Sunbathing and relaxing in Manuel Antonio (09/02/2022)

After more action in the last few days, today was primarily about relaxing. After a workout in the (air-conditioned) gym (if you have the luxury...), we went for a late breakfast. Completely Corona-compliant (taken very seriously here), as also seen recently in La Fortuna, with a buffet ordering system. In addition to the already mentioned top quality of pineapple and watermelon, today's sweet treats with banana bread and chocolate muffin also provided a joyful-sweet start to the day. In between, an iguana paid a visit to our table, making a leap to the breakfast table, apparently very focused on the melons but without success 😅..

What was exciting this morning was the visit of the artist couple Graham&Natalie at the hotel, who exhibited their paintings for a few hours. The two moved from New Zealand to Costa Rica and work surreally with motifs from the animal kingdom and nature. Some paintings immediately caught our attention, and since we almost always bring a picture/drawing as a keepsake from each trip, we also made a purchase today. It turned out to be a small print and an original from "The Seeker" series, a character designed by Graham, and Kathi and I are still discussing which bird was the model. It will definitely get a special place when we return.

The afternoon was marked by sunbathing and letting the soul relax with a good book. The only thing that was slightly disturbing was the hotel's allocation of poolside seats. Lounge chairs were allocated in two-hour intervals, which led to my wife suddenly losing her seat in the middle of the afternoon, causing some subtle annoyance and subsequent discussions (I call it "Lounger Gate" - resolution will follow). But it should have been the worst worry after a still relaxing day, which also included a short detour to the beach right by the adjacent bay (less exciting ;-)). The monkeys didn't come to visit today, but we were stalked by a toucan sitting on the balcony 😃

In the evening, we went to a Thai restaurant (Samui Thai) with our Kim Lee nearby. Since we needed a change from traditional cuisine (sorry beans!), the Thai cuisine (our both #1 cuisine) was very welcome. Although a bit pricey (red curry €16), it was very authentic in terms of taste, ambiance, and outside temperatures (it was around 27 degrees at 19:00). We sealed the day with Pad Thai and red curry, raising our coconuts.

The Daily Two:

Epiphany: How do you recognize a hotel with a main target audience of US citizens in Costa Rica? Our top 3:

1. You have to reserve (almost) everything (gym, sun lounger, pool table...) - and all with definite times, as "Lounger Gate" taught us today (max 2 hours)

2. Everything is priced in US dollars (instead of the national currency), and especially wine is overpriced

3. The door handles have a twist lock, and the lock button is so small in the middle that locking always requires concentration.

Moment of happiness: Expanding our collection of cool pictures that remind us of our trips together. Our new acquisition, "The Seeker," is a bit above the classical budget, but it's also an original, and who knows, maybe its value will be worth more than today's $200.