Chicago to San Jose
Date of travel: January 17, 2008
Our journey started at the butt crack of dawn. Well, before that actually. More like the middle of the night. Our flight left O’Hare at 6:15am, which meant we needed to be there by 4:15am, which meant we needed to leave our house by 3:45am. Our friend Clint was nice (and insane) enough to offer to drive us to O’Hare. Once there, we breezed through check-in and security and before we knew it, we were off. We had a stop-over in Miami where we had to change planes so we got to see a bit of the airport. I haven’t been in the Miami area in a good twenty years, and most of the time then was spent inside the homes of relatives. So I don’t remember much of the vicinity. I will say that if the Miami airport is any representation of the city itself, I don’t ever want to go back. The airport is dingy and depressing, and the décor substantially outdated. Moreover, it is ridiculously difficult to find your way around. It seems that logic escaped those who planned the layout of the airport, and good luck following signs and arrows to point you in the right direction. Don’t count on the monitors to help find your flight status or gate, either. Most of the ones we ran into didn’t even work.
The flight to San Jose was comfortable and uneventful – except for the demon child that sat behind me. It’s just my luck that the child with no manners and a mean streak gets assigned the seat directly behind mine, and directly next to his mother who did nothing during the almost three hour flight to stop her son from making me want to turn around and put him in a full nelson. The San Jose airport is Miami’s polar opposite. It is immaculate, modern, and beautiful. We quickly went through Immigration and by the time we got to the baggage carousel, the remaining pieces of luggage from our flight were taken off the belt and placed on the floor beside it. That’s what I call service.
Before leaving Chicago, I arranged for an airport pick-up through our hostel. Our driver was there waiting for us, a sign with my name on it in hand. It was worth the $20 for the ride to not have to worry about getting a taxi or anything. The hostel, Gaudy’s Backpackers, is located in La Sabana neighborhood of San Jose. It is on a more residential street but just blocks from Calle Central, a busy arterial street lined with car dealerships, business centers, and bus stops. Our room at the hostel was fabulous: double bed and private bath with hot water, which we were expecting. But what we did not expect was a color television with cable, free wifi, and a balcony.
I’d read/heard so many times not to be out in San Jose after dark so we were quick to get washed up and to hit the pavement in search of a grocery store and dinner. We found Mas X Menos, a fancy supermarket on Calle Central. It rivals any Jewel or Dominick’s I’ve ever seen. We walked a few more blocks and found a soda (local eatery) and had our first Costa Rican meal. Mark and I both had casado, comida tipica: meat (I had chicken, Mark had steak), rice, beans, French fries, and a small salad. All that and two Coca Cola Lights cost us a whopping $5.
We made it back to the hostel before dark and in one piece. A very uneventful evening followed as we were wiped out. Plus, we knew we had a long drive ahead of us the following day.
Posted by Francesca
Tags: Costa Rica, hostel, O'Hare, Our travels & travel news
The child was not the only problem. The mother hit my chair about half as much and the brother of the lady hit me twice taking off his shirt. If that wasn’t enough the Grand Mother had to get up as soon as we landed and stuck her butt in my face. They should just lock up everyone from Ohio. Oh Why Oh, Oh Why Oh, do we have people from Ohio!!!!!
$ 5 BUCKS? are u serious?
i KNOW! isn’t miami’s airport horrible?? ick. and stupid shithead kid.. i woulda smacked him. no i wouldn’t have. i probably would have turned around and said something though.