Pura Vida- Part 1!

Hola Bellas and Fella (I know husband is secretly reading, but won't say hi!)

We took a short 3-hour flight into San Jose, Costa Rica and walked out into a cloudy day in this bustling city. I'm not quite sure what we were expecting, but San Jose wasn't it! We walked around on our own and stopped to admire their parks. The parks here reminded us of the parks we saw in Eastern Europe last summer.

The next morning, we woke up to a big breakfast spread in our hotel. Hubby modeled with his omelet, rice and beans, yogurt, and misc. items. I enjoyed some fresh papaya, granola, and yogurt. Of course, we had copious amounts of Costa Rican coffee!

Our next stop was the Poas Volcano. We got on our tour bus and rode straight up to see this beauty:

The views were breathtaking- along with the elevation. We walked up to see the rest of the trail and had to fight for oxygen at 8,900 feet, but it was worth the hike through the cloud forest.

Once we finished our hike, it was back to the tour bus to get to lunch. Here was our home for a great part of the 10 days we were there. It was really comfortable, but we were glad to be out of the bus and explore!

Another honeymoon note- we took a tour through Costa Rica so that we could see as much as possible. While most honeymooners like to stay at a hotel and stare at each other, we wanted to do that (the staring part) along with having as many new experiences together as possible. As a result, we shared our honeymoon with 35 senior citizens (seriously) and a lovely Costa Rican tour guide.

Ciao!

Honeymoon Recap - Miami Part 2!

After we left our new friends, we went to South Beach to stay in our swanky hotel on Collins Avenue. I loved all the white buildings and uplighting- so swanky!

We were right in the middle of everything and once we got properly dressed, a picture was in order- along with our first drink of the trip! Mike enjoyed a Long Island and I had a Vodka Soda with extra lime!

Next we walked to dinner. Miami has a lot to offer in terms of food options and we decided to try out some Cuban food. I went with a shrimp cocktail with veggies on the side (ok, not very cuban, but the shrimp had lime in it) and the hubby went with some beef, rice and plantains. There wasn't a good picture of this, but we both enjoyed it!

The next day, we started off bright and early with a tour of the city. We stopped by the Historic Biltmore Hotel and snapped a picture.

We rode along to Miami's Little Havana district and checked out some cute older Cuban gentlemen playing chess and even got a Cuban Coffee. Mike and I were blown away from it- it was amazing! We were coffee buzzed for the next 6 hours! Here is the definition from Wikipedia:

"Cuban coffee (café cubano, Cuban espresso, cafecito, Cuban pull, Cuban shot) is a type of espresso which originated in Cuba after espresso machines were first imported there from Italy. Specifically, it refers to an espresso shot which is sweetened with sugar as it is being brewed, but the name covers other drinks that use Cuban espresso as their base. Drinking café cubano remains a prominent social and cultural activity within Cuba as well as the expatriate community."

Next we took a boat ride along downtown and got a nice view of the skyline. We also got to see some celebrity mansions along the way. I felt kinda like a stalker, but now I know where Shakira lives!

After our long day, we walked over to get some dinner. I forgot the name of the outdoor cafe, but it reminded both of us of a Spring Break vibe. It was outdoors with a stage, pool, and lots of drink specials. We shared some mojitos and had the most amazing meal:

Servers are so not good at taking blog-friendly pictures! We had ahi tuna sliders with Asian Chicken salad- amazing! This was our best meal of the entire trip as we learned the Costa Rica is not known for its cuisine!

Stay tuned for our first couple of days in Costa Rica!

Honeymoon Recap- Miami- Part 1!

I'm making an attempt at getting things back to normal and finding new hobbies unrelated to the wedding that took over my life for the last 12 months! As I get my thoughts in order, I decided to start with a recap of our honeymoon. We went to Miami and Costa Rica for a total of two blissful weeks and I'll start with Miami first!

My first impression when we got there was hot, humid, and muggy! I seriously don't know how people function much beyond getting to the beach and home in this city. We started our trip with a day trip to the Everglades to explore some wildlife and the inevitable summer rain. We took an airboat and a swamp buggy and saw some cool animals (not too many alligators in the San Francisco Bay Area) and enjoyed our time together.

After the buggy ride, we got stuck in a rainstorm. We walking into the cafe and had our pick of the typical theme park foods. I picked a nice salad bar, but my hubby (love saying that!) suggested something a little more adventurous. What you see below are alligator nuggets. Now, I don't eat red meat (more on that later) but I don't think alligator qualifies.

These things were fried like McDonald's chicken nuggets and tasted like...well, chicken. I would say it tasted like a mix between chicken and fish and quite enjoyed them dipped in BBQ sauce! I love trying new things on vacation and there were many other new experiences on our trip!

What is the strangest food you have eaten?

Mine is definitely alligator.

See ya'll later!

Married!

A picture is worth 1000 words and I just wanted to share a few photos as we are packing for our honeymoon and are finishing up our errands. The day was beyond amazing- I could not have asked for anything else. I married the love of my life and thoroughly enjoyed the day.

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