yeah, I'm struggling
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Spent the rest of that afternoon out by the pool, then hired a taxi to take us to a place called Tiquicia for dinner.  It's about half an hour up a monstrous, poorly paved hill, but with the benefit of overlooking just about all of San Jose.  The downside was that we couldn't actually make heads or tails of the menu, and as a result, ordered a dinner platter for two (which, in our defense, was listed with the appetizers), and then ordered individual entrees.  I should point out that the waiter did nothing to stop us, and as a result, we ended up eating until I couldn't physically sit straight up in my chair anymore.  I think I waddled back to the waiting taxi halfway doubled-over.  It was a scene.

Me at Tabacon Thermal Resort... because life can't all be Marriott pools and finely brewed coffee.
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The next day, yesterday, we signed up for a full-day tour of Arenal Volcano and the accompanying hot springs.  The volcano itself was a bit of a bust because it's been quiet for the last two and a half months or so, but the Tabacon hot springs were really something to behold.  Lakes, ponds, and streams filled with perfectly heated water, and more importantly, each one is covered with vegetation and rocks on the bottom so it's actually like you're in a tropical, thermal paradise instead of the backyard of a resort.  Makes for some cool pictures too.

So that was that.  Nice buffet dinner at Tabacon, and then the two hour ride back to San Jose.  Spent today wandering around downtown San Jose for the morning, did the Mercado Central and glanced quickly at the national theater, and then came back here for some of my mother's cookies (because let's face it: it's been way too long since I ate something that actually came out of an oven in a home.  I'm on day #335 of dining out... it's enough already) and had hot stone massages.  It's such a weird thing to go from bedbugs, sandflies, and "indigenous vagrancy" in Puerto Viejo to massage oils and the Pure Moods cd in a five-star hotel, but if I've learned anything in the last year, it's that comfort comes at a price, and that it's not necessarily a bad thing to experience that comfort from time to time.

At any rate, Dad's taking off tomorrow morning, and I will most likely stuff my face with bagels, eggs, lox, onions, and cream cheese before taking two showers back-to-back and then moving back to Hostel Bekuo, a terrific choice for the budget backpacker but seriously deficient in the hot stone massage category.  We'll see where the last two weeks take me.