Last Nights In Costa Rica *UPDATED*

Since our dinner at Graffiti wasn't as awesome as we expected, Aaron wanted a do-over.  We decided to try another restaurant recommend by Lonely Planet called Lemon Zest.  However, first we had to pack!

It was amazingly easy compared to last time, except for the fact I'm scratching my skin off because I got over 20 bites the other night and they're pretty huge:

I don't know what happened!  I sprayed bug spray on my arms and legs, but I guess the bugs found a way around it because my butt is completely covered with these bumps (the one in this picture is on my leg...I tried to take a pic of my butt without making it look like a butt and it just wasn't working).  Every time I sit, it itches and I don't wanna look like I'm digging in my butt, BUT I AM!  OH WELL!
Then we were on our way downtown for the last time.  Lemon Zest was small, but nice and had AIR CONDITIONING!  Ahhhhh!  You have no idea how muggy it is down here lately!  Just walking from the front door of our apartment to the street had me drenched in sweat.  Anyway, it was delightful to be in the air conditioned restaurant.  I didn't really get pictures of the decor (people were looking at me), but I got this jaguar painting:

Okay, I'll admit that Aaron took it because I was too embarrassed.  I did snap a pic of the menu though:

It's kinda hard to see, but we ordered from the bottom part anyway.  I had the Caribbean style jerk pork chop with pineapple chipotle BBQ sauce:

It was delish!  The sauce was incredible!  It was like a yummy dance party in my mouth.  Yay!
Aaron had the green curry coconut shrimp with pineapple risotto:

For $22, this is not enough shrimp.  However, it was quite tasty and he enjoyed it (no cheese this time!).
Overall, WAY better than Graffiti, so we finally got a last dinner worth of our 2-month stay.  Not to mention, it was much cheaper ($55), but to be fair, we didn't get drinks or apps, so that's probably why.

Then we got home, packed up our extra food, toiletries, etc and brought them to our neighbors, Mike and Tamara.  We hung out for a bit and then said goodbye.  Tamara gave me a book she found in their house and I'm excited for my next read:

I'll let you know how it goes.

Leaving Jaco is so bittersweet.  We are going to miss the town, the beach and the friends we've made, but we're also pretty excited to move on to the next destination.

Today we woke up, got on a bus and 3 LONG, STIFLING hours later we were in San Jose.  Then we dragged all our stuff through a sweaty mass of people to the Alajuela bus station (like 10 minute walk, but we went the wrong way, so it was more like 15) and got on another gross, hot bus for 40 minutes and at 1pm we finally arrived at Alajuela Backpackers Hostel.

We checked in and then walked to our room.  Here's one of the common areas:

Going up!

I forgot to take a picture, but we booked a 10-person dorm room for about $10/person, but the sweet part is that so far (it's almost 3pm now) no one else is in the room with us.  Cross your fingers!

We were soaked and tired from our LONG morning, so we opted out of going back to San Jose and exploring (plus it's raining).  Instead we walked around Alajuela.  When I say we walked around, don't be mistaken, we had a destination.  Aaron remembered there was a Taco Bell nearby (from our visit to Poas) and he just knew the way (like a dog following a scent).  I usually have an okay sense of direction, but I was totally lost.  Come on!  Let's go:

Don't you love how I didn't even bother to move that trash can?  Ahh well.  We saw these drawings on a telephone pole and they were so overtly offensive (so of course I took pictures):

Weird!  This is some sort of theater:

Then we got to a church in the middle of this beautiful square:

It was like the whole town was there, even though it was raining.  Then we got to the Holy Grail:

He can't even contain his excitement!  This was the nicest Taco Bell I've ever seen.  The booths even had private TVs!

Worst picture yet!  Sorry, I was trying to be slick.

The food came with fries and they weren't half bad.  After stuffing our faces with tacos, Aaron wanted a McDonald's ice cream:

I know I need to start drawing the line at some point.  Now we're back exploring a little more of the hostel.  Turns out there's a lot more to see than I originally thought.  We have a giant balcony:

Then we went upstairs to the fourth floor and they have a full bar and restaurant:

The rooftop bar had amazing views of the city:

It was even better at night, but I didn't have my phone with me, so I missed that photo-op.  I thought this was neat:

People wrote how to say "Cheers" in their native language.  We ended up hanging out and I ordered a salad (I needed something nutritious after Taco Bell or I was gonna get scurvy):

We ended up staying at the bar until closing time (11pm) and talking to some really interesting people, including a new friend we might meet up with in Amsterdam (she's from The Netherlands)!

While I did want to go to San Jose and explore a bit, I'm glad I got to relax instead.  Tomorrow we get a free shuttle ride from our hostel to the airport at 11:30am.  Then we wait for our flight (3:45pm).  Yipee!