When I'm at a loss for words, the best place to start is the beginning. You'll understand in a few paragraphs. So let's begin:
On Friday I had my final in my Spanish class. Then, my friend Brittany and I went out for a lunch date before leaving for Arenal. To put it mildy, I laughed for about four hours before getting on the bus. Brittany is reading over my shoulder and complaining that I am not doing justice to our little date time. Better, Britt? At 1pm (1:30 in reality) our group left Veritas, my school. Our group was much smaller this time because this was not one of the prepaid trips so we didn't have all of the normal people. We drove for a good chunk of time that included some choice singing of Taylor Swift thanks to my friend Michelle. After throwing our stuff down in the hotel that we had in La Fortuna, the town that surrounds Arenal Volcano, which is a huge, active volcano, we left for the Baldi Hot Springs which is a large, gorgeous resort that had different pools of hot springs that you could chill out in. Pun intended. We spent the evening living the high life. There were even two water slides. The laws of physics were well demonstrated when I shot out of the faster of the two faster than any of my friends. After everything, we ate like kings at a buffet that overlooked the entire area. We drove back to our hotel and a few friends and I sat out by the pool and stargazed. Needless to say, there are definitely more than I've ever seen in the crazy metropolis of Batavia, Il. It was a great night to say the least.
Saturday morning, after eating a breakfast "tipico", We drove to La Catarata de la Fortuna, or a waterfall in la Fortuna. We walked across a bridge to a look out point where we saw an enormous waterfall from afar. It looked like something straight out of a postcard. Or the Lion King for that matter. We walked about 300 steps down to the base of the waterfall. The base was a large basin where the water then flowed into a little river that was splattered with large rockes every few feet. After a round of pictures and abotu 10 minutes of just standing in awe of the waterfall, I decided to follow my friends and climb on into the basin. It was cold but completely worth it. The current was so strong. It pushed you away from the waterfall and into the shore of rocks. In all honestly, words cannot even describe how cool it was to swim under a huge waterfall. It was majestic and humbling. After, I spent some time climbing around on the rocks that were in the stream further down and then braved the 300 steps back up to the top. I was exhausted but so happy that I had the opportunity to see such a beautiful site.
After, we drove in our bus to Monteverde. Once again, words do not even describe it. We drove away from the volcano and were able to see it in the background. Then, we hopped onto a boat that took us across a lake. It was so pretty. The volcano was behind us and we were surrounded by different hills and fields. The lake was quiet and serene. Amazing. Then, to top it all off, we too a bus ride into Monteverde. We went up hills and were able to see different rolling hills in the distance. It was gorgeous. I would love to live there. The nature is beautiful. There is so much green it almost hurts your eyes. There is a wonderful breeze and sprinkles throughout the day. To add to the magical effect, we literally followed an arco iris (rainbow) from the road. It was the brightest rainbow I had ever seen. We were even able to see the purple stripe that is usually so elusive. Every person on our bus ride was in awe. Then, get this. we followed it until it ended right in front of our hotel. Yes, my hotel was literally at the end of a rainbow. If it weren't so cheesy, I would make a comment about the location of our hotel being a pot of gold. Too bad it is way too cheesy for me. But, in reality, it was incredible. The area is gorgeous. The temperature is perfect with a light jacket. If I could live anywhere, I would have a hard time not choosing Monteverde. After a quick dinner at a local place, we spent the night hanging out in our hotel room taking crazy pictures and laughing until we cried. Yes, everyone cried from laughing, not just me.
The next morning, we got up at about 6 am. Normally, I would complain because I am the complete opposite of a morning person, but we were going zip lining, a dream that I have held since I was a tot. I have been trying to go since I was young and begged my parents on basically every trip that we took. My father's response every time? "Not on my watch." Sorry, Dad. We drove up for what felt like forever. My nerves started to go nuts. They only got worse when the workers put the equipment on me. It was straps that went around each leg and hugged my hips. That was all that would be holding me up as I flew across the canopy.
We started off with some simple zip lines. So unbelievable cool. Seriously. After the first two simple ones, we went up to the more complicated ones. There really are not words to describe how cool it was. I was flying above the forest. Sometime while we were waiting in line to be hooked up to the next line, we would see the next couple of lines as someone would just randomly go flying across the sky. It was both terrifying and fascinating to think that I would soon be up that high. The two larges lines were partner lines. First I went with my friend Shelby and we fly. Then Brittany and I went and almost died a little because we were going so fast. At the very end of the course, there was the tarzan swing. It is exactly what you are thinking. Get hooked up to a swing and jump off of the platform. You free fall for alittle while and then swing. I was so scared but it was incredible. There really is no adrenaline rush like it.
The weekend was great. I loved it. This was definitely my favorite weekend of all. The nature was incredible and the adventures were even better. To make it even better, after coming home on Sunday I was able to go to mass and then watch the Superbowl with a dog under each hand. Thank God I'm not a commercial watcher because the commercials here were not the same. I really don't have any words to tell you all how much I loved this weekend. It really was the pot of gold at the end of the arco iris.
No comments:
Post a Comment