The beautiful money of Costa Rica - Tips- Relocation Costa Rica

The other day I was getting a little nervous wondering about how and where to exchange money for our Costa Rica trip.  I have made currency exchanges for past trips abroad at a currency exchange location in San Francisco prior to our tirps.

The colón (named after Christopher Columbus, known as Cristóbal Colón in Spanish) is the currency of Costa Rica. The plural is colones. The ISO 4217 code is CRC.

The symbol for the colón is a capital letter "C" crossed by two diagonal strokes.
more about the Colon

I realized that you don't get the best exchange rate at these locations and for some reason I was under the impression that I was to make the exchange at the San Jose upon arrival. I asked our Costa rica contact about this and was told that in fact, the airport was the worst place to exchange money. The preferred option would be the use a bank. However, we are arriving very early in the morning on a Saturday and I doubt that we will be able to get to a bank.

How will we get to our hotel or do anything without the local currency?

Good question

Have no fear!  Michael & D'Angelo to the rescue (thanks guys!).

Cleared everything up and now I'm all set!

Take a listen

A Tale of 2 San Jose's - Crime and Relocation Abroad

I was hearing so much about the crime in Costa Rica and I thought I had it all worked out in my head.

Until, I became concerned (again) a couple of weeks ago when Michael & D'Angelo posted this video of a burglary that happened to them in their apartment close to San Jose Costa Rica. Even with the video footage below, the police did nothing.

And.... Today on Facbook I saw video footage of another burglary, this one in San Jose, California. Possibly the only difference is that "maybe" (and that's a BIG maybe) if they catch these 2 thieves, something might happen to them. But since I have very little faith in the police anymore, whether they do something about it or not doesn't make much difference to me.  but I feel a little better now (of course I feel bad for the victims) but..... the point for me  is 
Keep it in all in perspective, this kind of crime can happen anywhere!! 

Story of the Panama hat

Very interesting video

A beach on every corner - Boomer Retirement Abroad- Costa Rica

I'm gathering information and collecting videos on Costa Rica as we make preparations for our upcoming visit.

One area we are considering is the Guanacaste region which is on the North Pacific Coast.  The town of Playas del Coco is the oldest beach community in the province.

Here's a video from the Frank & Sandy Show  

highlighting the 

"Top 5 reasons we love Playas del Coco"

Boomer Retirement Abroad - Looking for an apartment in Buenos Aires? HGTV full episode

Argentina is a wonderful destination for those considering a retirement overseas. It is a beautiful country that is often compared to Europe for its culture. In other words, retiring in Argentina can be a comparable and affordable alternative for those who have dreamt of retiring in Europe but are unwilling to yield to Europe’s high cost of living.

An Economical Retirement in Buenos Aires or the Argentine CountrysideThe cost of living in Argentina is quite low, so your retirement funds will be able to stretch a long way in this part of the world.

In Argentina, you can live in the gorgeous metropolis of Buenos Aires, which is full of culture, art, and museums. Or if you are searching for more tranquility for your retirement, then you can set yourself up on a stunning private ranch in the beautiful Argentine countryside. Argentina is modern, developed country with very accessible and affordable health care. There are also lots of great real estate opportunities throughout the nation, both in Buenos Aires and the countryside. Prices that are so low, you will most likely be able to afford a retirement property in Argentina that is far superior to what you could purchase for the same price in the United States.

source: International Living

Take a look at Marisa and Mark as they search for a home and office in Buenos Aires

Helpful Tip:

Speaking Spanish Is Not a Prerequisite for Retiring in Argentina

When you retire to Argentina, it is nice to learn some basic Spanish because it will help make life easier and allow you to engage more with the local Argentines. But can you get along without Spanish? Yes. In the better hotels, restaurants, and shops, there will be at least one person on the staff who speaks excellent English. If the help is under 30 years old, they will typically speak some English from their schooling. Your only problem will be in small establishments and most taxis. But if you have the hotel or store phone a cab for you, they can tell the driver in Spanish where you want to go. Everyone is polite and willing to help, so speaking Spanish is a luxury, not a necessity.

Boomer Retirement Abroad - Do you know the way to San Jose?

Since I have been investigating the  countries of Latin America, I've heard the Pan American Hwy mentioned on a number of occasions.

I just read where one blogger drove all the way to Costa Rica from his home in the northestern part of the states!

Did you know that you can drive from the U.S to San Jose Costa Rica?

Well, you can!

Driving The Pan American Highway from Alaska to Argentina is probably the most popular overland route in the world, and as such, is very, very achievable for the average person. No paperwork is required in advance and many countries are relatively cheap to travel through. People from almost all countries in the world can gain entry to each country for free for 90 days.
Crossing the Darien Gap is the major expense and logistical challenge of the journey.


The highway goes through 23 countries and includes such capitals and major cities as Brasília, Rio de Janeiro, and Sāo Paulo, Brazil; Montevideo, Uruguay; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Asunción, Paraguay. On the Pacific side are Santiago, Chile; La Paz, Bolivia; Lima, Peru; Quito, Ecuador; Bogotá, Colombia; and Caracas, Venezuela.

 Argentina Belize Bolivia Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Costa Rica Ecuador El Salvador French Guiana Guatemala Guyana Honduras Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Suriname United States of America Uruguay Venezuela

The Pan-American Highway was originally conceived in 1923 as a single route. The road grew to include a great number of designated highways in participating countries and is now a network of roads measuring about 30,000 miles in total length.  The road links almost all of the mainland nations of the Americas in a connected highway system. According to Guinness World Records, the Pan-American Highway is the world's longest "motorable road". However, due to the Darién Gap, it is not possible to cross between South America and Central America by traditional motor vehicle.

DARIEN GAP, Panama (CNN) -- Here, where Central and South America come together, lies a rain forest containing one of the richest ecological regions on Earth. It's also an obstacle to the completion of the Pan-American Highway, more than 16,000 miles of continuous road from Alaska to the tip of South America.The only missing link is a 54-mile stretch through two national parks -- one in Panama, the other in Colombia -- that contain the Darien Gap's more than 3 million acres of unspoiled wilderness.

Tips for traveling and border crossings

Uh, thanks but no thanks, I think I'll fly!!! 

I'm Just Sayin!

Buenos Aires in the 1950's - in film

Interesting look back at Buenos Aires 

Who is Black Violin?

I was a big fan of classical violinist turned jazz artist, Noel Pointer. He made his solo debut at age 13.  Unfortunately his life was cut short when he suffered a massive stroke and died at the age of 39.

One of my most favorites songs was entitled "Night Song" from his solo album Phantazia.

I haven't followed any violinists since he passed away. Lately, I've been introduced to several new artists who play with a real contemporary twist.

One is such group is Black Violin.

Black Violin is an American hip hop duo from Florida comprising two classically trained string instrumentalists. Kev Marcus plays the violin and Wil B. plays the viola.

Both members attended Dillard High School of Performing Arts. After high school Kev Marcus attended Florida International University and Wil B enrolled at Florida State University. At FIU, Kev met their manager Sam G and the three of them co-founded the production company DKNEX which stands for Di-Versatile Music. 

The group name "Black Violin" is derived from the influence of a famous jazz violinist, Stuff Smith; six months before Smith's death, he recorded a solo album entitled Black Violin. The duo decided to name their group after the music of the most inspiring violinist they had ever heard.

The Venus Project - Awakening Part 4 - Conclusion

The Venus Project - Awakening Part 3

The Venus Project - Awakening Part 2

The Venus Project - Awakening Part 1

How many of you have ever heard of The Venus Project or Jacque Fresco?

I was not familiar with Mr. Fresco or his project but I do have deep concerns about many of the issues the project focuses on, such as: concerns about unemployment, violent crime, replacement of humans by technology, over-population and a decline in the Earth's ecosystems.

The Venus Project has a plan to eliminate these issues by actively engaging in the research, development, and application of workable solutions.  It also offers a comprehensive plan for social reclamation in which people, technology, and nature will be able to coexist in a long-term, sustainable state of dynamic equilibrium.

I have been doing a bit of research on this project, and I admit that in the beginning it appeared to be a pretty bold and aggressive solution.  

But then I started thinking...."what if this were possible?" 

And, then I asked myself......."why couldn't it be possible?"

Now, it may not be for everyone to even consider something this radical, but, I still like to put things out there, that perhaps you have never thought about. Anyway, you’ll have to choose for yourself. I say, keep an open mind. Think about what is going on in the world today and really think about what the project proposes. 

The Awakening video series contains 4 videos. I will post them for you this week although you are certainly free to move on to the other videos after watching this one.

I'm Just Sayin!

Remote Amazon Tribe - Video footage

TV for Smart People

Here’s the deal. I hate to see winter coming, cuz I hate it when it gets dark early and I REALLY hate it when it rains, but….I’m happy to have my shows back on TV. YES! I have been sooo bored this summer with scant little of substance on the air.

My favorites TV shows (for intellectuals) are back!!

Survivor – Young vs Old. I’ve watched Survivor since the very first season and Jeff Probst doesn't seem to be aging. At all!

Amazing Race – Three words. Love, love, love it! Okay 4 words.

Oprah – Farewell Season – She gave away a trip to Australia to her 300 member audience on the premiere episode. Geez, how can she possibly top that? I know I'm gonna cry when its over. Oprah's, my girl!

Housewives of BH, the OC or Atlanta  who cares what city they are from you know there’s a catfight in the making somewhere.

America’s Next Top Model – This season the winner, in addition to the $100,000 contract with Cover Girl, gets her career launched with a cover and a beauty spread with Vogue Italia (remember I told you they were the 1^st to feature the plus size model and put the black model on the cover) I love this magazine

Millionaire Matchmaker – I love this show. Patty does not hold her tongue. In one episode she called one of her millionairess’ a “fire crotch” Uh huh, oh yes she did!

Guilana & Bill – They are a cute couple. Hope they get pregnant this season

The Apprentice – All new “real people” this season. Thank goodness. Not that I didn’t like the celebs which have been on for the last few seasons, it will just be nice to see some unknown faces

The City  - I’m sure you probably shouldn’t even watch this show if you’re over 35, but I love this show. It was a real wake up call tho when I saw Roxie’s father on one of the episodes. I learned that he is Ken Olin. The same Ken Olin I loved to watch in one of my past favorite TV series, Thirtysomething (which aired when I was actually in my 30’s). Oh well, I'm staying, young at heart!

Dancing With the Stars – I stopped watching this show a couple of seasons ago. I think Rick Fox is a doll, so I’ll check out the 1^st episode. If I don’t like it – I’m out!


The View – Yes this is the show I love to hate. When it was off, I was bored. Welcome back gals!

UnderCovers – I don’t usually watch Action-Drama, or anything that isn't (at least partly) reality based - but I have been in love with dreamy Boris Kodjoe since I watched him in Soul Food (the series on Showtime not the movie). This is sort of Mr & Mrs Smith-ish. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the show’s success.

I'm Just Sayin

La Sagrada Família

La Sagrada Família (officially the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família) is an unfinished Catholic basilica in Barcelona designed by the celebrated Art Nouveau architect Antoni Gaudi.

La Sagrada Familia is one of Gaudi's most famous works in Barcelona. It's a giant temple with 18 towers and has been under construction since 1882. It is not expected to be completed for another 30 to 80 years(depending on whose information you use).

Stained Glass

Much controversy surrounds the building of the Sagrada Familia. Today new construction materials are being used which, some feel, Gaudi himself would not have used.

When you visit the building you will see the contrast in the color of the stone between the front and back of the building. Also the actual style of construction appears somewhat different between the new and old parts of the building.

interior

Gaudi played an active role in directing the construction. He would often request that work be modified and adjusted until it was exactly what he had in mind. He headed the project until his untimely death in 1926, when he was run over by a tram on the Gran Via. He died in the hospital two days later and was mourned by all of Catalonia. He is buried in the crypt of the Sagrada Familia.

Regardless of all the controversy surrounding the Sagrada Familia it is a truly magnificent building and an absolute must-see when you visit Barcelona.

My Photo Pictorial Below

Worship services are scheduled to begin inside the church sometime in 2010.

I'm Just Sayin

A Taste of Barcelona

Of course there is so much more to Barcelona than the hotels where we stayed. Here is some additional commentary on my (post-cruise) 2-day stay in Barcelona. It is truly a fascinating city. If you haven’t been to Barcelona yet, you’re in for a treat.

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain in both size and population. It is also the capital of Catalonia (one of the seventeen autonomous communities that make up Spain).  Barcelona holds the title of "Cruise Capital" of Europe, serving some 2 million passengers in 2009. Its history dates back to the second century B.C. There are 2 official languages spoken in Barcelona: Catalan (generally spoken in Catalonia), and Castilian Spanish. Lavanson speaks some Spanish but had a difficult time understanding Catalan.

The city of Barcelona is a collection of multi faceted and diverse cities all in one. The Gothic and Renaissance influence is evident everywhere.  The city is exciting and sophisticated, full of elegant boulevards that are perfect for leisurely walks and SHOPPING!!! One of the most popular areas is Las Ramblas, a boulevard geared for pedestrians which runs through the city. There are many, many shops and hotels located there.

Las Ramblas

After doing a fair amount of exploring on our own, once again we boarded a double decker tour bus (I cannot say enough good things about sightseeing in this manner). I don’t know about similar tours here in San Francisco, but I can say, in Europe, it’s the only way to go. Barcelona offers a double decker bus tour which travels along 3 different lines. As in Paris, you can get off and reboard at any location. I think the cost was about 16€.

La Boqueria

Our first stop was the Sagrada Familia, (a neo gothic church) and Gaudi's unfinished masterpiece.  I was not familiar with Gaudi but I fell in love with the work. Construction was started in 1882 and will continue until at least 2041. We took way too many photos (as usual) and spent a good portion of the day there. After our lengthy stop at the Sagrada we reboarded the bus and decided that if we wanted to see most of the popular sites we should not get off again. So we saw the rest of Barcelona from the upper deck of the bus.

Temple de Segrada Familia

We didn't take this photo. It's very difficult to get the entire church in one shot,however this is what it looks like. I will include a slideshow featuring the church tomorrow

Antoni Gaudi was the son of a coppersmith and was born in Reus, Spain in 1852. He studied at the Escola Superior d'Arquitectura in Barcelona and designed his first major commission for the Casa Vincens in Barcelona using a Gothic Revival style that set a precedent for his future work.

Over the course of his career, Gaudi developed a sensuous, curving, almost surreal design style which established him as the innovative leader of the Spanish Art Nouveau movement. Although his work is categorized as Art Nouveau, Gaudi created an entirely original style. He died in Barcelona in 1926 after being hit by a tram.


Barcelona is a cool city and I really enjoyed our short stay. I would love to return. The people were gracious and the food was excellent (I actually prefer Spanish food to French). Due to the portion sizes I am a big lover of tapas and Barcelona has an abundance of tapas restaurants. When we didn’t want tapas, we checked out the Hard Rock Café. Yes, that’s right. Many of the Hard Rock Cafés around the world have closed but Barcelona’s Hard Rock, located on the Placa Catalunya near La Rambla is still bustling with business. We dropped in for lunch one day around 2:30 (during siesta) and it was packed. We watched the World Cup with many enthusiastic Spanish Soccer fans!

Architectural Photo Pictorial

I'm Just Sayin

The Hotels of Barcelona

The Atrium Palace and The Hotel Pulitzer

We had the pleasure of staying at 2 very nice hotels in Barcelona. Both were centrally located and only a few blocks apart. Pre cruise we spent 1 night at the Hotel Pulitzer, a chic, 91 room, boutique hotel built in 2004. Post cruise we stayed 2 nights at The Atrium Palace, an 1888 Barcelonian bourgeois mansion which was transformed into a modern hotel in 2003. I have no complaints, as both hotels were very nice. I found the Hotel Pulitzer on the Internet. The Atrium Palace was booked through Celebrity (at twice the price). Both were very, very nice. I was very pleasantly surprised that the Hotel Pulitzer was as nice as it was because having very little knowledge of Barcelona, I had no idea what I was doing when I made the reservation. In the end we both preferred the Hotel Pulitzer. I highly recommend it and I will definitely stay there on future visits (just discovered that they also have a location in Paris). Who knew?

I'm Just Sayin

More photos from Paris

PARIS

The Sequel

I hope everyone enjoyed the pictures. I just learned how to make a slideshow and put it on YouTube yesterday. I will certainly get better with time and there are a lot of cool things that can be done in that format. However, for now, I’ll just be content to get the pictures up. You’ll have to wait a bit for the fancy stuff.

If the photos look a little wavy it’s due to the slideshow format I’ve chosen. If you try to play any of these slideshows on full screen they sort of look a little fuzzy and then clear up (but you have to be fast and pay attention to see it).  

The “Eat, Drink & Be Merry” slideshow was supposed to contain many pictures showcasing the tremendous French food we ate, but, I noticed when I was going through them that it looks like we ate an awful lot of boring food and had french fries and cheese with every meal. The "pretty" food got eaten before we remembered to take the photo. I guess we’re just not used to taking pictures of our food before eating it.

BTW- I found the photos of our hotel in Paris so I have posted them below. Unfortunately, there is only one photo of our suite (it is the one near the end with the white sofa and was shown in a previous slideshow as were several of the other photos in this series) 

and oh, there are absolutely NO photos of the narrow winding staircase, the broken elevator or us catching our breath on the 3rd floor.

I'm Just Sayin!

Vacation Review - My Little Slice of Heaven

I am so looking forward to returning to the "City of Light" but for now...

please join me on my Paris photo walk down memory lane 

This is a pretty long post so I'll add the last Paris video tomorrow
I'm Just Sayin

Pure Imagination

Pure Imagination is the catchy little tune from the at&t commercial, sung by a very young, Gene Wilder in the movie, Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory (1971). I found myself humming the tune over and over agin. Maybe you've heard it too and wondered who sang it and how the rest of the song goes. Words and video are below.

Willy Wonka:

[Spoken]

Hold your breath

Make a wish

Count to three

[Sung]

Come with me

And you'll be

In a world of

Pure imagination

Take a look

And you'll see

Into your imagination

We'll begin

With a spin

Traveling in

The world of my creation

What we'll see

Will defy

Explanation

If you want to view paradise

Simply look around and view it

Anything you want to, do it

Wanta change the world?

There's nothing

To it

There is no

Life I know

To compare with

Pure imagination

Living there

You'll be free

If you truly wish to be

If you want to view paradise

Simply look around and view it

Anything you want to, do it

Wanta change the world?

There's nothing

To it

There is no

Life I know

To compare with

Pure imagination

Living there

You'll be free

If you truly

Wish to be

I'm Just Sayin