New York

Went to New York earlier this month. We stayed in Brooklyn which ended up being our favorite borough.

Myra and Roxanna's first time flying!

Had to figure out the subway system.

Brooklyn

Museum of Modern Art

New York Bagel 

Yankees game! 

Costa Rica Travel Tips

Excursion recommendations:

• Nicaragua tour- highly recommend 
• Mega Combo tour- great value! I only paid $90 for horseback riding, zip lining, water slide, local organic lunch, mud bath, and hot springs
• Palo Verde Boat Tour- fun, but not worth $90 

Other travel tips:

• Carry an empty water bottle through security and refill it after you pass security.
• Pre-book a car rental. We booked from the resort and paid $80 for one day. I met a couple that booked the rental online prior to arriving and they paid about $8 a day. 
• Book excursions at the resort. Our resort had two different travel agencies and we were able to shop at both and negotiate a better deal.
• If you book an excursion with a travel agent, ask if you need a "voucher." We didn't get a voucher when booking the excursion but almost every tour guide asked us for it. 
• Toiletries/ first aid kit: include Wet Ones singles, small hand sanitizer, travel toilet tissue, sting relief wipe, lots of Advil.
• It is better to bring two travel sized sunscreens than one regular sized bottle. You will use a lot of sunscreen, but you probably don't want to lug around a giant bottle on all of your excursions. 
• I wouldn't bring a lap top. The wi-fi at our resort is slow, our hotel room didn't have a free safe, I didn't need the lap top once, and leaving it at home would be one less thing to worry about. 
• Don't bother bringing a hair dryer or straightener. It's too hot.
• Bring small bills. Costa Rica accepts USD, but usually gives change in colones. Next time, I'm just going to bring all of my money in ones, fives, and tens. 
• The cheapest place to buy souvenirs is in Nicaragua. Ignore the shopping "tour guides" because they're annoying and they're just trying to get a tip. 
• Bring small easy to carry snacks like almonds or trail mix because excursion days are long days and you're basically on the tour guide's time. Especially important if you're a picky eater!

Costa Rica Day 7

We were supposed to take a boat to a nearby white sand beach. Unfortunately, it was too windy and the trip was cancelled. We ended up staying at the resort all day.

Since we had nothing to do, we sat at the swim-up bar and waited for them to open. I had like 3 halves of a drink (every time I'd start a drink, a bee would fall inside it and I'd have to get another one) and then I felt drunk. It wasn't even lunch yet! 

I ate a small lunch and then fell asleep by the pool (for four hours!).

By the time I woke up, I was super brown and it was almost time for dinner. At dinner, we said good by to our favorite server, Jimmy. 

After dinner, we relaxed in the hot tub for a couple hours. Then we went back to the room to pack up our stuff. We had to be strategic in our packing because we were very close to the 50lb limit. We went to be sometime after midnight. We had an amazing trip, but I was actually looking forward to coming home and sleeping in my own bed.