Around town

The last couple of days we have just done everyday stuff and walked the neighborhoods. We've read, practiced, exercised, worked, and just enjoyed not having to do things . We have a small front sitting area that gets a nice breeze and a back garden area with lots of plants. The rest of our place had a fully stocked kitchen, living area, and two bedrooms. We have eaten out some and have cooked in eating plenty of rice, beans and the plentiful vegetables available here!

We have also taken walks around the town. Grecia is in the central valley of Costa Rica so it is surrounded by mountains. Closer to the center is the shopping area but the father you out you travel, the more residential it gets. One walk took us up on the ridge where it has been said many of the expats live. On this walk we passed everything from shacks to very large houses with yards, not common here. On another walk we found some gated communities with nice housing plans. Every community has it's own little grocery stores, bakery and people selling things in there driveways. We also passed several schools . The country has invested a lot into their schools in recent years. School is required for 1st to 9th grade. After that, it is optional to go on to trade school, academic classes to prep for college or join the work force or family businesses. The schools are all on break until February. We also found a mall. It has a food court with many American fast food places - but we didn't eat there! The town is very clean and for the most part, the houses are well maintained.

Tuesday, we had pizza at Il Forno. Jeff selected this because it had a 4.9 rating on Google and he was not disappointed with our veggie pizza. We had leftovers for the next day.

On Wednesday, we during our walk we stopped in a bar / restaurant named "El Muneco" for a beer (we had 2). The place had only been open a week. Our waitress (age 20) spoke a little English. The owner's (female) daughter was at a table coloring. They were all very nice. While the place was empty when we arrived there was a handful of people at the bar when we left.Read more