I woke up early to hit the gym and get in a 12 mile run before Shannon arrived. Running on a treadmill is beyond boring, so I’ll save the dull details and just say I did it so yay me and my training-obsessed lunacy.

Shannon wasn’t scheduled to arrive until 2:00 that afternoon so I had time to kill, and it was raining. I did what any red-blooded traveler does: I hit the mall across the street. Now, before you tell me what a lame-ass I am let me explain — I don’t get to go to malls. We don’t have them in NYC so I count this as a cultural experience of its own. Plus I needed flip-flops. I took a shopping break in the afternoon to grab Shannon from the hotel room and bring her back with me since I needed a second opinion on a skirt.

But our day wasn’t completely devoid of Costa Rican culture. We had dinner at a favorite local restaurant called La Cascada, which the Rough Guide reviews: This difficult to find restaurant (there’s no sign) with ho-hum decor is actually the best steakhouse in San Jose. Hugely popular, it’s often full of Tico families, especially on Sudnay afternoon. The hunks of beef are fantastic, and the terrifically filling plates come with rice and veggies.

We ordered a carafe of wine and toasted the start of our newest adventure.