Posts Tagged ‘Costa Rica’

My wife and I were having dinner at a restaurant in Monteverde, Costa Rica that looked like it was offering just the sort of experience we were looking for.  It wasn’t a typical restaurant –it was more like a tree house–because it was suspended by a huge Ficus tree. Our table on the second floor [...]

Below are seven quirky facts about countries in Central and South America. (Two of the entries were suggested by a Latin America Fanatico via Twitter). Venezuela adopted its own time zone in 2007. The time the country adheres to is 4.5 hours behind GMT. Before the change in 2007, Venezuela was 4 hours behind GMT. [...]

Most of us have heard of the six stages or grief or the 12 steps to overcoming addiction. It seems like part of the attraction for these theories is that they break the suffering down into manageable pieces. When I was mourning the loss of a close friend a few years ago I often wondered [...]

My friend Sonya who writes the blog traveling greener nominated me to share three of my best travel secrets on Travelojos. Sonya’s nomination is part of the Travel Base blog’s Trip Base Blog Tag, in which “the final list of Top Bloggers’ Best Kept Travel Secrets will be published in a special blog post and [...]

As Congress continues to debate reforming the health care system in the U.S., more Americans are going to other countries to seek medical care. Recent studies indicate that Mexico and other countries in Latin America have emerged as a prime destination for medical tourists. Some major players in the medical tourism industry include Mexico, Costa [...]

In his new book Bicycle Diaries, former Talking Head’s front man David Byrne writes about his perceptions of cities throughout the world as viewed from his bicycle. One of the cities he rides through and writes about is Buenos Aires. Although I haven’t read it yet, the book is on my radar screen because one [...]

Do tourism slogans actually work? I doubt it. At best, they manage to associate a place with some unrelated, but positive concept–like love. At worst, they make a fantastic punchline about a destination that few people would want to visit. Take one of the oldest travel slogans: “Virginia is for lovers.” I’ve lived near the [...]

September 16th is a special day for me. Besides being my birthday, it’s Mexico’s Independence Day. Yesterday, September 15th, marks the independence of: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Each one of these Central American country’s broke free from Spain on the same day in 1821. Chile’s Independence Day is Sept. 18th, while [...]

The Economist magazine released its latest edition of the Big Mac Index last week. The index tracks the price of McDonald’s Big Mac in the 120 countries where the burgers are sold. It converts to U.S. dollars the purchase price in each country. The Big Mac costs $3.57 in the U.S., according to the index. [...]

“The trouble with being in the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.” – Lily Tomlin Cancun on a spring morning. That was the view from the room of the posh resort my future wife and I gazed out at upon awakening after a long night enjoying the city’s bars [...]