On our first full day we decided to take a driving tour around the Central Valley, which is where many North Americans and Europeans are making their retirement lives.

We left San Pedro de Poas and headed for Grecia, which seems to be the central town of Gringolandia. We parked and walked the town, which was bustling with holiday shoppers. In the park across from the big church made of metal we met a retired lady from Long Island who has been in CR for 5 years. She rents a furnished guesthouse on a farm owned by a Belgian doctor. She says the public transport is adequate for her needs and the public health system is first rate. She doesn't miss her life in the US. Her advice is to rent property, rather than buy, and to rent from North Americans or Europeans, who are more likely to have the same sense of style and comfort as you do.

We found the central indoor market, much bigger than it looks from the outside, found a "soda" inside (a diner serving Tico food) and had lunch. Then we continued on our way.

Climbing and losing altitude, curving and winding, sometimes actually driving through clouds generated by the local volcanoes, we went to San Ramon, Zarcero, Naranjo, sometimes stopping and walking around the villages. As we were heading back to Sarchi toward home in San Pedro de Poas, we noticed a strange sound and a warning light on the dashboard. We pulled over at the ubiquitous soccer field in the center of Sarchi, googled Fiat dashboard lights, and called our friends at U-Save.

I cannot state strongly enough how wonderful the folks at U-Save were. First they asked for a photo via WhatsApp of the dashboard light. (Why are businesses in the US resisting using WhatsApp as a secure and convenient method of business communication?) Then they asked for the Waze maps pin of our AirBNB, where they delivered a replacement Fiat Uno to us later that evening. Totally recommend this company when renting a car in San Jose!

(FYI, if you do move to CR, Sarchi is the place to buy your furniture. As we were driving through we counted more than 20 furniture stores on the main drag. No idea how many are off the path. )

The temperatures during this daytrip ranged from about 78F in the park in Grecia, to the lower 60s in Zarcero. And we saw pretty little villages, a big interesting church in every town, some bizarro topiary, and lots of newer houses with manicured yards and newer cars polished shiny, suggesting the presence of Americans, Canadians and Germans.