Oh, the places you'll go and the people you'll meet

After our trip to Costa Rica I've had more time to reflect on our journey. One of the things about traveling with my husband (other than, never a dull moment) is that he tends to drink copious amounts of water. As he is always hydrated, that water needs to come out sometime, somewhere! I no longer have to wonder when the next bathroom stop will be. It will be soon and God knows where.

On our trip to Italy one of many bathroom stops was at Carlo's house in the rollings hills of Tuscany near Montalcino. My husband urgently did a "bat turn" onto a country road thinking we were going to a winery. Of course, there would be a pit stop at the winery. It turned out to be something out of a movie as we rounded the curve to Carlo's home. With soothing opera music playing we peered into the courtyard where Carlo was lounging amidst the Italian cypress and rose covered vines.

He hesitantly strolled over to our car. (It helped that we had rented a mercedes.) He welcomed us and proceeded to tell his story. One by one we excused ourselves to search for the guest bathroom in his villa. He also brought us down into his wine cellar where he produced his wine called Gia. Of course we purchased a few bottles since he was so obliging when he didn't have to leave his lounge chair for the American intruders!

Now, in Costa Rica we went to check out some of the beaches near Playa Flamingo where we had rented a house. Playa Grande was on our list so we ventured off in that direction. The beach is well know for its giant waves and surfers so we wanted to see it for ourselves. The town itself was a collection of surf shops and a few restaurants so we continued down the road. (drinking water the whole time) You guessed it, a pit stop was looming in our future! It was becoming jungle like as we approached more civilization near the actual beach. We stumbled upon our next stop which was an oasis, of sorts, called CANTARANA Hotel and Restaurant. The plan would be to order a drink so we could use their facilities without the guilt!

We were met by Marion and Freddy as we climbed the stairs to the open aired restaurant. We ordered a beer and margarita. With a puzzled look on his face Freddy proceeded to come up with some of the ingredients but not all. In all fairness I need to mention that the hotel was just opening up for the season and things were not stocked yet. We got to talking about their "story" and became friends. Between Ralph and Freddy they came up with a new cocktail we named "Freddy goes to the beach". I vowed I would write about our new drink and our experience so here's to you, Freddy, Marion and Reinhard, our gracious hosts for an hour in the jungles of Playa Grande. Thank you for your warm welcome.

When I got home I checked out the rooms at the Hotel Cantarana. The website is http://www.hotel-cantarana.com/ They appear to be as immaculate as the beautiful grounds, and the bathroom! The new drink consists of tequila, orange/fruit drink, fresh lime juice and ice, blended!