The Netherlands - Home Sweet Home
Door: Marielle
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Marielle
21 Juni 2019 | Nederland, Amsterdam
Home sweet home, in the end the best place in the world. I got the best welcome home ever! On the airport Carin and Renske are waiting for me and in the evening I have a small dinner party with some of my close friends. They spoil me with typical dutch foods and a non-typical dutch bottle of wine but as Inge indicated, the package would not have been complete without the wine despite it not being dutch ;-) The next day I leave for Friesland to see my mother and am happy to see that she didn't change a bit. A welcome home with hachee (a typical dutch dish), just the food I was longing for :-)
But I left of in Dominical and should still tell you a bit about my final week in Costa Rica :-) I leave Dominical at 5 am with a bus to San Jose, a nice detour to get to Puerto Viejo... but a lot cheaper than taking the expensive shuttle services in Costa Rica. After a "tica" lunch at the busstation, I take another bus to Puerto Viejo where I arrive at 18:30... Life of a traveller is on the road!
Happy to find the sun back at the Carribean site in Puerto Viejo and time to explore the beaches which are Carribean style, beautiful and not extremely crowded. Puerto Viejo is small and very touristy but does still have a nice vibe. I find a nice coffee place where I become a regular for the next few days. Having my cappuccino I am amazed when again Rafael pops up in front of me, we lost count but since Guatamala I have been bumping into this guy! The next day we meet for coffee and finally make a nice picture together.
As a dutch person I ofcourse grab every opportunity to hop on a bike and in Puerto Viejo this is the best way to explore. I cycle down to Punta Uva with an in between stop at Playa Chiquita. Reading my book on the beach I realise these are my last days of leisure...
The best thing I found in Puerto Viejo though is the free (it does exist in Costa Rica!!!) Parque Nacional Cahuita which can be reached by a cheap public bus in half an hour from Puerto Viejo. I go toghether with Tonia from Canada and the hike of 8 km is sublime! We find monkeys, sloths and many small animals on our way, beautiful white beaches and a blue ocean.
Back in San Jose I stay again at the Capital Hostel, a second home. To get there from the busstation I order an Uber on the WiFi of the soda where I first have my lunch to avoid all the aggresive taxi drivers. The guy from Uber is afraid to drive up to the busstation and in the end is waving to me from behind a car. As casual as possible I walk up to him, luckily the taxidrivers don't come over to attack us which apparently sometimes happens...
Since I do feel I cannot leave without visiting the city centre of San Jose, I take the public bus into town and am actually pleasantly surprised. Through all of town there are beautiful statues which I find fascinating. The Central Market and the theatre are also beautiful and the atmosphere is energetic. I have my last tica lunch in a local soda and buy some small presents. Back in the hostel it is time to pack my bags!
At my in between stop in Panama City I am already a bit home when I enter the KLM airplane. The color blue warms my hart :-) and within no time I am back in Amsterdam! The past 2 weeks have been very busy to restart my life. I have moved back all my personal stuff into my apartment together with my mother (it took two drives from Friesland and I still need to get my racebike...), reinstalled WiFi, electircity etc. and arranged for all the necessary paperwork. I am also already in the midst of several job applications and things are moving fast. But the most nice part is to see everybody again, friends, neighbours and ofcourse my mother (my little hero :-)).
It was a fantastic year. I loved being outside in nature, seeing beautiful and ancient sites, experiencing the change in culture when crossing borders all the way from Canada to Costa Rica. But most special were all the people (locals & tourists) I have met on my way and connected with at different levels. Thank you all for being part of my travels and making it memorable! It has been a priviledge to being invited to peoples homes, being offered free coffee, rides or food by kind harted people and having nice and deep conversations. Hope to see all of you again some time, somewhere and remember that whenever you are passing through The Netherlands, mi casa esta tu casa!
Last week somebody asked me if I learned a lot about myself in the past year and my answer was no because I already knew myself quite well but I did realise how happy I actually am with the life I am living. The possibility to travel the world and to be fully independent are pure wealth. One year ago I named my travelblog One-Year-of-Freedom and it truly was!
Thank you for following my travel blog, this will be the last one...
Hasta luego y gran abrazo!
But I left of in Dominical and should still tell you a bit about my final week in Costa Rica :-) I leave Dominical at 5 am with a bus to San Jose, a nice detour to get to Puerto Viejo... but a lot cheaper than taking the expensive shuttle services in Costa Rica. After a "tica" lunch at the busstation, I take another bus to Puerto Viejo where I arrive at 18:30... Life of a traveller is on the road!
Happy to find the sun back at the Carribean site in Puerto Viejo and time to explore the beaches which are Carribean style, beautiful and not extremely crowded. Puerto Viejo is small and very touristy but does still have a nice vibe. I find a nice coffee place where I become a regular for the next few days. Having my cappuccino I am amazed when again Rafael pops up in front of me, we lost count but since Guatamala I have been bumping into this guy! The next day we meet for coffee and finally make a nice picture together.
As a dutch person I ofcourse grab every opportunity to hop on a bike and in Puerto Viejo this is the best way to explore. I cycle down to Punta Uva with an in between stop at Playa Chiquita. Reading my book on the beach I realise these are my last days of leisure...
The best thing I found in Puerto Viejo though is the free (it does exist in Costa Rica!!!) Parque Nacional Cahuita which can be reached by a cheap public bus in half an hour from Puerto Viejo. I go toghether with Tonia from Canada and the hike of 8 km is sublime! We find monkeys, sloths and many small animals on our way, beautiful white beaches and a blue ocean.
Back in San Jose I stay again at the Capital Hostel, a second home. To get there from the busstation I order an Uber on the WiFi of the soda where I first have my lunch to avoid all the aggresive taxi drivers. The guy from Uber is afraid to drive up to the busstation and in the end is waving to me from behind a car. As casual as possible I walk up to him, luckily the taxidrivers don't come over to attack us which apparently sometimes happens...
Since I do feel I cannot leave without visiting the city centre of San Jose, I take the public bus into town and am actually pleasantly surprised. Through all of town there are beautiful statues which I find fascinating. The Central Market and the theatre are also beautiful and the atmosphere is energetic. I have my last tica lunch in a local soda and buy some small presents. Back in the hostel it is time to pack my bags!
At my in between stop in Panama City I am already a bit home when I enter the KLM airplane. The color blue warms my hart :-) and within no time I am back in Amsterdam! The past 2 weeks have been very busy to restart my life. I have moved back all my personal stuff into my apartment together with my mother (it took two drives from Friesland and I still need to get my racebike...), reinstalled WiFi, electircity etc. and arranged for all the necessary paperwork. I am also already in the midst of several job applications and things are moving fast. But the most nice part is to see everybody again, friends, neighbours and ofcourse my mother (my little hero :-)).
It was a fantastic year. I loved being outside in nature, seeing beautiful and ancient sites, experiencing the change in culture when crossing borders all the way from Canada to Costa Rica. But most special were all the people (locals & tourists) I have met on my way and connected with at different levels. Thank you all for being part of my travels and making it memorable! It has been a priviledge to being invited to peoples homes, being offered free coffee, rides or food by kind harted people and having nice and deep conversations. Hope to see all of you again some time, somewhere and remember that whenever you are passing through The Netherlands, mi casa esta tu casa!
Last week somebody asked me if I learned a lot about myself in the past year and my answer was no because I already knew myself quite well but I did realise how happy I actually am with the life I am living. The possibility to travel the world and to be fully independent are pure wealth. One year ago I named my travelblog One-Year-of-Freedom and it truly was!
Thank you for following my travel blog, this will be the last one...
Hasta luego y gran abrazo!
