Living out my music dreams in Berlin, Germany

Summer of 2018 was a weird summer. I’d just moved back from three years living in Australia. My work situation had ended pretty terribly, and I couldn’t bear the idea of jumping straight into another job.  At the same time, I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving people that had become some of my very best friends.  So, when my Aussie roommate invited me to join his month long Europe trip, I jumped at the chance. 

When August rolled around, I was ecstatic!  It hadn’t occurred to me that I hadn’t been to Europe since 2014!!  I guess Australia is far away…

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

We were up early for our quick flight from London to Berlin to start our month-long European holiday.  This portion of the trip was my request – Berlin has been my top destination of interest for over five years.  I’d waited because Berlin, for all its art and history, was really about music for me. When I first moved to Australia, I’d almost bought a $3,000 flight there, just to meet some like-minded music friends for a week (yes, I finally decided against it).

I share this because I don’t want to come off as uncultured.  Yes, I saw the Berlin Wall, but I didn’t go to a single museum while I was there.  I wanted to just be in Berlin.

It wasn’t until we checked into St. Christopher Hostel near Alexanderplatz that I realized my first mistake.  Looking back, I’ve only ever visited coastal European countries in the dead of summer…the lack of AC in the hostel quickly showcased that Berlin… is not one of those places.  I’d booked us a private room in a mini apartment with a shared bath and kitchen which was roomy and would’ve been perfect, but it was unbearably hot. So…we did what any good Berliner would do.  We went looking for beers.

My roomie had been to Berlin previously and suggested we walk past the famous Alexanderplatz, along and across the river, to this outdoor beach club called Sage Beach.  It was a long, hot walk.  The oppressive architecture of Berlin bore down on us… long streets of hot, grey stone buildings with few, if any, decoration.  But it was the perfect easel for massive, beautiful displays of street art.  There is a deep, underlying energy of creativity coursing through the veins of this city just waiting for its opportunity to present itself to you.

Sage Beach has a great setup – it’s a huge outdoor beach-like space with a stage for music, tables and lounge chairs and delicious, tropical drinks.  Only problem is, Berlin doesn’t wake up until 6pm at the earliest so it was completely dead.  Another odd observation – Berlin is COVERED in bees!  I could barely finish my drink from all the swatting (and squealing in terror).

We were a bit bored so we wandered back across the river to see what we might find.  The road along the river was just more of the same…stoic, uniform buildings one after the other, like silent soldiers awaiting orders.  But music, was coming from somewhere near them.  When it comes to music, I’m like a bloodhound, stopping at nothing to find the source.

We walked around a corner and through a rickety-looking arch that felt like an entryway, although not a very friendly one.  The scene on the other side was shocking.  The wall of unfriendly rock and brick fell away to people laughing and chatting away at picnic tables placed among a lush oasis of greenery and music.  The yard along the water was decorated in pieces of wood painted in wild colors.  The smell of coffee and wood-oven pizza beckoned, and we joined the crowd…for hours.  The vibe felt very similar to a Burning Man camp – dusty, vibrant and secret, yet completely inclusive. It’s a place where pictures and phones are not encouraged, but I snuck just one for the memory.  We would come to know its name – Holzmarkt Pampa.  I think it’s clear I highly recommend it.

Night was falling, so we finished our final beer and pizza slice and reluctantly returned to our steamy hostel to change in our costumes for the night.  And by costume, I mean wearing all black – Berlin-style.  We’d heard about a rooftop party at a place called House of Weekend, so we walked through to check it out, sipping cans of convenience store whiskey-lemon mixed drinks. 

Quite the opposite of Holzmarkt Pampa…I could see Berlin was like New York City or Tokyo - Pick a different street; enter a different world.  We’d clearly left the world of Burners and dust for the sprawling views of Berlin, scantily clad women, hipsters and wildly overpriced drinks.  Don’t get me wrong, I had a great time!  I think I made friends with 14 DJs of questionable talent and/or notoriety.

But both of us are creatures of the deep house music scene and were soon itching for our kind of tunes.  We stepped out of the club into the blackness of Berlin.  It’s not just the clothes that are black, even the night feels heavy like the air has been painted with thick black paint. 

The best thing about the late late Berlin music scene?  There is something for everyone.  House Music. World Music. Techno. Rap. Deep House. Music without label.  We were looking for the deep house variety which led us to Watergate.

Even at 2am, we were early.  The room didn’t start filling until closer to 4am, at which point it began to feel like a frenetic, yet focused, red monster – scuffed sneakers moving in unison to the deep beat mixed with an occasion snare drum-kick.  Another outrageously expensive bar, but the need for cool drinks to fight the oppressive heat of summer and bodies drove us back for more.  I love being at the front of the floor, near the DJ, especially if it’s a DJ who gets really into their set – dancing and clapping to the beat they produce.  But, I equally love being able to escape at times for a break, and I loved that Watergate had an outdoor deck along the river where you could do just that. 

I don’t smoke cigarettes, but I felt compelled to share a puff or two…something about them felt so “Berlin” – perhaps the fact that they are tightly wrapped bundles of fire, just waiting for a light.  I’d watch the sunrise from that deck before the slow, euphoric walk home.

Thursday, August 2, 2018

We woke up at 2pm.  This would soon become our pattern as the music bowels of Berlin stamped us as creatures of the night.  So hot and sweaty from the sun beating down on us and the lack of AC, even a freezing cold shower couldn’t help so we wearily rose like vampires from the dead and entered the city once more.

I’d like to pretend we went somewhere new, but we’d had such a perfect day, we literally repeated it…Holzmarkt Pampa for beers and incredible pizza, a long nap and then Watergate.  The only difference this time was rather than walking home the way we’d came, we ventured across the bridge, just outside Watergate, to walk along the Berlin Wall. 

I’d hazard to guess most people visit the Berlin Wall, in the middle of the day, at a historic section of the Wall, surrounded by the crush and cameras of other tourists.  Not sure that’s the right vibe to really “take in” the Wall.

I saw it as the sun rose. At first a long, dark and indistinguishable piece of concrete stretching into the distance, and then, raw in the early sunlight, an everlasting scar of vibrant, artistic depictions painted across its face.  The images were rough and honest and captivating.  Image after image appearing as I walked for over an hour alongside the wall.  I can’t begin to know what it was like to face that wall before, or when, it came down, but you can feel and see the stories of those who lived it, like a living skin of history.

Friday, August 3, 2018

Woke up to our “sun alarm” again at 2pm.  SO HOTTTTTTT.  We had to try something different, so we stopped for some sushi.  Not really sure what about blazing hot Berlin made us think sushi was a good idea, but it wasn’t horrible. 

We were so hungover, sleep deprived and probably massively dehydrated that we spent the hot afternoon in a daze wandering the streets.  The main streets of Berlin shopping district are filled with shop after shop.  But it’s the alleyways that hold the treasure.  On one such street, a flash of red caught my eye, so I walked through an arched tunnel into… Italy.  Swear to God, I’d been transported to a seaside town in Capri.  Nicely dressed, attractive people sat at wrought-iron tables capped with red umbrellas, nibbling at cheeseboards and gelato or slow sipping Aperol spritz cocktails.  I don’t think a single person was wearing black.  Yet another strange Berlin oasis.  The scene even invited the feeling of a breeze.  Instantly relaxed, we grabbed a table and joined in for a long leisurely lunch.  The place was appropriately called Piccolo Giardino.  Filled with cheese and salami, we returned to the hostel for our daily nap, sleeping soundly until 11pm.

Surprise, surprise, we did not eat, sleep, dance, repeat.  Instead, we picked another direction, this time west to see what we might find.  I was surprised at how quite it was… not many people around, until we turned yet another corner into bustling square of people eating outside.  The food was Vietnamese and the atmosphere transported me there – the plastic cups, the baskets of shellfish, the chopsticks, the huge bowls of steaming soup.  It was called District Mot and they were closing, yet kindly offered to seat us anyway.  So grateful because the food was some of the best of the trip.

Our sleep schedule had certainly affected our body clocks, because it was close to 1am and we were tired, but not quite enough to sleep again.  So, we decided to walk off dinner.  And, as you imagine, we found another alleyway of interest.  I’ve lived in New York City and would never normally, nor boldly, see “interesting-looking, yet scuzzy” people loitering at the end of a dark tunnel, and been spurred to join them, but something about Berlin makes this feeling feel normal.

This was by far the longest, and sketchiest, alleyway of the trip, but at the end of it was Eschschloraque.  In one way it reminded me of the desolate, crumbling castle in a romantically dramatic film or novel. More amazing art covered the high, castle-like, stone walls, crumbling from age, lack of upkeep, or both.  Twinkling fair lights and lanterns provide just enough dim lighting to see where you were walking, but it added a warmth to the otherwise dark and desolate place. 

At the same time, it felt like a dive bar from a forgotten era, the ghosts of famous rockstars leaving their footprints on the dusty stone floor.  Most of it was open to the sky, with small, intimate tables littered around the yard.  Inside, it was cozier and better lit.  There was a Spanish guitarist was setting up for a late-night performance in the upper room of the bar, but we were just too tired to wait for him to start.  We agreed on a few wines in the yard before heading home.  I’ll add those wines were dirt cheap.

 Saturday, August 4, 2018

After feeling like a total waste-of-space the previous days, we decided to get up early and “Seize the Day.”  You can’t called it a “European holiday” if you don’t hit up at least one food market, in my opinion, so I researched one called Markthalle Neun, conveniently south of our hostel, which was a new area to explore!

It was a cute market, but mostly food.  I’d been hoping for one with more variety, but one of the stalls served the most delicious fresh pasta - argument for best food of the trip, right up there with Holzmarkt Pampa pizza.  The weather was still scorching, so we decided to work our way towards this public pool situation built along the river.  The thought of submerging my tired, sweat-crusted body in cold water was convincing. 

Google Maps showed a long park called State Park running from where we were all the way to the water, so we decided that’d be our best route.  Turns out it is NOT a nice park.  You know that scene in the zombie apocalypse movie where the heroes think they’ve found safe haven but just went they start to relax, zombies slowly start appearing out of the brush, surrounding them from all sides? That’s what happened to us, but drug dealers instead of zombies.  Nothing is more awkward then an unwashed, loose-toothed man sidling up to you, whispering words under his breath, old cigarette smoke wafting off his clothes.  We took a swift exit from that park.

As expected, the swim park was nothing less than a shitshow.  Our smart idea to visit the only available cool area in the city was clearly not that original.  Already sweaty and dirty, we gave in to Berlin once again, choosing a river bar so that we could at least pretend there was a breeze.

Club der Visionaere was easily my favorite “bar” of the whole trip.  It’s essentially one long deck that juts out along the water with great music and pretty tasty gin & tonics that aren’t cheap but not quite as painful as some of the other venues.  And the people watching was outrageous – one guy stumbled into the bar (clearly still going from the night before) and managed to use the excuse of asking for a phone charger to chat up an attractive, fairly sober girl.  We watched stupefied as she offered up a charger - within 30 minutes the two of them were sharing a bottle of rose.  It seemed a long-term romance could be in their future, when he botched the whole thing by standing too quickly, knocking the table and the still full bottle of rose all over the girl.  Secondly later she’d said her clenched-teeth goodbye and fled. The final kicker? He pulled a phone charger out of his pocket and plugged it into the wall.  LOLZ.  We stayed for hours, watching other Berlin stories unfold, before heading back to change and meet some friends out.

You are probably wondering, for a massive music lover of the most underground variety, why I haven’t mentioned the most famous of the Berlin clubs, arguably the most famous in the world.  THEBERGHAIN.  Well, I’m a lover of techno, weird outfits and even weirder people, but I’m a hater of long lines.  I HATE them.  Blame it on four years of the Hollywood, CA, club scene, but I can’t imagine any place worth waiting hours in line, unless Ryan Reynolds is inside, personally waiting to attend my every want.  BUT – I was also willing to accept that any trip to Berlin would not be complete without at least one attempt.  I was with good friends and it wasn’t the middle of German winter, so we decided to give it a try.

For those of you wondering why the drama, what is this place, allow me to explain.  The Berghain is known for having one of the strictest door policies of anywhere in the world.  Literally, the same man has been policing the door since 2004 and he literally builds the vibe inside the club, based on who he lets in each night.  You could gain access three days in a row and then be rejected the next night with no idea why and no explanation.  He simply looks at a person and nods his head “yes” or flicks his head to the exit.  It’s honestly pretty jarring, but also makes you think – he is literally designing a vibe using people as the puzzle pieces.  Crazy.  We met up another Aussie mate, who’d been living in Berlin, and joined the line. 

I’ll cut the next three hours short to tell you, we did not get in (less than 1/3 do) but thirty minutes later, it would prove to be the best news ever.

Our friend hailed a cab, telling us she was taking us to a place she liked even better.  I always get turned around in cabs, trusting that the driver or navigator will get us where we need to be.  When we arrived at our destination, it was “so-Berlin,” a big white wall with a maze for a line leading into some mysterious beyond.

It was probably close to 5am as we entered Sisyphos, and it would captivate me for the next 5.5 hours.  Similar to Holzmarkt Pampa, this place reeked of Burning Man vibes, but on five times the scale.  The main outdoor area felt like walking into a Midsummer Nights Dream… tables and trees and wood and art intermixed - people limbs dangling and dancing.  It was mesmerizing, this calm, yet pulsing energy.  In the middle was a large building with no windows – walking inside felt like entering the bowels of a dystopian fighting club.  The low light and hard techno bouncing off steel walls.  It was intense; I could only stand it for short periods before escaping back outside. 

Along the side of this building was a staircase leading to an upper floor.  The music there was more tech house and more my speed.  It was a small, intimate dance floor with the DJ in amongst it.  I’d find myself spending my final morning hours in Berlin carving shapes in the wooden floor.

Sunday, August 5, 2018

We missed our usual wake up time, rising two hours later at 4pm.  Turns out everything in Berlin is shut on Sundays anyway so we weren’t missing much.  Apparently even locals need a day of rest in this city.  We attempted lunch at Sisal, where the pasta was pretty good, and coffee at Sucre et Sel, which was great, but I was too tired to taste or appreciate either.  We returned to the hostel early and slept through the night.

Monday, August 6, 2018

Turns out five full days (err nights) in Berlin is impossible to survive.  We were still ruined the next morning, shuffling our way through hostel checkout and down the street to Commonground to meet our friend for brekkie before heading to the airport.  Another grave error… I’d booked us an afternoon flight and the four hours we spent in that café were the longest of my life.  All I wanted was to sleep – late morning flights out of Berlin are highly encouraged.

I would go on to spend three more weeks in Europe and another year in NYC thinking about Berlin.  What a place.  There are few cities in the world that rank so high in my esteem – NYC, Tokyo, the entire continent of New Zealand to name a few.

While I’m happy to have capitalized on my travel partner’s mutual music interests to spend the majority of my time dancing to the late-night beats of Berlin, I would love to return one day to see the city that exists above ground, in the light.  Until then, Auf Wiedersehen .

Celebrating Brides in Costa Rica

Back in February 2018, I finally got the opportunity to visit a part of the world made famous to me by Tony Bourdain - Central America.  I’d been invited by one of my oldest, closest friends to attend her bachelorette party at a yoga center in Costa Rica.  Another close friend in the same group was also getting married around the same time, so we decided to celebrate her nuptials by traveling around Costa Rica for the week leading up to the other bachelorette.

Saturday, February 24, 2018

At the time I was still living in Sydney, Australia, so it was quite the trek to San Jose airport, but I was welcomed by a mischievous smile and equally mischievous sign.  I arrived in the late afternoon, so we immediately grabbed our rental car and hit the road as La Fortuna, our first stop, was close to 3 hours away.

This trip required a lot of research and compromise, because we both had little time off work and knew we’d have to end our excursion in Nosara for the bachelorette.  This meant most of the west and southern areas of Costa Rica weren’t convenient, which have some of the best beaches.  We wanted a bit of both adventure and beach relaxation so we decided to spend a few nights in La Fortuna to hike near the Mt Arenal Volcanic National Park and go white-water rafting.

I’d heard the roads would be a bit scary, but we didn't have any problems,with the exception of a “shortcut” we tried to take off the 141 as we approached La Fortuna; it was all big rocks of gravel and holes; I recommend sticking to the highway and a 4-wheel drive SUV and you’ll be just fine.  

We checked in to the Tifakara Hotel quite late (TiFaKara not TiKaFara – I made this mistake a lot and almost thought I’d lost our hotel reservation when I was searching Gmail!)  The place was SO cute; perfect for a reasonably priced honeymoon.  You stay in your own little “villa-like” studio surrounded by jungle with the most heavenly bed.  The only downside was the shower water didn’t want to warm up quite fast enough.  There were also open-air slates in the shower roof which were fun when it rained but not at night when the mosquitoes arrived. 

We were starving so we asked the front desk guy for a local recommendation that would still be open.  He seemed pretty stoned, which meant it took awhile to get a straight answer, but also meant the restaurant he suggested was LEGIT.  Sure enough we walked into Soda Viquez (on Calle 468 between highway 142 and Av 325) to a restaurant filled with locals.  The food is SO cheap and SO good.  I ordered casado, a local favorite - a plate of rice, black beans, plaintains, salad, a tortilla and an optional “topping” of chicken, pork, fish, beef, etc.  Sounds simplistic, but the flavors were complex!  With a Costa Rican Imperial beer to wash it down, I was hooked.

The beer also signaled bedtime after a long day of flying and driving so we headed back to our adorable villa-studio to sleep.

Sunday February 25, 2018

We woke up at 8:30am feeling strangely refreshed.  A homemade breakfast burrito and orange juice were both outstanding and included with our room.  We are notorious for not booking things in advance, so today would be our hiking day, because we woke up too late for the white-water rafting.  I was a little nervous, because the sky couldn’t decide if it was smiling or crying.

We hopped in the car and headed for Arenal Observatory Lodge, the only access to Mr Arenal National Park, which is about 30 minutes from our hotel on the other side of the volcano.  We’d purposely decided to stay near town in case we wanted to hit up the bars and drink, but if you are just coming to hike or spa, it’s more convenient to stay on the other side.

La Fortuna reminds me a little bit of Ubud in Bali, minus the rice paddies – something about the unnatural electric green of the grass and blue of the water.  You feel a bit like you’ve stepped back in time.

There wasn’t a ton of parking, so I recommend getting there early!  It cost $10 each for entry into the parking area, but at least you get a free map!  The map is a bit confusing, so don’t feel bad if you get a little lost (not in a scary way).  Growing up in Oregon, national parks usually involve sky-high trees and narrow dirt paths winding into the grass and shrubs.  This park felt a bit more like walking through someone’s farm – there were even livestock and a barn!

Being a mischievous pair, we headed for the outskirts of the park, because we’d heard there was a trail where you could hike to the top of Cerro Chato, an inactive volcano next to Arenal.  It’d blown along time ago creating a lake in the center of the crater where you can hike down to swim.

To find the “secret” entrance to the trail, go to the far end of the map (Cerro Chato is on the map) and look for a Prohibito sign (yes they made it easy for us).  No, we aren’t super crazy, we’d just been told by locals that “everybody does it.”  It’s about 6 kms to the top and is a hectic hike.  Better make sure you’ve got very good hiking shoes; we slipped and slid our way uphill for over an hour.  We were exhausted and freezing by the time we reached the top thanks to an early afternoon downpour the trees couldn’t fully shield us from.

At the top is a lookout, but unless it’s a completely clear day, you won’t see the lake.  Left takes you down to the lake, right takes you down to La Fortuna.  Turns out that trail takes 2-2.5 hours and is even more intense than our way.  No thanks.  Feeling a bit cheated, we made our way back down the hill, only to run into some very funny looking possums.  We spent 30 minutes stalking them for Instagram ops until our stomachs started to rumble.

The Observatory Lodge, while wildly overpriced, is perfect for those looking for amazing views, food, beers and somewhere to finally sit down.  The place is like a beautiful resort meets high-class summer camp.  The pork sandwich was pretty incredible though.  We’d been hiking for about 4 hours, including our slip n slid up Chato, so we headed to the park entrance (the park closes at 4pm so give yourself time to enjoy it!). 

On the way back to La Fortuna, we passed under an overpass across from Tabacon Spa, to find a bunch of locals parking their cars and wandering down the embankment to the river.  We obviously pulled over for a closer look, only to find a bunch of young people hanging out in natural hot springs, laughing and shouting, beers in hand.  Felt a little sketchy, but just our style.  Unfortunately, as darkness started to fall, we realized we were lacking towels, water shoes (very rocky and slick), headlamps and beers.

After showers, we wandered down to a steak restaurant called La Garrapata.  We were hoping for another great local spot, but instead if felt like a wild west BBQ joint at Disneyland.  The meat was alright, but we left underwhelmed.

Monday Feb 26, 2018

Up early again to be picked up at 8:30am for our rafting trip.  Our guide, Dionis, was hilarious.  There are a number of rivers you can float, but we wanted a more challenging course with some solid white-water so we opted for the Rio Sarapiqua.  It was an hour drive to the put-in and then a two-hour float - about 70-80% of the stretch were quality rapids where you could sit on the front of the raft and “ride the bull.”

What an incredible day.  The weather was warm, the sky was clear and our lunch of chicken, rice, salsa and plantains was fresh and mouth-watering.  We got to try some local moonshine and sugar cane juice which was strong.

After two days of “roughing it,” we were keen to land a massage at Tabacon, which is arguably the nicest spa in the area, but we couldn’t get a reservation so we chilled for a bit before dressing up for our final dinner in La Fortuna at Nene's.  Weirdly enough, we ordered wine and hamburgers, which seems so American, yet they were SO good.  The ceviche appetizer was delicious as well.  We stopped by Nanku, a fun bar with outdoor seating and live music for a few beers before heading home to bed.  It’d be a jam-packed day!

Tuesday Feb 27, 2018

We’d debated back and forth about spending another night in La Fortuna, because we’d had such a lovely time, but the call of unknown adventure beckoned us to packed up our things and head beach-ward.  

We set our sights on Tamarindo Beach as our next destination mostly because the place we found on Hotels.com was too good to pass up.  It took us about 4 hrs thanks to a lot of pit stops for pictures and coffee.  Cafe e Macadamia was the favorite with beautiful views of the lake and delicious coffees and baked goods!

La Ramona was one of the most charming hotels - clean, quiet and high quality, but with personality and an intimacy due to its small size.  It also wasn’t too close to the main town area so it felt remote and relaxing while not being a long walk into town.  There are only a few cabins surrounding a pool inside a walled courtyard so you felt like you own the place!  If you ever decide to stay there #5 is the one with the outdoor bathtub!

Marianna is the owner of the place and was so cute to help me sneakily create a bachelorette crown for my friend.  Little did my friend know tonight would be her 2-woman bachelorette party.  Luckily, I have enough energy in me to equal a whole flock of ladies.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon soaking up rays and watching this crazy woman in one of the other cabins yell at what appeared to be her young Costa Rican lover. Continuing my random Balinese comparisons, I’d say Tamarindo is a bit like the Gili Islands.

After dressing up in the first dresses and makeup of the trip, I gave my bestie her crown and we headed to Seasons for dinner – what a lovely meal of spicy tuna tartar, black miso fish, Mahi Mahi, and cauliflower.  Oh, and a rousing round of applause from the other diners sitting out on the patio for the bachelorette!

Having finished the “polite” portion of the evening, we ended up at Sharky’s for drinks.  I was intrigued by the name, as a loyal patron of Sharkie’s Hermosa and Manhattan from my days living in Los Angeles, and sure enough it was as fratty as I had hoped.  I might as well have died and gone to heaven when I found out there’s a Costa Rican version of a pickleback called “pepi guaro.”  A couple of those and we were eagerly joining the late-night karaoke sesh with a couple of dads out on a boy’s night during their family trip.  We ended up leaving before the dads at 1am.

Wednesday, Feb 28, 2018

Another debate about whether we should stay another night in Tamarindo, which we loved, test out another beach, or arrive in Nosara a day early (the bachelorette festivities officially started on Thurs). We had a pretty long drive and we’d heard that the roads closer to Nosara do get pretty intense so we decided to hit the road.  The last 1.5 hours of the road was really awful… we basically had to ford a small river at one point, because the bridge was under construction.  A bunch of the girls were already at the center when we arrived because they’d done the week-long retreat earlier in the week. 

Nalu is everything for someone looking to relax in nature.  It’s quite the compound; when you arrive you come in through a high-walled gate to park.  From there, it’s a maze of beautifully-groomed pathways leading to little villas among the ferns.  The villas were so lush.  I was staying in a two bedroom with the bride, her sister and her cousin and we had our own pool and a huge open floor plan kitchen and living room.  Relaxation started seeping into my bones the minute I arrived and continued to massage my brain as we walked down to the beach for sunset.  A homemade dinner of sausage and rice was served and we sat getting to know each other.

Thursday, March 1, 2018

Like any good yoga center, we greeted the day with a relaxing yoga practice and then walked down the street to La Casa for lunch.  This place is a must-eat.  The BBQ sandwich was unreal.  Yes, I ordered meat in yoga-ville; may the vegans flay me alive.

I digested by the pool before we dressed ourselves up for dinner and walked the beach to El Chivo – it may have been the ribs, the wet burrito, the fun music or the countless margaritas, but we were quickly interrogating the staff about the after-party location.  Sure enough, a full moon party was in the works and a van was called to carry us to deep into the jungle.

We debated the likelihood of kidnap, but the size of our group and our sense of adventure overruled; we found ourselves being dropped at less of a “bush doof” and more of a “beach club party.” I instantly felt safe, minus the future scar on my shin from some stupid beach fern that night.

The ride back to Nalu was much crazier as we had to pack into four-person human-pedaled tuk tuks.  Pretty sure one crashed and another broken down but we eventually all made it back safely.

Friday, March 2, 2018

The next day was spent lazing around the pool like fancy mermaids, drinking delicious drinks and painting sunhats (one of our bachelorette activities).  A local chef arrived to cook us dinner and we did the traditional “giving of the lingerie” before returning to bed early.

Saturday, March 3, 2018

The bride is all about fitness so we woke to another exciting morning workout – this time boxing at Enchanted Forest with Brenda.  Gotta call out the name of this place because it IS an enchanted forest!  You wander into the jungle and weave through a bunch of brightly colored bungalows before arriving at the gym and boxing arena.

We stretched our tired limbs walking along the beach to look into the tide pools – a couple small crabs and starfish but nothing compared to the Oregon Tide Pools (yes, I’m a little biased).

I couldn’t say “no” to La Casa for lunch again, this time trying the chicken bacon sandwich which was almost as good as the BBQ one, but pretty heavy!  I trudged back to the villa because I knew I had to work on my resume for a job back in Australia for the rest of the afternoon while everyone else continued their vacation.   I stopped in time to shower and dress for our final dinner together at La Luna.  It was a beautiful dinner, right off the beach, watching the sunset as we devoured fish tacos and margaritas.  It was such a fitting end to a relaxing time with great people.

Sadly, I’d spend the remainder of the night finishing my resume so I wasn’t able to partake in the late night drunken pool swim, but I’d had an incredible time in Costa Rica.  While I probably don't need to go back (there's other places I'm more interested in visiting) I was impressed by that feel of relaxation that echoes throughout the country.  The only thing I dock it on a little is that it feels like it's been settled by a lot of Californian yogis.  Granted most of the places I went were not off the beaten path so it might be an unfair assessment.  Anyways, a wonderful trip and a highly recommended, easy place to visit.