This should probably be a trip report but the fact that it is devoid of the usual mongering awesomeness , I am posting it as a reply here. I received lots of good advice before leaving and withholding feedback would just not be right...
Getting There Was a breeze even though we had two stops. Delta gave us good seats because we had a ba*y with us and that made the journey a lot easier. My infant daughter is heavily influenced by my genes and my being a natural pilot, had no problem with the flights. Wife was miserable and had to rely on Dramamine to make it to the destination.
Car Rental I got an 8 dollar/day Elantra from hotwire. (SUVs and larger cars are thief magnets and hard to drive on those small roads) I knew they will add another 23 for the mandatory insurance and they did. Pisses me off but the process rules!
Navigation (getting around)
Being an IT guy, I refuse to pay for GPS rental so I loaded up on GPS Apps on my android phone. Of the ones I had loaded (Sygic, NavFree, Google, and Waze), all but Waze said no dice… no maps available for the country. I was skeptic of Waze but it ended up a life saver. I drove around as if I had lived in San Jose for years. Could not have done that without a GPS - no if buts and thens. On times, it did give wrong instructions like to turn left or right when there was no turn to be made but the road was curvy and there are lots of them like that in CR. Overall, the convenience it offered far outweighed minor miscues it gave. While in San Jose, I attempted once driving without the GPS and ended up going down a one way street - facing the traffic
Note: You do need a data connection and I have ATT roaming but a local SIM would have done the same job. People were able to reach me on my USA number and were able to identify without missing even once that I was traveling abroad. The ring tone gives it away instantly. I made some calls but not sure what number they saw on the caller ID. No one questioned where was I calling from.
Accommodations As per DGD’s advice, we stayed on the beach in Playa Hermosa. The two bedroom, oceanfront condo had everything we could ask for. The next morning, wife woke up and opened the huge door to the balcony overlooking the ocean and muttered… we already got our money back
As per the advice given, we did not go into the water but stayed ankle deep and that was plenty as neither of us is a good swimmer.
The next morning we drove to Smile 90210, a simple 2.5 hour drive to Curridabat and spent the day there with plans to return in three days to finish the job. We had over 4000 dollars worth of work done and I don’t even want to think what it would have costed in USA. Suffice to say that price notwithstanding, just the hassle of appointments would have prevented us from having the work done. Wife got three crowns, two implants and whitening and cleaning. I got a crown over the implant and cleaning.
While in Playa Hermosa, we spent the days on the beach, wife cooked and I did the grocery chores. In the evening we took short rides to see the area.
LA Amistad: On day 5, we returned to San Jose. I had to pick LaAmistad. It was an easy choice against all advice. Presidente had nothing and I hate the Res Inns and InterConts. My profession, an IT consultant requires 75% travel and we are sick of those chains. La Amistad gave us the much needed change. We stayed in room 201, nothing like the condo in Playa Hermosa but nice enough. The staff was nice. The pharmacy across the hospital was a godsend. We did need that Oxa Forte and valiums. The amount of dental work mandated heavy sedation. They did not have Sustanon but offered B complex shots and Primoteston.
The stay at La Amistad was fine. No hassles. Everyone including the monger brothers were courteous and helpful.
Two more full days at 90210 and we returned to USA. Wife wants to return for a longer trip next time. I did show her the gulch while driving by. She insists that the Trannys near the Morazan Park, albeit professionals, were not two boys but a boy and a girl. I was not about to stop to verify, so I guess we never will know the truth
We did take a stroll down the Central, went to Chelles for dinner, did some shopping and got soaked in the rain but it was all fun.
Overall, this was medical trip that turned into an awesome vacation and we will do it again. It did get spoiled once we were home. I got a call next day that I had been laid off from my job of six figure salary. I worked for a large corporation that did some major restructuring and several thousand were being let go.
Now if any of you is looking for a seasoned IT Project Manager (certified PMP), please PM me. Of everything that I have gotten from this board, if I get a job or even a referral, that just might make it the best forum ever. Not that it already isn’t
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