Wellness + Women + Costa Rica = Adventure!

Last year, my amazing massage therapist, Ann, mentioned that she was in the process of organizing a women's wellness retreat in Costa Rica in the near future, so I told her to keep me posted. After spending several weeks there last June, she contacted me while we were in Australia at the time with the details. Was I interested? Of course!

Fast forward to Monday morning when I awoke to this email from the airline:
Your flight on Jan. 28 from Houston to San Jose has been canceled due to severe weather conditions in our route network.

Thank you, Winter Storm Juno in the Northwest, for disrupting my travel plans to Central America two days later.

After 2.5 hours on hold with the airline trying to get my options sorted out and many frantic emails with my travel companions later, I was rebooked on a different flight with a connection in Honduras that was still, thankfully, scheduled to go out on Wednesday as planned.

As usual, my work schedule was hectic as I tried to wrap things up in the days leading up to my absence from the office for a week. I didn't really have a chance to exhale from that until Tuesday afternoon before it was finally time to turn my attention to the fact that I was leaving the country in the morning.

And, it was an early morning at that. K dropped me off at the airport shortly before 6am, as we wondered what it was going to be like for us to be apart for this long. As much as I was looking forward to the trip, I also knew that I was going to miss him and sharing this adventure together. At the same time though, as someone who spends much of my professional and personal life doing for others, it is good for me to have the opportunity to do something that is just for me (well, other than running).

So, I met up with one of my travel companions for the short flight to IAH where we picked up another member of our group who had arrived there on an earlier flight. Then, it was off to Honduras! Tegucigalpa to be exact. I don't even know how you pronounce that! As we were landing, one of the passengers next to me inquired whether I had ever flown into that airport before. Um, no. She warned me that we were in for a rough ride, and sure enough, she was right. Apparently, Toncontín International Airport is considered one of the (if not the) most dangerous airports in the world due to the mountainous terrain that the pilots have to negotiate through on approach and the ridiculously short runway. All of the passengers clapped on our flight when the pilot safely brought the plane down. 

After a short layover, we were on our way to San Jose, Costa Rica! We arrived without any problems (with all bags in tow), hit up the airport ATM for local currency, and went outside to find the guy holding up the sign with our names was there as promised. We had a short wait while the actual driver from our hotel came to pick us up and drove us up the mountain to our hotel for the night, Hotel Buena Vista. We quickly checked in and dropped off our bags so that we could explore the hotel area.

We took a short walk through the hotel's "coffee trail" to see the spectacular views of the city below and surrounding volcanoes, as well as the lush vegetation, beautiful flowers, and fruit and coffee trees. We started to settle into the relaxed vibe of our upcoming adventure, as we sat outside and simply admired the scenery.

"Coffee Trail" behind the hotel

Coffee Beans

I loved the brightness of the orange on this tree and the moon starting to make an appearance overhead

 

Then, it was time for an early dinner and bed soon thereafter. Adventure awaits us tomorrow as we make our way to the Osa Peninsula!

Marathon training reset!

Wow, my last training post was back in November before we went on vacation for Thanksgiving. Not surprisingly, I have had a few disruptions in my training over the holidays (which I had expected) and I will have a few more coming up as well. I knew going into this round of marathon training that I wouldn't have the same level of consistency that I had for MCM last year due to our travel plans. With that in mind, I had made plans to run the half-marathons in Dallas last month and Houston this weekend to help ensure that I didn't completely let go of my running after MCM a couple of months ago. I also committed to training with the Sole Survivors for November and December, even though I knew I would be recovering from MCM initially and then miss several of the group workouts around the holidays. So, all that being said, I commented to Angela at last week's workout that I haven't really gotten my mind wrapped around the fact that I am in fact training for a marathon right now. Now that I have these intermediate races behind me with Dallas and Houston (which I was only using as easy long runs anyway), it's time to focus on the big picture again - Colorado on May 3. I recently put together my long-run schedule for my race in May, adjusting it for known travel plans at this point. It feels more real now that I have it in black-and-white on my calendar for each week. Time to do the work!

Here's a few of the more interesting running-related events since my last post:

Meeting Olympian, Kara Goucher, at Rogue on 12/04/14

Running the half-marathon in Dallas on 12/14/14 (2:07)

Running a (free) 4k fun run with the locals in Berlin on New Year's Day

Half-marathon in Houston on 01/18/15 (2:01)

Pra-ha

Sunday, December 28 was our travel day from Budapest to Prague. It was a long journey via train – approximately 7 hours. We could have tried to break up the travel time better between cities by changing the order of how we did things. But, we knew the Christmas markets in Vienna closed on December 23, so we had to start our journey there. We are getting better at managing long train rides through Europe though (K went to pick up fresh bread and meats for us to snack on before we left the hotel this morning). And, usually the scenery is fairly spectacular so that makes things go by easily. We traveled through Slovakia on our way to the Czech Republic, and there was a lot of snow on the ground throughout the trip along with vast expanses of flat land. The landscape seemed to get more interesting as we entered the Czech Republic, but it also started to get dark so I couldn’t see as much. Upon arriving in Prague in the early evening, we walked to our hotel near the train station, and naturally, passed a Christmas market along the way. We opted for a low-key evening of getting settled into our hotel, having a surprisingly good dinner at the hotel restaurant (food note – K and I have both had goulash now, but not in Hungary where it is apparently more of a watery-stew; I had it in Vienna and he had it tonight, and we both enjoyed it), and putting our plan together for our time here. Like K said, even Le Tour has rest days!

On Monday, December 29 we woke up to snow in Prague. While it was pretty to look at it, it was somewhat treacherous to walk on the slippery cobblestones. So, we opted not to stray too far today. We are staying in New Town near Wenceslas Square, so that’s where we started our day. We stopped to say hello to the St. Wenceslas Statue in front of the National Museum then made our way down the Square through a Christmas market. 

Surprisingly, we haven’t visited too many museums thus far on this trip. Even without the cold, the Mucha Museum was on my list of must-dos for Prague, but the cold weather (temps in the teens) made it an easy decision to start with. I honestly hadn’t been aware of Mucha’s work until we started researching this part of the trip, but I took an instant liking to it. He is the founder of the Art Nouveau movement and made a name for himself as a poster artist and illustrator. I love the colors of his work, his amazing detail of the human form, and, of course, the flowers. The museum included a great video that detailed his career.

Feeling inspired by his work, we went off in search of a couple of other Art Nouveau style buildings, notably the Municipal House. We debated taking a tour of the interior, which is apparently impressive, seeing a concert later, or simply having a meal in the restaurant there. But, ultimately, we decided to move on because we still had things to see.

 

We passed under the Powder Tower next door, which is the only surviving piece of the wall that was built to defend the city in the 1400s, and entered the Old Town. We quickly found ourselves in the Old Town Square, which naturally featured a lovely Christmas market. 

 

 

 

After unintentionally grabbing perhaps the most expensive lunch one can have from a market stall, we needed to warm up so we decided to head up the Old Town Hall Tower. After a lengthy wait, we made our way up to the top and were taken aback with the beauty of the panoramic views of the city. Now, we have climbed up plenty of towers and high panoramic viewpoints throughout Europe, and the views from here just might have been the best (certainly rivaling the views of Florence from The Duomo). I’m sure the snow on the rooftops and Christmas atmosphere below added to the already spectacular views of the city with its numerous spires.

 

 

 

After rushing back down from the top to see the show on the Astronomical Clock at the top of the hour, we spent a little time exploring the market in the square before heading back into the Town Hall building to warm up while waiting for our guided tour. The tour of the building was informative, and we got to get up close and personal with the statues of the 12 apostles that parade by to outsiders on the hour.

 

 

 

 

Not wanting to brave the cold for too long, we simply headed across the square to the Gallery of Art Prague, which featured exhibitions of Dali, Mucha, and Warhol. I enjoyed the works by all three, even Dali who I usually don’t care much for. This was definitely more of an art gallery than a museum, as it didn’t necessarily feature a lot of the original works – primarily prints. But, I enjoyed it nonetheless, and it was a good use of our early evening time indoors.

 

 

Then, it was time for dinner and planning for the next day’s adventures!

We had a lot on our agenda for Tuesday, December 30. We started out by taking the metro/tram up to Prague Castle, which sits atop a hill overlooking the city and Vltava River.

 

This nearly turned into a planning fail though because, upon arriving, we had to wait in a long line for tickets to St. Vitus Cathedral (and other attractions) in the Castle complex and the Cathedral had limited hours (which would screw up our afternoon schedule if we didn't get into the Church in the morning as we had planned). But, it all managed to work out, thankfully. We started our tour with a visit to the Cathedral, which was quite grand and featured a beautiful stained-glass window by Mucha, as well as the Royal Mausoleum, tomb of St. Wenceslas, and other beautiful artwork.

 

 

Then, we dashed over to join the crowds at the top gate for the changing of the guard at noon.

We were chilled to the bone by now and went into the nearby gift shop to warm up before visiting a few other Castle sights, including the Old Royal Palace, Basilica of St. George, and Golden Lane. But, honestly, I was pretty cranky because I was cold and hungry, so I was ready to move on to food and warmth by now. After exiting the complex, we stopped for a yummy lunch at the nearby Lobkowicz Palace Cafe (thanks Rick Steves for the recommendation!). We were then treated to beautiful views of the city as we descended from the Castle Quarter.

 

We made our way on foot over to the Jewish Quarter, stopping for a photo op of the Charles Bridge (which connects the Old Town to the Little Quarter and Prague Castle and features statues along the way).

Unfortunately, we didn't have as much time as we would have liked to really take an in-depth look of all of the sights in the Jewish Quarter (most of the buildings closed at 4 or 4:30pm at this time of year). But, we made a quick run through of what we could, including the Old Jewish Cemetery, Pinkas Synagogue, Ceremonial Hall, and Klaus Synagogue. It was extremely moving to visit the Pinkas Synagogue, which is a memorial to the victims of the Nazis and has walls covered with handwritten names of the Czech Jews who died at Auschwitz and other camps. Upon exiting the building, we entered the cemetery, which was the only burial ground for Jews in Prague for centuries. As such, the tombs were built on top of each other due to limited space and the tombstones became crooked as the land resettled over time. It was an amazing sight.

We then went back to our hotel to rest and get dinner (at a great Italian restaurant across the street from our hotel) before a late evening show of Swan Lake at the Hybernia Theater. There was no orchestra used for this performance, so the music was done from a recording which was a bit disappointing. We enjoyed the dancers though, and it was a nice way to wrap up our trip to Prague.

Overall, we both really liked the city, which certainly looked more magical with the snow and holiday lights. I am sure we'll be back in warmer temperatures!

Buda-pes(h)t

Thursday, December 25 was our transition day from Vienna to Budapest. We arrived in Budapest around noon after a 3-hour train ride. As soon as we emerged from the metro onto the street, we saw a (closed) Christmas market. We walked to our hotel “right around the corner” from the Hungarian State Opera House, dropped our bags, and got on with the business of finding a restaurant open for lunch on Christmas. We ended up at a Thai place nearby then went back to our hotel for a “short” nap that, of course, lasted longer than intended.

 

 

Quick geography lesson – Budapest actually consists of two towns that are separated by the Danube River. The Buda side is to the west of the river and the Pest side is to the east of the river. Our hotel was on the Pest side.

We celebrated Christmas with a chamber concert that evening at Danube Palace. The concert featured a symphony orchestra playing classical Hungarian and European music in a beautiful setting.

 

Then, we took a chilly stroll along the Danube River. We got to see the Chain Bridge and Buda Castle lit up. 

 

 

We walked toward Parliament and saw a moving Holocaust Monument along the promenade that consisted of 50 pairs of bronze shoes commemorating the Jews that were shot by the Arrow Cross letting their bodies fall into the river.

 

As we walked back to our hotel, we ended up in front of St. Istvan’s Basilica with another (closed) Christmas market in front of it. Not to worry though – we’ll be back!

On Friday, December 26, we started our day with a visit to the Great Synagogue, the second largest in the world (the largest is in New York). Even though I don’t know much about the Jewish religion or history, this was a trip highlight for me. We toured the outer areas first, which featured the Memorial Garden and Tree of Life sculpture. The willow makes an upside-down menorah, and the metal leaves are etched with the name of a Holocaust victim.

 

 

 

Then, we received an informational tour about the interior of the Synagogue before visiting the Jewish museum.

 

Our next few activities were foiled by closures due to the holiday schedule, so we didn’t get to go inside the Great Market Hall or visit the House of Terror as planned. 

Trying to make the best of our afternoon, we ended up walking along Budapest’s main boulevard, Andrassy Ut, toward Heroes’ Square and City Park. The square is dominated by the Millennium Monument and flanked by museums on the sides. Behind the square is a nice park akin to Central Park except this one featured the Vajdahunyad Castle, Szechenyi Baths, zoo, and circus.

 

 

 

Our evening outing was a trip to the Opera to see “La Boheme.” I scored us super cheap seats at the last minute – so what if we ended up having to stand to see anything? We were seated in the upper box above the orchestra pit right next to the stage. The building was beautiful, and we were told the acoustics are among the best in Europe.

 

 

 

Due to the unexpected closures yesterday, we had a lot on our agenda for Saturday, December 27. We got an early start and headed over to Castle Hill on the Buda side. We got there just in time before the tour buses arrived and had the area to ourselves for a few minutes. We spent some time in the Matthias Church, and I walked away with a souvenir numbered tile from the roof prior to its restoration. How cool is that? Then, we made our way over to the Royal Palace enjoying the views along the way. We even managed to time it just right to see the changing of the guard (for something…we’re not sure what).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, we started our journey out of the city center to Memento Park. This was one of my must-dos for the trip, and it did not disappoint. The park consists of all the great communist era statues that dominated Hungary before the fall of the communist regime. The Hungarians, who by and large were no fans of the occupying Soviets and their “friendship” with Hungary, first secretly, then openly, ridiculed many of them.

Entry to Park - Greeted by Lenin on the left and Marx and Engels on the right

Lenin hailing a cab

 

 

Stalin's boots - all that remain from an 8-meter tall statue after crowds destroyed it during the revolution

(Side note: K had to take over writing most of the rest of this post, including the last sentence in the previous paragraph, because I was getting motion sickness while writing on the train to Prague. I’m sure you’ll notice the difference in tone and detail.)

We had a bit of a self-inflicted (K-inflicted) travel snafu on the way back from Memento Park as K wanted to stay on the bus longer intending to return to the city center from a different metro station. After some detours and frustration we were able to find the station and get back to the House of Terror with enough time for a full experience. This museum was in the former headquarters of the secret police and had a dark and soulless feel to it. It told the story, through information sheets, videos, recordings, and some (but not a lot) of memorabilia, of Hungary’s occupation by two dictatorships – the Nazi-affiliated Arrow Cross and the Soviet Union – and the methods used to gain power and control and oppress the populace. Many of the rooms were thematically decorated to cover the various aspects of life and how different groups were treated, and several had kitschy displays including creepy old phones that could be dialed for more recordings. The most striking part of the museum was the basement, which was accessed via a slow elevator that was blacked out for the descent except for a video describing a hanging procedure. The basement contained actual prison cells with a list of known prisoners in each, a display of some torture devices, a memorial with the names of those killed by the regime, a room with triumphant scenes and videos after the fall of communism, a video showing Pope John Paul II at a memorial ceremony to the victims, and a hallway filled with the “Victimizers”, those responsible for the crimes, with name, photo, and dates of birth and death if applicable. Many of these have escaped justice and are unaccounted for.

 

After the chilling experience of the House of Terror, we went out for one more nearby excursion to St. Istvan’s (Stephen’s) Basilica and the Christmas market there that we had seen closed previously. The nighttime cold had set in and so we opted for some hot drinks and noshed on some local food specialties (langos – a pizza-like flatbread; a whole grain cone filled with mini-sausages, cheese and mustard; and a hand-rolled chimney-cone dessert bread rolled in cinnamon). This market was decked out with a blue Christmas tree, a small ice rink big enough only for a few children, and a video projector that displayed animations onto the church accompanied by favorite American holiday tunes at certain points of the hour. Notable about this market were a large selection of handmade pottery and a festive, lively atmosphere.

 

 

For our final evening in Budapest, we opted for the organ concert at St. Stephen’s Basilica. It surprised us that we ended up doing three cultural evening activities here since that is not something we typically partake in either at home or abroad, but all were easy, cheap, and enjoyable. Being here in the winter also meant limited daylight hours and opening times for other attractions, so these events filled out our time nicely. And, well, classical musical culture is kind of a big deal in this region thanks to Mozart, etc. The concert this night also served as our visit to the inside of St. Stephen’s so we were efficient in that regard. The church was quite large and grand, decorated in a golden-age style with most surfaces covered in wall paintings and pattern designs. There were also several stone statues of important figures and the usual collection of chapels and altars to the sides, with one containing the “Holy Right Hand” of St. Istvan, but that part of the church was closed off during the concert. The organ filled the large volume of the church quite well for a dramatic feel and some pieces were also accompanied by a flute or vocal solo. Of the two, I appreciated the flute more, but it was all very good. Kurt’s favorite of the three activities was the chamber concert with the opera not far behind, but they were all unique and good value. As we left the Church, it began to lightly snow which added to the atmosphere. Only a couple of days late for a true white Christmas though!