costa rica - day 4 - santa teresa

monday morning brought about complimentary breakfast of fresh fruit and an omelette w/basil & tomatoes before dashing off to a yoga session at 9am at horizon hotel, a soothing, ocean view oasis with a highly acclaimed yoga center.



technically, this is my 2nd experience w/yoga, as i took an intro class at santa monica yoga a few months back to satiate my curiosity. we incorporate a couple of stretching exercises and yoga poses for our training in parkour, so it's always interesting to learn different types of movement. unfortunately, this was no introductory class, as the session was of the vinyasa variety, so all the basic stuff is understood here and they were moving fast and furious. basically, i just tried to keep up without farting or drawing attention to myself. luckily for me, the view from the yoga deck was absolutely breathtaking:




afterwards, herbal tea was available for the guests on the patio, so it was a good time to take a breather and enjoy the scenery, which included the triangular tranquility pool directly below:



headed back to our crib, but not before passing thru brisas del mar, where the view during the day is a wonderful companion piece to our vantage point the night before.



strolled into town for lunch, where we stumbled upon artemis café, a cute outdoor mediterranean bistro/coffee bar. more importantly, it's located a few shopfronts down from a gelateria, so you better believe this was the spot we were dining. sadly, i was so hungry, i have no captures of the beer-battered mal pais fish sandwich & waffle fries i tore into. but trust me, it hit the spot. for gelato, i opted for the coffee/stracciatella (akin to chocolate chip except completely different) combo...



joint massages were booked for 4pm, so it was a relaxing yet interesting session. outside of two facials that have had accompanying neck/shoulder massages and a thai massage at wat po that had my masseuse airborne attacking my body from above, this was the first full body massage where i've had to remove all clothing. on top of that, my person was a dude, so the cheek fondling went to new heights. since i don't know what's customary, i decided to keep quiet and enjoyed the end result - a blissful state. but he never gave me the heads up that it was over, so i sat there in the warm breeze spacing out until heidi acted the masseuse and started acting inappropriately. after the shenanigans, i was able to capture the sun setting on santa teresa.




dinner was at las piedras, an argentinian BBQ joint that cooked up all their meats on an open fire grill. plus, any place that claims "it's the shit" is a place worth trying. i lucked into getting the last steak of the night, so i slathered on the chimichurri and gleefully ate my meal while our table neighbors were salivating as they dined on chicken - no slouch, mind you. we enjoyed our meal accompanied by a charming couple absolutely lit from red wine, as i compared childhood stories with the tattooed one born at st. mary's hospital in san francisco.