Leaving the cold winter in France behind for warm weather, tropical scenery and beautiful beaches... Join me!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Lunch is served!

One of my VERY favourite things here so far are the black beans!!  I just LOVEEEE them!!! 
Another favourite is the friend plantains- a very starchy banana that is eaten fried, not raw. If it's prepared when it's green, it's almost like a potato, not sweet, and very starchy.. If it's prepared when it's yellow (ripe), then it's very sweet and can be eaten as a dessert.  It's usually served with a meal, not separate, as a dessert! I'd like to eat some fried bananas with vanilla ice cream, cinnamon and syrup! YUM!!!




A little tourist shop off the side of the road....

Up in the mountains...

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Driving through the mountains...

On our way... ROAD TRIP!!!

The week before Alex left, we drove to Heredia, where Jurggen lives (near San Jose) and then toured around a bit in the mountains - far from the Caribbean Coast!
We visited two different places- the thermal pools at Bosques and the Cloud Forest at Villa Blanco, not far from Arenal, an active volcano.  It's so different from the tropical landscape- and I was very surprised to see all the agriculture and cattle grazing so high up in altitude... I really LOVED it all!!!

Tropical flowers


***Purple Wreath - the purple flowers you will see in the pics that look similar to wisteria. 
     Petrea volubilis or 'Purple Wreath' is an ideal substitute for Wisteria in the tropics and subtropics, Petrea volubilis is regarded as the best blue flowering climber for the climate. Actual flowers are small, blue blossoms surrounded by large, blue sepals. After the flower dies the sepals retain their colour for many weeks, slowly fading before falling off the vine. Leaves are rough with a sandpaper-like texture, and may be semi-deciduous during cold winter periods in cooler districts.
     A great substitute for Wisteria if you live in a warm climate. Perfect for training over pergolas or climbing up walls and trellis.

Autumn in the tropics...

Playa Negra

A healthy lunch....