The bus ride into San Jose was a smooth process across the border, despite some horror stories I'd heard but I was instantly missing the weather in Nicaragua as San Jose welcomed us with a thunderstorm. My first impression of this capital city was more like culture shock. In comparison to Ometepe and the town of Rivas in Nicaragua, where I caught my bus across the border, San Jose felt more touristy with it's tall buildings, recognizable restaurants and food chains, and hilly layout. That and the fact that the country didn't seem to have the same issues with losing power and water randomly, made me feel like I would have to be more careful with my budget; in this sense, I guess I needed to actually start following one.
I checked into my hostel, Costa Rica Backpackers, a mere 3km from the downtown core, and got settled into the room. As I was waiting for my friend Jess to arrive from the airport, I decided to explore my new home for 2 nights. The hostel itself was very nicely laid-out, with a large sitting area and big screen TV, 5 computers with internet, and a spacious pool area complete with hammocks and a bar. There was also another bar and restaurant at the back of the property meaning I wouldn't have to leave the property to find food - but what's the fun in that right? Once Jess arrived, we left the hostel in search of a good place to catch up - it had been 3 years since our last face-to-face visit. Unfortunately, we were both so tired and drained by our travel day, we called it a night early and were asleep by 10pm. Such party animals hey?! :-)
The next morning, instead of heading to the coast right away as planned, we decided to take a day and see the sights of San Jose. We had heard from many guide books and people that there isn't a lot to see in San Jose, but I would like to stand up for the city. Yes, there aren't many touristy attractions like ruins or beaches, but the city itself is a great place to experience Tica (nickname for Costa Ricans) culture in it's truest form. Jess and I wandered down to the main street and were surprised to find as many fried chicken places as there were shoe stores. Not sure of the appeal of the chicken, but I was definitely okay with the abundance of shoe stores. However, since we were in the main core, the prices were a lot higher than they would've been in a more coastal or smaller city. After wandering for an hour or so, we stumbled upon this cute little market just off the main street. Now I have been to my fair share of outdoor markets, and like to think I am pretty savvy in walking through them and what to expect. I was wrong. We got lost within minutes as each turn leads down a different set of shops and we quickly found ourselves near all the food places, which ended up being a good thing. There was a delicious and familiar smell coming from one of the stands behind us so I looked to see what they were offering in terms of lunch, and was happy to find one of my favorite Latin American dishes available - home made empanadas. We sat down and order a couple as well as 'agua de jamaica', which is purple in color and delicious like cold passion tea. Made from dried hibiscus leaves, this is a refreshing treat to find when traveling. I was beyond happy and satisfied after inhaling my food and took a moment to take in my surroundings - a busy marketplace that is quickly shut out by close seating next to people you may or may not know and delicious food that takes you away from reality. I was happy and nostalgic for Mexico, and also eager to continue exploring San Jose. After a couple of minutes wandering the aisles, we found our way back to an exit which dropped us out on a side street. At the end of this street, which didn't really have wide sidewalks so walking on the road was easier, we found a gorgeous church with a sun-filled park out front. The beautiful architecture and stained glass windows immediately took you of the hustle and bustle of the roads and sidewalks, and into a more relaxing space where sitting and enjoying the sun is all that seems to matter. What a nice treasure to find!
We ended our day walking through the main square, which was surrounded by government buildings and, like any Latin American country, street vendors on the side of the street. I was happily surprised to find many of the movies that were still in theatres back home and was hoping to purchase a couple at $2 each when I realized I had no cash. I promised to come back after finding a bank, thinking it would be a quick and easy trip. I was wrong. Apparently there aren't very many ATM's available on weekends and of course the line-ups were long and tedious. And of course, it started to rain, which we weren't expecting and so we just stood there and got soaked. What a bonding moment - we couldn't help but laugh at the situation! Obviously we never made it back to the street vendors as we were busy hiding from the rain under one of the few awnings along the street. Oh well, we had to get back to the hotel to get ready for ziplining the following morning, and our bus trip to Manuel Antonio later that day.
Goodbye San Jose, hello Pacific Coast - home of Jaco, the most popular surfing area in Costa Rica.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua
by Toni St.Clair on Thursday, May 12, 2011 at 10:07am via FB
A great place to go when visiting to Nicaragua is San Juan Del Sur. Located on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua, it is known mainly as a surf town, but you don't need to like/want to surf to enjoy it.There are plenty of restaurants, stores, hostels and other activities available. Getting there is a quick 40mins from the ferry at San Jorge, and you can take a bus or taxi.
Kyley, Jean and I went there 3 days after arriving in Nica for a beach getaway. We stayed at a beautiful B & B called Secret Cove Inn, which I am recommending to anyone wanting a break from the hostels and dorm life. It has 5 rooms, shared baths - which we avoided by renting 2 side by side rooms. All rooms have fans and ceiling fans which make evening heat easier to accept. However, these don't help when the power goes out, which is pretty frequent all over the country.
Our first night in San Juan Del Sur, we went to a great Mediterranean restaurant called El Colibri. It's a more high end place, but not in terms of cost that we Canadians are used to. Very reasonable prices and the food was incredible and muy rica!! The ambience helped create the setting and the waiters very friendly, helpful and attentive. I am recommending the menu based on the fact that we all had the specials and were so satisfied that I can only imagine their menu food being just as good!!
Our first full day in San Juan Del Sur was spent on the beach, which I'll say got all of us some nice colour! We were only out there for a couple hours, but we left pretty pink and happy!! We sat out front of El Timon, a nice beachfront seafood restaurant, and the waiters served us delicious mojitos and Tona - one of the local beers.
We spent the rest of our day shopping the stores and finding Kyley some shorts, although I did buy some accesories and a dress - which is SO common for me!! That night we enjoyed delicious seafood at El Timon followed by drinks and dancing - well, some people were dancing - at Iguana's next door.
San Juan Del Sur can be both a party town and a nice escape, so it has a little bit of everything for everyone. From the market, to the restaurants, it has a nice variety of goods and food to suit any palate and of course the people are all buena gente, ready to help you out with anything you may need.
- xoxo
A great place to go when visiting to Nicaragua is San Juan Del Sur. Located on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua, it is known mainly as a surf town, but you don't need to like/want to surf to enjoy it.There are plenty of restaurants, stores, hostels and other activities available. Getting there is a quick 40mins from the ferry at San Jorge, and you can take a bus or taxi.
Kyley, Jean and I went there 3 days after arriving in Nica for a beach getaway. We stayed at a beautiful B & B called Secret Cove Inn, which I am recommending to anyone wanting a break from the hostels and dorm life. It has 5 rooms, shared baths - which we avoided by renting 2 side by side rooms. All rooms have fans and ceiling fans which make evening heat easier to accept. However, these don't help when the power goes out, which is pretty frequent all over the country.
Our first night in San Juan Del Sur, we went to a great Mediterranean restaurant called El Colibri. It's a more high end place, but not in terms of cost that we Canadians are used to. Very reasonable prices and the food was incredible and muy rica!! The ambience helped create the setting and the waiters very friendly, helpful and attentive. I am recommending the menu based on the fact that we all had the specials and were so satisfied that I can only imagine their menu food being just as good!!
Our first full day in San Juan Del Sur was spent on the beach, which I'll say got all of us some nice colour! We were only out there for a couple hours, but we left pretty pink and happy!! We sat out front of El Timon, a nice beachfront seafood restaurant, and the waiters served us delicious mojitos and Tona - one of the local beers.
We spent the rest of our day shopping the stores and finding Kyley some shorts, although I did buy some accesories and a dress - which is SO common for me!! That night we enjoyed delicious seafood at El Timon followed by drinks and dancing - well, some people were dancing - at Iguana's next door.
San Juan Del Sur can be both a party town and a nice escape, so it has a little bit of everything for everyone. From the market, to the restaurants, it has a nice variety of goods and food to suit any palate and of course the people are all buena gente, ready to help you out with anything you may need.
- xoxo
Managua and Ometepe, Nicaragua
by Toni St.Clair on Thursday, May 12, 2011 at 9:50am via FB
Jean and I arrived pretty smoothly in Managua, after a 6 hour layover at Houston International Airport. I was very grateful for the company as 6 hours can feel like such a long time, but Jean and I made the best of it!!
We arrived in Managua, and breezed through customs and met our waiting Best Western guy. As we're standing at the baggage carousel waiting for our luggage, I look over towards the windows and notice this girl waving her arms and holding up some sign. Since the guy behind us was waving too, I assumed this crazy girl belonged to him, but as it turns out it was OUR crazy girl! Ms. Kyley made the trip in Thursday evening to meet us at the airport, and it was such a great surprise!!
After a nice evening and a hot shower (our last for awhile as it turns out), we were off to meet up with Tabitha and Nestor - Kyley's boss and her husband. Kyley had called Christian, who is a cousin of Nestor, and he was kind enough to drive us off to our rendezvous. It's very nice having people you can trust in this country b/c you know you are safe - that and you are helping out a friend too.
We meet up with Tabi and Nestor and head off to the ferry - a 2 hour drive from Managua to San Jorge, via Rivas. Again, I was grateful for the ride as a cab can cost about $40-$50 from Managua to San Jorge, but it's faster than the bus.
The ferry ride is inexpensive and oh so beautiful. You have plenty of time in the 1 hr ride to get some great pics of the 2 volcanoes on Ometepe, as well as get a mini shower when the ferry goes over a wave!!
Located right on the beach of Lago Cocibola, it's name stands for "place of the moquitos" in Nahuatl. It is the commercial center of Ometepe, and has many hostels, restaurants and tour places for tourists.
For the most part, we have spent our days outside of the town. We have breakfast at the Cornerhouse, a B and B run by Gary and Laura, ex-pats who have been here for just over a year now.
On the island we have visited El Ojo De Agua, a gorgeous natural springs that has chairs and hammocks along it's sides, and refreshing water to swim in. It costs $2 to enter and you can get there by bus or micro bus, but make sure if you take a cab you organize for them to come back and pick you up or have them wait for you hile you enjoy the springs; the latter is what we did and it worked out greatly in our favour! Of course, we walked a couple kilometers before we realized there wasn't too much traffic on the road, and so Kyley called her family, got a number for a microbus and we were quickly picked up o the side of the road!! Good times...haha!!
Yesterday, Jean and I went to Charco Verde while Kyley was at the hospital seeing patients. We asked one of her friends, Roger to take us out there in his mototaxi - like a Tuk Tuk but safer I imagine - and the 12 km ride was an adventure. I had only ever ridden in one of these before in Guatemala, but it wasn't nearly as far, so my butt was a little sore by the time we got to Charco Verde.
Once there, we walked the Natural Reserve trail to the lagoon, and enjoyed the beautiful Ceibo trees - enormous trees with trunks that would need at least 6 people to wrap around - as well as the flora, fauna and monkeys. We only saw one monkey, and were pretty thankful for that was we had heard that the monkeys sometimes throw their feces at people, something I wasn't looking forward to. We were lucky that the beach wasn't covered in water yet, as it is technically rainy season and at this time it is common for the beaches to all but disappear in some places as the water level in the lake rises.
Tomorrow I, sadly, am leaving Kyley and her mom and heading off early in the morning to San Jose to meet up with Jess - my awesome fantastic friend from Michigan, who I have only spent 2 weeks with in the last 6 years! I am excited to see her and to spend our 3rd week together!!
- xoxo
Jean and I arrived pretty smoothly in Managua, after a 6 hour layover at Houston International Airport. I was very grateful for the company as 6 hours can feel like such a long time, but Jean and I made the best of it!!
We arrived in Managua, and breezed through customs and met our waiting Best Western guy. As we're standing at the baggage carousel waiting for our luggage, I look over towards the windows and notice this girl waving her arms and holding up some sign. Since the guy behind us was waving too, I assumed this crazy girl belonged to him, but as it turns out it was OUR crazy girl! Ms. Kyley made the trip in Thursday evening to meet us at the airport, and it was such a great surprise!!
After a nice evening and a hot shower (our last for awhile as it turns out), we were off to meet up with Tabitha and Nestor - Kyley's boss and her husband. Kyley had called Christian, who is a cousin of Nestor, and he was kind enough to drive us off to our rendezvous. It's very nice having people you can trust in this country b/c you know you are safe - that and you are helping out a friend too.
We meet up with Tabi and Nestor and head off to the ferry - a 2 hour drive from Managua to San Jorge, via Rivas. Again, I was grateful for the ride as a cab can cost about $40-$50 from Managua to San Jorge, but it's faster than the bus.
The ferry ride is inexpensive and oh so beautiful. You have plenty of time in the 1 hr ride to get some great pics of the 2 volcanoes on Ometepe, as well as get a mini shower when the ferry goes over a wave!!
Located right on the beach of Lago Cocibola, it's name stands for "place of the moquitos" in Nahuatl. It is the commercial center of Ometepe, and has many hostels, restaurants and tour places for tourists.
For the most part, we have spent our days outside of the town. We have breakfast at the Cornerhouse, a B and B run by Gary and Laura, ex-pats who have been here for just over a year now.
On the island we have visited El Ojo De Agua, a gorgeous natural springs that has chairs and hammocks along it's sides, and refreshing water to swim in. It costs $2 to enter and you can get there by bus or micro bus, but make sure if you take a cab you organize for them to come back and pick you up or have them wait for you hile you enjoy the springs; the latter is what we did and it worked out greatly in our favour! Of course, we walked a couple kilometers before we realized there wasn't too much traffic on the road, and so Kyley called her family, got a number for a microbus and we were quickly picked up o the side of the road!! Good times...haha!!
Yesterday, Jean and I went to Charco Verde while Kyley was at the hospital seeing patients. We asked one of her friends, Roger to take us out there in his mototaxi - like a Tuk Tuk but safer I imagine - and the 12 km ride was an adventure. I had only ever ridden in one of these before in Guatemala, but it wasn't nearly as far, so my butt was a little sore by the time we got to Charco Verde.
Once there, we walked the Natural Reserve trail to the lagoon, and enjoyed the beautiful Ceibo trees - enormous trees with trunks that would need at least 6 people to wrap around - as well as the flora, fauna and monkeys. We only saw one monkey, and were pretty thankful for that was we had heard that the monkeys sometimes throw their feces at people, something I wasn't looking forward to. We were lucky that the beach wasn't covered in water yet, as it is technically rainy season and at this time it is common for the beaches to all but disappear in some places as the water level in the lake rises.
Tomorrow I, sadly, am leaving Kyley and her mom and heading off early in the morning to San Jose to meet up with Jess - my awesome fantastic friend from Michigan, who I have only spent 2 weeks with in the last 6 years! I am excited to see her and to spend our 3rd week together!!
- xoxo
Life in Malaga
by Toni St.Clair on Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 10:45am via FB
I have been trying to get Internet for my laptop, so I won't have to always come to the cafe every night..it's starting to become embarassing!! Haha! So anyways, I went to the phone company (but that's where I had to go) and gave them my passport, my work contract and the number of my bank account. Well, apparently my work contract isn't 'official', which by the way it is, and so now a week later, they inform me I can't get internet unless I get an 'official' contract...so I think my boss is going to go in with me this week or next week and we're going to try and figure this out. All else fails I think he's going to sign up for the internet in his name and then I'll just pay for it!! Works for me!! For now, I'll just keep frequenting the cafe and language school for internet use!!
There are some definite differences I've noticed here in Spain. The spanish accents, for one, are different than the mexican accents. In Spain 'thank-you' sounds like 'grathias' and in Mexico it's 'gracias'. Another difference is coffee shops with coffee to go. I have yet to find a Starbucks, but I know that there is a Dunkin' Donuts. So it is possible to get a coffee to go, it's just not common. Another cultural thing that I am actually getting used to is the dinner time, which is normally around 9 or 10pm. Most restaurants aren't busy until these times and then they're pretty busy up until about 1 or 2am, so as you can imagine the nightlife starts around the same time as well. However, usually the parties don't stop until about 6 or 7am...yikes!! However, the one tradition I am happily embracing (on weekends only b/c of work) are siestas. BIG fan of these!! Between 2 and 5 Monday to Saturday, the majority of shops and cafes close. Some stay open for tourists and such, but for the most shopping must be done before or after these hours, so you can imagine the amount of people you'll be shopping with in a store!!! On Sundays, if a store is open it's only for about 4 or 5 hrs, between 10-2pm which of course I barely make sometimes due to the sleeping thing!!
So far I have had 2 different roommates, and one constant one. John, the guy from Holland will be there until the end of October, and the other room has had a guy from Turkey (who left last week) and a girl from Austria (who leaves next week), I wish was staying longer b/c she's awesome and we're getting along really well!! As for my moving apartments...that has yet to be determined since this is a really busy month for us at the office. Maybe I'll be moving in October, maybe I won't move at all...who knows?! Haha!!
Things at the internship have been busy!! My marketing campaign to schools in Canada has been going slowly since I started Spanish classes this week and am now only in the office in the afternoons. But so far it's going ok...I'll keep you all posted. There have been some fun incidents for sure though!! My favorite one being my first experience of picking up a group at the airport on Monday. I went with 2 coworkers, one of which had done this before. Anyways, basically everything that could happen did happen. The group's bags didn't make it to Malaga, and weren't coming in until the next day, so the group had to go to a shopping mall to buy whatever they needed for the next 12hrs. We mentioned to them that their host families were already waiting at the school for them, and since we were already 2 hrs late leaving the airport, we should just head to the school first, and then they could go to the stores in the area by the school (which has the same stores and were probably cheaper). But nope, they had to have a shopping mall. So off they went and we met them an hour later outside the mall, took them on the public bus to the school and then took each student to their individual host family!! It was quite the adventure and so now when I go to the airport by myself tomorrow (AH!) I am hoping that everything goes smoothly and even if something happens, I'll be ready!!!
As I mentioned, I started Spanish classes on Monday, and so far they're going very well! I really like my teacher. She teaches the class so that the grammar and practice are mixed together, instead of in separate sessions, which of course helps me reatin everything!! Little by little my spanish is improving!
I have met tons of people so far, mostly from the Spanish school, but since most of them are only here for their 2 weeks classes and then are heading back to their countries, it's hard to really become good friends. I have met a guy David from the US who will be here for sure until December and then maybe a little longer. So we have been hanging out a lot and meeting random people on our own!! It's been fun. Most of the students at the school are from Austria, Germany and Holland so I find myself surrounded by German most of the time!! It's an interesting language to hear and of course every country has it's own little versions of it!!
So I guess that's my update. Oh I found an awesome English bookstore next to Pablo Picasso's birth house and I managed to spend some $$ in there on some great beach books!! I usually head to the beach at least one day on the weekends...the weather is always nice so any day would work well!!
- xoxo
I have been trying to get Internet for my laptop, so I won't have to always come to the cafe every night..it's starting to become embarassing!! Haha! So anyways, I went to the phone company (but that's where I had to go) and gave them my passport, my work contract and the number of my bank account. Well, apparently my work contract isn't 'official', which by the way it is, and so now a week later, they inform me I can't get internet unless I get an 'official' contract...so I think my boss is going to go in with me this week or next week and we're going to try and figure this out. All else fails I think he's going to sign up for the internet in his name and then I'll just pay for it!! Works for me!! For now, I'll just keep frequenting the cafe and language school for internet use!!
There are some definite differences I've noticed here in Spain. The spanish accents, for one, are different than the mexican accents. In Spain 'thank-you' sounds like 'grathias' and in Mexico it's 'gracias'. Another difference is coffee shops with coffee to go. I have yet to find a Starbucks, but I know that there is a Dunkin' Donuts. So it is possible to get a coffee to go, it's just not common. Another cultural thing that I am actually getting used to is the dinner time, which is normally around 9 or 10pm. Most restaurants aren't busy until these times and then they're pretty busy up until about 1 or 2am, so as you can imagine the nightlife starts around the same time as well. However, usually the parties don't stop until about 6 or 7am...yikes!! However, the one tradition I am happily embracing (on weekends only b/c of work) are siestas. BIG fan of these!! Between 2 and 5 Monday to Saturday, the majority of shops and cafes close. Some stay open for tourists and such, but for the most shopping must be done before or after these hours, so you can imagine the amount of people you'll be shopping with in a store!!! On Sundays, if a store is open it's only for about 4 or 5 hrs, between 10-2pm which of course I barely make sometimes due to the sleeping thing!!
So far I have had 2 different roommates, and one constant one. John, the guy from Holland will be there until the end of October, and the other room has had a guy from Turkey (who left last week) and a girl from Austria (who leaves next week), I wish was staying longer b/c she's awesome and we're getting along really well!! As for my moving apartments...that has yet to be determined since this is a really busy month for us at the office. Maybe I'll be moving in October, maybe I won't move at all...who knows?! Haha!!
Things at the internship have been busy!! My marketing campaign to schools in Canada has been going slowly since I started Spanish classes this week and am now only in the office in the afternoons. But so far it's going ok...I'll keep you all posted. There have been some fun incidents for sure though!! My favorite one being my first experience of picking up a group at the airport on Monday. I went with 2 coworkers, one of which had done this before. Anyways, basically everything that could happen did happen. The group's bags didn't make it to Malaga, and weren't coming in until the next day, so the group had to go to a shopping mall to buy whatever they needed for the next 12hrs. We mentioned to them that their host families were already waiting at the school for them, and since we were already 2 hrs late leaving the airport, we should just head to the school first, and then they could go to the stores in the area by the school (which has the same stores and were probably cheaper). But nope, they had to have a shopping mall. So off they went and we met them an hour later outside the mall, took them on the public bus to the school and then took each student to their individual host family!! It was quite the adventure and so now when I go to the airport by myself tomorrow (AH!) I am hoping that everything goes smoothly and even if something happens, I'll be ready!!!
As I mentioned, I started Spanish classes on Monday, and so far they're going very well! I really like my teacher. She teaches the class so that the grammar and practice are mixed together, instead of in separate sessions, which of course helps me reatin everything!! Little by little my spanish is improving!
I have met tons of people so far, mostly from the Spanish school, but since most of them are only here for their 2 weeks classes and then are heading back to their countries, it's hard to really become good friends. I have met a guy David from the US who will be here for sure until December and then maybe a little longer. So we have been hanging out a lot and meeting random people on our own!! It's been fun. Most of the students at the school are from Austria, Germany and Holland so I find myself surrounded by German most of the time!! It's an interesting language to hear and of course every country has it's own little versions of it!!
So I guess that's my update. Oh I found an awesome English bookstore next to Pablo Picasso's birth house and I managed to spend some $$ in there on some great beach books!! I usually head to the beach at least one day on the weekends...the weather is always nice so any day would work well!!
- xoxo
Malaga, Spain
by Toni St.Clair on Monday, September 1, 2008 at 12:28pm via FB
I arrived in Malaga around 5pm (so about 9am in Calgary) after travelling for about 15 hrs and I was surprisingly ok. Not too tired, despite not sleeping on the plane. My apartment is quite a bit smaller than my Mexico one and not as nicely furnished, but it’s a block from the beach so that’s a bonus!! And I actually found out today that I am supposedly moving in a coupleweeks to another place anyways; I guess my company has been having some problems with the owners of this building. Right now I have 2 roommates: one is from Holland, here on vacation until October, the other from Turkey, here for 2 more weeks finishing his spanish course...so neither are coworkers. I was a bit disappointed in that area b/c I was looking forward to having people to chat with and such, but I'll survive. It won't take me long I'm sure... ;)
I found out what I am exactly doing for my company, OnSpain (www.onspain.es). I am in charge of the marketing campaign in Canada, so I will be sending a campaign flyer to many private schools in Canada with information about OnSpain and the programs we offer, as well as personally talking to the schools sometimes. I also am supposed to be doing work on the campaign in France, however, this will be VERY dependent on how good my French becomes...I am re-teaching myself right now, and I'm practicing with some of my friends so we'll see...I also found out that I will be in the office by myself for the most part. I will be with coworkers on Mondays and sometimes Fridays, but the other 3 days I am alone...I guess there is another intern coming from Germany in mid-September and she'll be working with me as well so that'll be good. I am also in charge of making a GPS map of the downtown area for the upcoming tours we have. I will have to spend a day or weekend or something walking a map for the kids on the tours to find, so that'll be a good way to get to know the city too.
I went for a walk on the beach last night and discovered many shops,restaurants and outdoor cafes and basically all of the restaurants and cafes are outdoors on the beach boardwalk!! I have no internet in my apartment (and I'm not sure if the new one will), so I have been visiting this little cafe called Namaste for hours at a time. However, b/c of the time difference there’s not too many people online when I’m online so I guess maybe hours is an exaggeration.
Right now I live in the area called Pedregalejo (used to be a fishing village outside of Malaga), which is a little suburb off of the center of Malaga, where my office is. It only takes me about 20mins on a bus to get downtown and it just so happens that my office is right in the Plaza de la Constitucion, one of the main tourist attractions and also happens to be about 30mins from all the other main tourist stuff. Tomorrow (today depending when you read this) I am planning on visiting the huge Castle de Gibralfaro, the Picasso Museum, maybe seeing the bullring and basically doing the main tourist circuit. Should take almost all day and I will more than likely be pretty brown/red!!!
The weather here is hot, hot, hot all the time. And I mean ALL the time...for example right now it's about 8:30pm and it's still 28 outside...not like sun hot but muggy never wear pants or long-ish pants ever hot!!! It's AWESOME!!! I'm not a big fan of sleeping in it but I'll get used to it... ;) Small sacrifice right?! Not many places have airconditioning either but at night it does cool down quite a bit b/c of the sea breeze...
- xoxo
I arrived in Malaga around 5pm (so about 9am in Calgary) after travelling for about 15 hrs and I was surprisingly ok. Not too tired, despite not sleeping on the plane. My apartment is quite a bit smaller than my Mexico one and not as nicely furnished, but it’s a block from the beach so that’s a bonus!! And I actually found out today that I am supposedly moving in a coupleweeks to another place anyways; I guess my company has been having some problems with the owners of this building. Right now I have 2 roommates: one is from Holland, here on vacation until October, the other from Turkey, here for 2 more weeks finishing his spanish course...so neither are coworkers. I was a bit disappointed in that area b/c I was looking forward to having people to chat with and such, but I'll survive. It won't take me long I'm sure... ;)
I found out what I am exactly doing for my company, OnSpain (www.onspain.es). I am in charge of the marketing campaign in Canada, so I will be sending a campaign flyer to many private schools in Canada with information about OnSpain and the programs we offer, as well as personally talking to the schools sometimes. I also am supposed to be doing work on the campaign in France, however, this will be VERY dependent on how good my French becomes...I am re-teaching myself right now, and I'm practicing with some of my friends so we'll see...I also found out that I will be in the office by myself for the most part. I will be with coworkers on Mondays and sometimes Fridays, but the other 3 days I am alone...I guess there is another intern coming from Germany in mid-September and she'll be working with me as well so that'll be good. I am also in charge of making a GPS map of the downtown area for the upcoming tours we have. I will have to spend a day or weekend or something walking a map for the kids on the tours to find, so that'll be a good way to get to know the city too.
I went for a walk on the beach last night and discovered many shops,restaurants and outdoor cafes and basically all of the restaurants and cafes are outdoors on the beach boardwalk!! I have no internet in my apartment (and I'm not sure if the new one will), so I have been visiting this little cafe called Namaste for hours at a time. However, b/c of the time difference there’s not too many people online when I’m online so I guess maybe hours is an exaggeration.
Right now I live in the area called Pedregalejo (used to be a fishing village outside of Malaga), which is a little suburb off of the center of Malaga, where my office is. It only takes me about 20mins on a bus to get downtown and it just so happens that my office is right in the Plaza de la Constitucion, one of the main tourist attractions and also happens to be about 30mins from all the other main tourist stuff. Tomorrow (today depending when you read this) I am planning on visiting the huge Castle de Gibralfaro, the Picasso Museum, maybe seeing the bullring and basically doing the main tourist circuit. Should take almost all day and I will more than likely be pretty brown/red!!!
The weather here is hot, hot, hot all the time. And I mean ALL the time...for example right now it's about 8:30pm and it's still 28 outside...not like sun hot but muggy never wear pants or long-ish pants ever hot!!! It's AWESOME!!! I'm not a big fan of sleeping in it but I'll get used to it... ;) Small sacrifice right?! Not many places have airconditioning either but at night it does cool down quite a bit b/c of the sea breeze...
- xoxo
Belize
by Toni St.Clair on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 4:02pm via FB
We arrived in Belize City quicker than I had anticipated which was nice. We were on a nicer bus than the ones we took from Antigua to Lake Atitlan so there was plenty of room to chill and relax. And I didn't realize that the 5 hr time quoted included the stop at the border, which was even nicer!!! Once we reached Belize City, we transferred to the water taxi that took us on an hour and a half trip to the largest caye (pronounced "key") Ambergris Caye. We are staying in the largest town, San Pedro, and it is gorgeous. Most of the restaurants, hotels and such are along the beach and every business has it's own dock. It is BEAUTIFUL here, as you will see from the photos!! We are staying in the cheapest hotel on the island, but it's still quite nice...a step up from the dormitories we were staying in...we share a bathroom, but otherwise all is good...oh an no AC but we have the fans placed perfectly in the room so we can sleep in a nice breeze. The best part about this caye is that even though during the day the sun is HOT and all you want to do is jump in the ocean (which of course we do). the evenings are nice and breezy, a great change.
So far all we have really done is explore the town and island, and chill at some of the very cool bars they have along the beach. Today, however, we went on a snorkeling trip to the Brazilean Barrier Reef. The specific spots we went were Hol Chan and Shark Ray. Hol Chan is gorgeous...so much coral and different types of fish. It was gorgeous, and it was about 30m deep...of course me being a wuss I stayed mainly at the top of the water, but every so often I would be brave and venture a bit further down...Shark Ray was incredible...it has what it names says...sharks and sting rays...although no dangerous ones...don't worry ;) The sharks were about as long as I am tall, and the sting rays were HUGE!! We got to hold one of them and they are quite docile creatures, unless provoked of course...for the most part Belize is more expensive than Mexico or Guatemala and so it took me awhile to adjust back to paying about $15/meal, but our snorkeling trip was only $35 and we were out for about 2 1/2 hrs with a guide, drinks and snacks...not too bad I'd say! Tomorrow Jen and I are going to go on a sunset cruise. We leave around 4:#0pm, get drinks, snacks and a beautiful view of the sunset for a couple hours and then return back to the caye. We think it'll be a nice end to our trip...I'm sad the trip is coming to an end, because that means that my time in Mexico is also coming to an end. But I guess I'll be having another new and amazing experience when I go to Spain!!
- xoxo
We arrived in Belize City quicker than I had anticipated which was nice. We were on a nicer bus than the ones we took from Antigua to Lake Atitlan so there was plenty of room to chill and relax. And I didn't realize that the 5 hr time quoted included the stop at the border, which was even nicer!!! Once we reached Belize City, we transferred to the water taxi that took us on an hour and a half trip to the largest caye (pronounced "key") Ambergris Caye. We are staying in the largest town, San Pedro, and it is gorgeous. Most of the restaurants, hotels and such are along the beach and every business has it's own dock. It is BEAUTIFUL here, as you will see from the photos!! We are staying in the cheapest hotel on the island, but it's still quite nice...a step up from the dormitories we were staying in...we share a bathroom, but otherwise all is good...oh an no AC but we have the fans placed perfectly in the room so we can sleep in a nice breeze. The best part about this caye is that even though during the day the sun is HOT and all you want to do is jump in the ocean (which of course we do). the evenings are nice and breezy, a great change.
So far all we have really done is explore the town and island, and chill at some of the very cool bars they have along the beach. Today, however, we went on a snorkeling trip to the Brazilean Barrier Reef. The specific spots we went were Hol Chan and Shark Ray. Hol Chan is gorgeous...so much coral and different types of fish. It was gorgeous, and it was about 30m deep...of course me being a wuss I stayed mainly at the top of the water, but every so often I would be brave and venture a bit further down...Shark Ray was incredible...it has what it names says...sharks and sting rays...although no dangerous ones...don't worry ;) The sharks were about as long as I am tall, and the sting rays were HUGE!! We got to hold one of them and they are quite docile creatures, unless provoked of course...for the most part Belize is more expensive than Mexico or Guatemala and so it took me awhile to adjust back to paying about $15/meal, but our snorkeling trip was only $35 and we were out for about 2 1/2 hrs with a guide, drinks and snacks...not too bad I'd say! Tomorrow Jen and I are going to go on a sunset cruise. We leave around 4:#0pm, get drinks, snacks and a beautiful view of the sunset for a couple hours and then return back to the caye. We think it'll be a nice end to our trip...I'm sad the trip is coming to an end, because that means that my time in Mexico is also coming to an end. But I guess I'll be having another new and amazing experience when I go to Spain!!
- xoxo
San Pedro and Tikal, Guatemala
by Toni St.Clair on Friday, July 11, 2008 at 6:41pm via FB
So I think I left you all on my first day at Lake Atitlan, and I was in San Marcos (Tuesday)...
After meeting Jen at the meditation center we decided to explore the town, which didn't take too long. It's the smallest of all 12 Mayan villages on the Lake, but is definetly beautiful and has for sure maintained it's quaint, quiet and simple ways. The town itself has houses on either side of the main square, whoch has the church, a basketball/soccer area and the beginnings of a new school. The rest of the islan closer to the lake is made up of little paths and buildings built around the jungle. We had to buy a flashlight since there were no street lights and I didn't feel like sleeping outside so... :)
Wednesday morning we woke up to a beautiful view and went to have some massages...and OH MY... they were awesome massages!! I had a 90 minute Swedish massage and it was about $30...and Jen had reiki, which I am still trying to understand...Afterwards we went across the lake to San Pedro, the so-called party town. Well, maybe it's off-season, or maybe my standards of a party have changed since living in Mexico City but it wasn't very lively...yes there were tons of people, but most abrs were playing movies, and not music. C'est la vie...we watched American Beauty, had a drink and went back to our room. Thursday morning we had a leisurely brunch and caught a boat back to Panajachel around 2:30pm. This gave us plenty of time to explore Panajachel, which is basically one long street of artesanias, a couple hotels and that's it. Good thing we didn't decide to stay there...at 4pm we caught our shuttle back to Guatemala City, via Antigua (a much better 4 hr trip as we were in the front and had more room). We had some cool shuttle mates as well...7 guys from Holland who were HILARIOUS, and 2 girls from the US who we stayed with until reaching Flores. Once we reached Guatemala City (which really doesn't seem like there's much in the way of tourism), we caught an overnnight bus (yes Nana, overnight) to Flores...9hrs later (6am Friday). Now most people would of course get off the bus, find a bed and sleep right?! Well Jen and I aren't most people (much to my dismay) and we decided to go to Tikal at 9am. So we cleaned up, ate and got on a bus for an hour ride to Tikal.
Tikal was worth every penny, and sleepy hike up the pyramids. It is GORGEOUS and defiently a hidden treasure. Unfortunately we were unable to climb the tallest pyramid there (72m) since it was having some restoration work done, but we were able to climb up close to the top via some stairs built on the side. Goregous view, and many more photos of course....
Tonight Jen and I are staying in Flores, but we will be up around 4:15am to catch the one and only bus to Belize City at 5am...this trip is only 5 hrs, with a stop at the border, so hopefully all goes well... the plan is to be at Ambergris Caye, the largest island off Belize, and one of the ones closest to the Belize Barrier Reef tomorrow night. That's the plan...
- xoxo
So I think I left you all on my first day at Lake Atitlan, and I was in San Marcos (Tuesday)...
After meeting Jen at the meditation center we decided to explore the town, which didn't take too long. It's the smallest of all 12 Mayan villages on the Lake, but is definetly beautiful and has for sure maintained it's quaint, quiet and simple ways. The town itself has houses on either side of the main square, whoch has the church, a basketball/soccer area and the beginnings of a new school. The rest of the islan closer to the lake is made up of little paths and buildings built around the jungle. We had to buy a flashlight since there were no street lights and I didn't feel like sleeping outside so... :)
Wednesday morning we woke up to a beautiful view and went to have some massages...and OH MY... they were awesome massages!! I had a 90 minute Swedish massage and it was about $30...and Jen had reiki, which I am still trying to understand...Afterwards we went across the lake to San Pedro, the so-called party town. Well, maybe it's off-season, or maybe my standards of a party have changed since living in Mexico City but it wasn't very lively...yes there were tons of people, but most abrs were playing movies, and not music. C'est la vie...we watched American Beauty, had a drink and went back to our room. Thursday morning we had a leisurely brunch and caught a boat back to Panajachel around 2:30pm. This gave us plenty of time to explore Panajachel, which is basically one long street of artesanias, a couple hotels and that's it. Good thing we didn't decide to stay there...at 4pm we caught our shuttle back to Guatemala City, via Antigua (a much better 4 hr trip as we were in the front and had more room). We had some cool shuttle mates as well...7 guys from Holland who were HILARIOUS, and 2 girls from the US who we stayed with until reaching Flores. Once we reached Guatemala City (which really doesn't seem like there's much in the way of tourism), we caught an overnnight bus (yes Nana, overnight) to Flores...9hrs later (6am Friday). Now most people would of course get off the bus, find a bed and sleep right?! Well Jen and I aren't most people (much to my dismay) and we decided to go to Tikal at 9am. So we cleaned up, ate and got on a bus for an hour ride to Tikal.
Tikal was worth every penny, and sleepy hike up the pyramids. It is GORGEOUS and defiently a hidden treasure. Unfortunately we were unable to climb the tallest pyramid there (72m) since it was having some restoration work done, but we were able to climb up close to the top via some stairs built on the side. Goregous view, and many more photos of course....
Tonight Jen and I are staying in Flores, but we will be up around 4:15am to catch the one and only bus to Belize City at 5am...this trip is only 5 hrs, with a stop at the border, so hopefully all goes well... the plan is to be at Ambergris Caye, the largest island off Belize, and one of the ones closest to the Belize Barrier Reef tomorrow night. That's the plan...
- xoxo
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