Alajuela...last day in Costa Rica

I was once again up early today at 5am. I packed up my things and headed to the bus around 6pm. The bus to San Jose was pretty much non eventful. This was the third time I was on the road out of Monteverde to the main highway and every time the mountains look so different. There were not that many people on the bus for the first couple hours, but then we had to pick up all the passengers from a bus that broke down. The next 2 hours the bus was packed with about 10 people standing in the isles. I am exhausted today and tried to get a little shut eye during the drive. At one point I woke up and saw a man selling snack foods going down the aisle....I am not exactly sure where he came from or when he got off, but this sort of thing always surprises me...even though you see it all the time. At one of the bus stops I found this really delicious coconut candy. It reminded me of fudge to some extent...glad I did not find this earlier!!!! When I got on the bus in Monteverde, I told the bus driver I wanted to get off at the airport stop. He appeared to understand, but when I got off at the airport...along with two other people...and went to get my backpack, he came right off and started going off in Spanish at me and the guy who was helping me get my bag. Now at first I thought I had done something wrong, but if other people were getting off and I told him I wanted to get off at the airport, I could not imaging what the problem was. I just let him yell away...it makes no sense yelling at me in Spanish when I could not understand a word he was saying!!!! So when he was done, I proceeded to get my bag and grabbed a taxi. My hostel, Hostel Maleku, was about a 3 minute drive from the airport. It is a nice little place with internet, free lockers, a good kitchen, free breakfast, towels and a free shuttle to the airport. Everything I will need during my one night stay here. When I arrived at the hostel, I ran into a guy that I met while waiting for the bus in Montezuma. He is heading back to England tomorrow as well...you never know who you will meet again when you are backpacking. Not long after I arrived at the hostel, one of the guys from my bus arrived as well. I asked him if I may have done something wrong by getting off the bus at the airport and he could not think of anything at all...I will chalk it up to some sort of miscommunication and leave it at that. Once I got settled in to my hostel, I decided to spend the afternoon looking around the area. Alaguela is outside San Jose by about 15 minutes and is not a touristy section of the city...it is where the airport is located and a good spot to stay the night before you leave on a flight....I like it much better than San Jose as well. One of the big differences here, compared to where I stayed in San Jose, is that the area is layed out on a grid and the streets are somewhat named and labeled...this made it much easier to manoeuvre around. The main area is about 10 square blocks, with Parque Central right in the middle. This park area had lots of locals sitting around chatting, while the cathedral that is located right next to the park was having some sort of a church service. After checking out the area a bit, I decided to get a mid afternoon snack and relax for a bit. I ended up at Coffee Dreams Cafe where I had the most delicious chocolate brownie with ice cream and a sour guava iced drink....delicious and it hit the spot!! It is hotter here than in Monteverde...right now it is about 23 degrees, where it is only 15 degrees in the mountains....a refreshing change from the 40 degree weather along the Pacific Coast. After having my snack, I looked around a bit more....lots of little shops, fruit and vegetables stands, shoe stores, an indoor market and one small mall. Before heading back to my hostel for the evening, I dropped by one of the many bakeries in the area....they are everywhere in Costa Rica...and I picked up a little pastry for after dinner. This is my last night in Costa Rica and my flight leaves Thursday at 3pm. I plan to have a relaxing evening tonight at the hostel and rest my feet. Somehow after walking all over this country, I managed to get a blister on my last day here!! What is up with that???? Actually, I am retiring my worn out sandals and leaving them here. They have served me well over the past 9 years, taking me to many parts of the world...they will definitely be missed!!! Until tomorrow....