The hotel description stated there was shuttle service into the town of Liberia. Nothing was stated whether it was complimentary or if there was a charge for using the shuttle service. The trip was 50 minutes and a return trip cost the four of us $80USD. Part of the trip was the road we took from the airport to our hotel. From a distance the topography is brown but up close there are patches of green. There were a few controlled fires burning. Liberia is dry and dusty and far from being developed touristically unlike for example Playa de Carmen outside of Cancun. There were a few shops selling to tourists. We went to the supermarket and bought a kilo of Costa Rican coffee for $9 and some aged rum for $14. The church was ugly fabricated with cement slabs. The return trip was a bit more interesting as we cut through backroads and saw fields of sugar cane. The soil has a reddish tinge to it.
RKS Literature: Passage of the Day; Bureaucracy at the Ministry!
“You can feel the bureaucratic atmosphere of the Ministry as soon as you enter the hall. The place is infused with the threat of large numbers of people in hiding. Everyone is studiously dedicating themselves to ignoring what you want. Backs are turned as soon as they perceive you are a stranger and might ask questions.”
Timothy Findley “The Wars” 1977
“Travels to a Different Time” : 15March2004: Puntarenas, Costa Rica: The Fateful Glass of Water and the “Lucky Lady”
As a North American we are always on alert about European water! It’ll kill you if you are not careful. The food might kill you too so eat at McDonald’s in Paris every night! On a trip to Mexico I had a vicious crippling attack of Montezuma’s that I could only wish on my worst enemy. It was either those damn jungle tomatoes or a counterfeit bottle of water at Tulum in Mexico! Although I don’t eat at McDonalds every night or ever for that matter. But after a long day starting at 03:00 sitting down to dinner in Puntarenas Costa Rica poor wife Fotini had, without thinking, a huge glass of “tap water”. Twenty minutes later after snapping to attention she asked me if she made a mistake. Not having researched Costa Rican tap water I could not answer. As my mother said when travelling outside of North America better to drink beer and soft drinks and not the local water. Based on my Mexican plague near death experience it was either stick your finger down the throat and expel or wait until 7 a.m. and take your chances. It hit poor Fotini at 02:00 sounding vicious but it passed quickly and Fotini was happily eating a big breakfast the next day. As far as I can see it a lucky lady. It , of course, may have been the airplane food?
“Travels to a Different Time” : 15March2004: Welcome to Costa Rica
There are few advantages of having been victimized with a seat at the extreme back end of the plane next to the WC. However with those vacuum powered flushes ringing in my ear goodness me the plane deplaned at the rear making for my quick escape. The airport at Liberia is tiny with only two customs officials who were in no hurry. Bags were simply deposited on the floor at the airport for pick up. We were on the bus to our resort at Puntarenas and during our 40 minute trip I was surprised just how dry the vegetation was. Lots of long brown grasses with intermittent patches of green. I was told when rainy season arrives in a month or so the whole area explodes with green. The terrain s hilly. There were several cattle ranches, a catfish farm, rice paddies, ramshackle concrete homes and a few very basic restaurants and cafes. Our property is called Fiesta Resort and Spa set up in the hills overlooking the Gulf of Papagayo. The pool is the main centre of activity with of course the mandatory swim up bar. There is also a thatched bar near the pool with a snack bar. The buffet restaurant La Consecha has about 70 tables and adjacent to that is the restaurant with a Mediterranean theme. Upon arrival the family left me behind in the reception while they inspected the rooms. After they did not return to pick me up I figured I had been abandoned so asked for an extra key and took the golf cart shuttle up to the room. The rooms are comfortable all with an ocean view. Nice not having to bicker and bitch to get an ocean view room.
RKS Literature: Passage of the Day: The Ritual Authority of a Holster
“Wearing a holster gave you the ritual edge in authority. Even in spite of their training and the weeks apart spent establishing their rank through punishing drills and endless parades, the officers were vey young and most of them slimly built compared to the veterans of lumber camps and railroad gangs. In the end, it was only their mutual obedience to some intrinsic tyranny that held the men and officers in check-apart. Perhaps it was the airless limitations of the ship. Perhaps it was the storm. Whatever it was, the confrontations always came to the same conclusion. Someone would laugh.”
Timothy Findley, “The Wars”, 1977
RKS Wine: 2021 Plan de Dieu Côtes-du-Rhône Villages
The Plan de Dieu Côtes-du-Rhône Villages has rich aromas of hulled ripe strawberries, black cherry and bright spice buffed up by a tad of root beer. Tannins are moderate. The flavour is intense and rich perhaps too rich and power laden to be a good sipper. Loads of ripe strawberries which are at their peak and just about ready to be considered as overripe. Bordered by cherry liqueur. Short finish. A good multi-purpose bistro wine. My favourite bistro in New York, Les Deux Amis on my last visit served a tasteless Côtes-du-Rhône Villages and I would have enjoyed my Bucky Burger more with this Côtes-du-Rhône Villages! I would rather enjoy a glass of wine with my meal rather than suffering through it.
(Plan de Dieu Côtes-du-Rhône Villages 2021, AP Côtes-du-Rhône Villages, Ferraton Père & Fils, Tain, France, $19.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 74229, 750 mL, 14%, RKS Wine Rating 88/100).
“Travels to a Different Time”: 15March2004: Getting to Costa Rica from Toronto
Up at 03:00 for an early morning flight. Insane. Andrew, highly motivated was up in in a flash ready to go. The limo arrived 7 minutes early which is much better than 25 minutes early. Due to an ice storm the driver reused to climb the icy steps for the bags. I managed to throw some salt on the ice and we sped off in the damp grey gloom. Check in was smooth except for the fact that Fotini’s bag was 5 kilos overweight so she had to transfer 5 kilos of luggage into Andrew’s bag. I hope the pilots have more intelligence than the check in crew. The weight is the same in total! So many groggy people about waiting at the airport Tim Horton’s to open up for a fix of coffee. The Skyservice breakfast was a boxed one with a processed chicken sandwich. It might have been turkey? Also some yogurt, orange juice, cheese and a granola bar and a tiny cup of tea in the cheapest possible plastic cup. Landed in a roller coaster ride of turbulence in Liberia.
RKS Literature: Timothy Findley’s “The Wars”: Kill Training
“What he wanted was a model. Someone who could teach him, by example, how to kill. Robert had never aimed a gun at anything. It was a foreign state of mind. So what he wanted was someone else who had acquired that state of mind: who killed as an exercise of the will “
Timothy Findley “The Wars” , 1977
RKS Film: “The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry”: Initially a Cheesy Romantic Feel-Good All-Over Film Pulls Itself up from its Bootstraps to Possibly Reach Epic Proportions?
“The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry” initially canters on for 30 minutes being a cute feel-good Harlequinesque romance and then darkens quickly and becomes haunted by tragedy, jealousy, infidelity and a whole host of evil vibes. But through this transition from light and fluffy in the immediate moments it spans over a decade. You are patting yourself on the back for 30 minutes knowing exactly where the film is heading. Yes you may be partially correct as A.J. and Amelia fall predictably in love. Yawn.
But as you become complacent the film takes a twist and becomes complicated and far more complicated and emotional spinning off in directions you thought it not capable of attaining. At some point the cheesy film morphs into an epic worthy of your reflection and perhaps a few tears. The beautiful people you thought were beautiful are all terribly flawed except perhaps for that little abandoned girl Maya that gives life and meaning to many lost souls.
And yes the power of the book to kill, unite, divide and cause great happiness and insight. An initially lightweight amusing piece of fluff transforms itself into a far more serious film worthy of a watch if you get off your pompous ass and give it the attention it deserves. I watch mostly indie films but this has the potential to climb in the box office without having to appeal to those whose intellectual ability stops with “Top Gun Maverick”. Yes I saw that sad film on my Air Canada flight back from Athens to Toronto a couple of weeks ago.
On October 7th the film is to be launched in 9 Canadian cities.
Solid acting throughout totally absent of cheese! This is no ‘Gone with the Wind” but its future is far brighter than a cheese ball romantic romp.
You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqhHtZncOPI
Based on Gabrielle Zevin’s best selling (New Yok Times) novel.
RKS Film Rating 91/100.
RKS Wine: Washington Trio
1.Columbia Crest H3 Merlot 2018 ($20.95) 91/100
It is rather odd that in the Liquor Control Board of Ontario’s Vintages Catalogue for the August 13, 2022 release JamesSuckling.com gives the wine a 90 rating in a review dated July 12, 2021 stating it should be consumed now which is one year after the LCBO put it in its shelves.
On the nose black plums, blackberries, licorice, black cherry and a hint of lavender. A full-bodied wine which is running on just about zero tannins. Cocoa, blackberry with a bit of a burn due to a daunting 14.5% alcohol. Whereas many Washington wines have a very approachable character making them ideal for sipping this Merlot is somewhat austere and best suited for food. Just about any pasta with a rich local field tomato-based sauce with or without meat would suit this which means for most of the United States and Canada you better get cooking before those local field tomatoes are replaced by sick Mexican imports that are more like mush than tomatoes.
Drink last year (just kidding!)
(Columbia Crest H3 Merlot 2018 Horse Heaven Hills, Columbia Valley, Columbia Crest, Paterson, Washington, $20.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 209874, 750 mL, 14.5%, RKS Wine Rating 91/100).
2. Joel Gott 2018 Washington Columbia Valley Red Wine ($25.95) 88/100
Joel Gott is known as a reliable quality producer of fair priced wines. This wine is a blend of 53% Merlot, 37% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Syrah, 2% Malbec and 1% Zinfandel. 75% of the wine was aged in New American oak and 25% in two-year-old American oak.
The new oak influence is definitely noticeable but not flashy or overpowering. Notes of blackberry, blueberry with a bit of licorice and root beer. On the palate the wine is firm and assertive. The high % of Merlot does not make the wine plush and smoky. There are some back of the throat tannins but overall, they are moderate. There is a slight brackishness to the wine and it finishes hot mixed with black cherry and a bit of cocoa.
(Joel Gott 2018 Washington Columbia Valley Red Wine, Joel Gott Wines, Napa, California, $25.95, 750 mL, 13.9%, RKS Wine Rating 88/100).
3. Chateau Ste Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley 2018 ($22.95) 91/100
CSM is a well-known Washington State wine producer. You might want to say it is part of the Washington State Holy Grail! On the nose very dense blueberry. e.g. fresh blueberries and a wild blueberry pie brushed with a bit of tar. Blueberry a classic Cabernet Sauvignon tip-off!
On the palate yet more blueberry (with some blackberry) reminding me of the huge batch of blueberry jam I made in July and the freezer blackberry jam I made in late August. I would think for a change we can say this would match some Welsh Cheddar Cheese (Collier’s) with some blackberry jam on the side. Nothing hidden or camouflaged here. Straightforward, simplistic but delicious but ensure slightly chilled!
(Chateau Ste Michelle, Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley 2018, Chateau Ste Michelle, Patterson, Washington, $22.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 269357, 750 mL, 13.5%, RKS Wine Rating 91/100).
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