Day 3: Twisty Roads to Our Next Pitstop

Should you ever decide to stay at Hotel Aranjuez en San Jose, triple check that your room is THE farthest away from the reception desk. Otherwise, you get to wake up to the early morning calls of stomping feet, rolling luggage, and construction.

Of course, early to rise = more time to explore the city. We walked through Mercado Centro, down Avenida 2, stopped by for a photo shoot at the Gran Hotel Costa Rica, had a churro snack next door, and explored Teatro Nacional.

We had an awesome taxi driver commuting to Hotel Crowne Plaza Corobici. Did I say awesome? I meant hardcore, as in, Amazing Race hardcore. He squeezed through cars, honked his way to the front, and ignored any sort of road markers to make sure we got to our destination muy rapido. Actually, most of the cab drivers navigate the narrow streets of San Jose this way.

Good thing we got out of the city and made our way to Doka Estate for our coffee tour. Did you know that low quality coffee beans float? And that the round beans called Peaberry contain more sugar because it holds the concentration of two beans? And that Germans have a smart way of pulling caffeine out of the beans and in turn sell that caffeine concentrate to soda manufacturers? Neither did we. AND the good quality beans sink and are larger. We ended our tour with a fantastic lunch on the terrace overseeing the 15 hectar? estate.

Just when we thought the road was twisty going to Doka, we were surprised with 30+ miles of windy roads going to La Fortuna. Mariah and Plain White Ts were excellent road trip companions. FYI, queso palmitos is more like mozzarella cheese.

Dinner time!