Costa Rica Day 1

We’ve finally had our Costa Rica After Party and it was a great success.  All but four were able to come to my place for the evening get together. We had a nice time sharing photos and reminiscing about the wonderful trip that we shared. I now have hundreds of pictures to post and will make a new blog entry for each day of our trip, complete with a “signature bird” for the day.

Day’s 1’s bird is the Blue-Grey Tanager.

This was such a cute little bird. My Birds of Costa Rica book says this is one of the most common birds throughout the country. We saw him at many of our stops on the trip. As you can tell from the pictures, he’s a big fruit eater and not at all camera shy. Many of the places we visited had bird feeders (attracting the birds attracted the tourists, of course) but unlike our country, they put out real fruit instead of store bought bird seed. I wonder why we spend so much money on seed and fancy feeders when the birds seemed quite content with plain old bananas and watermelons stuck on a nail that’s hammered to a board. We could save a few bucks and keep fruit scraps out of the garbage if we just did the same; hammered a nail into a board and pierced fruit into it.

 

How cool is this for a bird feeder!

Day 1 of the big adventure: It started at 4:30am at Cincinnati airport. Jen and I took a cab because I was worried about snow, plus I figured the cost of a cab would be about the same as the cost of long-term parking. I was right on both accounts. The ride only cost us $20 and the roads were covered. There was so much snow, in fact, that our 6:30 flight didn’t get airborne until 8:30. Of course this made for a stressful run across DFW to catch our connecting flight to Costa Rica. The airlines held the plane for us ... a big thanks to Tom, our trip organizer, for begging the flight attendants to help us. You see, there were 16 of us in all, and not everyone was up for mad dash. 

Before I forget… I quick introduction of the group (I’ll put names with photo-faces as they come along):

Myself and Jen;

Dan and his wife, Nancy (Dan owns the Wild Birds Unlimited franchise and is the master mind that initiated the trip);

Tom and his mother, Helen (Tom is the trip organizer  who’d been to Costa Rica several times and knew our guide);

Bob and his wife, Lisa; Dave and his wife, Ginny; Linda, Gerry, Gina, Barb, Valerie, and Betty.

Our fabulous guide, Carlos, and his trusty side-kick and driver extraordinaire, Harrison.

We were immediately whisked away from the airport in the crowded city of Alajuela (just east of San Jose) and into the beautiful countryside. Our first destination was the town of La Fortuna.  I can’t even tell you how long the drive was, were we quite tired by the time we had settled into our seats for the journey. An hour or so into the trip, sensing our exhaustion (and hunger), Carlos said we were about 25 minutes from the restaurant he had planned for us to eat dinner in and wanted to know if we could hang on that long. Yeah, yeah, sure, no problem… About two hours later we arrived at the restaurant. Poor Carlos had to endure constant jokes about his sense of time for the remainder of the trip. We soon learned that “tico time” is not the same as American time. They are much more laid back, it’ll happen when it happens, type of people. Not a bad thing I guess, unless you are tired and hungry!

Our first stop in Costa Rica! Carlos was very conscious to patronize only local, family run businesses and everyone greeted him with hugs and slaps on the backs, super friendly folks.

Our first two nights in Coast Rica was at the Hotel Kokoro. Carlos also made a point of booking our lodgings at eco-friendly establishments. It turns out that Costa Rica is one of the very few countries in the world that has established a sustainable program for eco resorts. Their hotels are rated via a rigorous set of rules in order to achieve a rating for being eco-friendly and sustainable. All places that we stayed during our trip had measures set for reducing consumption, recycling water, minimizing plastics, and supporting the local community. 

The Hotel Kokoro was great. This is the lobby. Everything was open to the outdoors giving it the

quintessential tropical feel.

Here is Lisa in the natural hot tub at the hotel property. Jen and I were so pooped after the long trip that we went straight to bed; no bathing in the murky waters for us. I was told that the water was full of minerals and was supposed to have healing properties, but it just looked a bit dirty to me. I guess some were more adventurous on day one than others were! 

We were told our first bird walk would be the next morning at 6am… another reason for going straight to bed! This was not going to be the kind of vacation for those who liked to sleep in and laze around the hotel; our itinerary was packed from sun up to sun down. It was about this time that I realized that Carlos and Harrison would be staying with us for the entire ten days and would be the group’s own personal guide and chauffeur.. the only way to travel in a foreign country. First impressions of the group, our guide and driver, and of the country... this was going to be a trip of a lifetime!

Spring is Here

Ahhhhh, spring is upon us and I am happy, happy! The birds are singing, the trees are budding, the grass is greening (is that actually a thing?), and love is in the air... at least for the local ducks at the Tara condo's lake.

Sunset in the Big City

As the weather starts to warm up, I am a little more inclined to snap a few pictures outside.  Here is the sun setting over the Ohio River.  It was my intention to keep this blog positive and highlight the nicer (or maybe just unique and interesting) aspects of the Northern KY/Cincinnati area.  Well, many people in this region probably think the sun setting over the Ohio River is nice.  Some may even say it is beautiful.  Unfortunately, for those of us lucky enough to grow up on Florida’s west coast beaches, this sunset failed to mesmerize me.  Still, I guess it was nice.

Here is a unique and interesting aspect of Northern KY...  painted flood walls.  Well, not too unique.  Apparently, 7000 feet of flood wall, spanning both sides of the Ohio River over four states, has inspired artists. From what I have read, Covington’s murals cover 1000 feet and consist of 36 paintings depicting regional historic events. Artist Robert Dafford painted them, with the assistance of Jason Brake and others, between 2002 and 2008.  To view each panel individually, along with a description of the event painted, visit the artist’s website: Dafford Murals

 

Another unique and interesting aspect of this area is the Roebling Suspension Bridge.  This bridge was opened to pedestrian traffic and horse drawn buggies in 1867.  It spanned 1057 feet, making it the longest suspension bridge in the world.  In 1895, the bridge was reinforced to accommodate electric streetcars.  Over the years, it has gone through many reconstructions and is still in high use today.  A full history of the bridge can be found at: Roebling Bridge

The Kentucky Capital

It's still too cold to play outside so there are no new pictures to share this Monday. I did go birding at The Oxbow on Saturday morning but it was a very gray day. It was cold and windy and the scenery was not attractive in the least. Everything from the sky to the ground and the water, and even the trees, were blah. We did see a few migratory ducks but they were always on the far side of the lake and too small to see clearly. I hate to admit, but they just looked like any old duck to me. I met a lady from my Costa Rica trip and we joked about looking for Toucans. I may have been spoiled for birding all together!

Instead of migratory ducks, I will share a few pictures of the Kentucky capital that I took while on a trip a few weeks ago.  I went with some friends from the Sierra Club to show support for a clean energy bill.  We just sat in on the hearing, it was not a protest or a rally or anything like that.  The trip was an eye opener for me to learn how little I actually know about our government.  I'm just not very politically minded and get frustrated at the processes.  I'm glad others take interest in the running of our country because I'm happy floating blindly through life snapping pictures of pretty things. 

The massive amount of marble and granite that makes up the interior of the capital was amazing.

A bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln sits at the base of the rotunda. The toe of his left boot is super shiny from everyone touching it... for luck, I was told, so naturally, rubbed it as well.

 

Chihuly at The Cincinnati Art Museum

     The Cincinnati Art Museum has it’s very own Chihuly chandelier in its entrance way.  This is one of my favorite art museums and to be greeted by such a beautiful glass creation is one of the reasons why. 

     I’ve always felt an attraction to blown glass.  Maybe the attraction is due to the brilliance of colors used, or the way light is able to change and enhance those colors.  Maybe it is the outrageous shapes that are able to be created, with multiple angles and swooping curves.  Maybe it is the dynamics of the creation itself; the sheer delicacy of the finished piece of artwork.  Whatever it is that attracts me, the sculptures by Dale Chihuly stretch the artistic realm of possibilities of blown glass and I am overwhelmed each time I see one of his creations.  I think the zaniness may draw me in the most... I just love how this piece looks so wacky and odd, yet graceful all at the same time... who knew that could even be a viable combination!   

     Update on the kids downstairs… not all is sunshine and butterflies down there.  Saturday night brought a round of cursings that were hard to ignore (f-you’s and f-that’s made up the gist of the conversation).  It’s just unsettling to have to listen to.  I know if I were to live in a house, I could very well end up with neighbors that yelled at each other while standing in their yard... which I would undoubtedly be able to hear.  However, I think that it would not be as intrusive as having the shouting come from right below your windows. 

     Well, I met with a realtor and learned that I can’t sell the condo right now without being out of pocket at least 10K.  This is what I suspected and it actually feels good to have my thoughts confirmed.  So, my choices are to rent it out and move on, or sit still and deal with it.  Financially, I have to sit still for the time being.  I’ll revisit the options in six months or a year.

Snow in March

I haven't been very faithful in posting my happenings lately. Maybe it is because I've been hibernating, desperately hoping that spring will come early.

This was my balcony last weekend. Then, miraculously, the temperature climbed to 74 yesterday. But it was just a teaser. This morning we woke up in the 50's and the weather man says we'll be down to the 20's with more snow by sundown. 

Oh yeah, another centipede sighting. He was on the wall of the garage though... so I guess I can't complain.

Another noisy neighbor story. This one I can complain about (but only to myself and anybody that reads this blog). My downstairs neighbor moved out and a family with teenage kids moved in and they like hanging out on their porch. They aren't really obnoxious, and I can't expect families not gather and talk and laugh, my problem is with their proximity to me. If I'm not a part of their family and I'm not included in on their gatherings, than I don't want to hear their conversations. I fear the situation will only get worse as the weather gets warmer. I can plainly hear them even though the windows are closed and the heat is running! I have to drown them out with the TV or the radio. I sound like a grouchy old lady, huh?

Long story short, a Realtor is coming tomorrow afternoon to assess the feasibility of selling. If I still owe too much to get out without a loss, I'll figure out another plan (rent it out while I run for the hills or somehow find enjoyment in listening to the smoker coughing next door and the kids yapping down stairs).