Cheap Food near San Jose Costa Rica

Cheap Food Near San Jose (Heredia), Costa Rica at Universidad National de Costa Rica Cafeteria

University Cafeterias are always good places to find cheap meals in almost every major population center in this world. These cafeterias usually sell a large variety of food on a daily basis, and it is always really cheap!

Universidad de Costa Rica is in the city of Heredia, which is near (11km) San Jose. This is a university town and there are a lot of young people here. Finding a room in Heredia is just as good as staying in San Jose, and it is only 4 km from the airport. You can walk out of the airport to the main street and hop on a bus that says Heredia and be just as well off as you went into San Jose. People do not come to Costa Rica for the cities, so make your brief stay here as cheap as possible and eat at the cafeteria of this university.

When you get to Heredia just ask someone where the university is. "Donde Esta el Universidad National?" The people here just refer to the university as "La Una." Once you find the university just walk into the campus and the cafeteria is right in the center. It looks just as a cafeteria should and has red wood work around the outside. Refer to the photo below:
Photograph of the entrance to the cafeteria at the Universidad National de Costa Rica (Heredia)

Walk through these doors and take a left and go up to the counter and grab a tray. Ask for "El Plato del Dia" and you will get a salad, rice, beans, meat, and a juice for 850 colones ($1.70).

When in population centers make use of university cafeterias, they have fed me from South America to East Asia.

Wade from Song of the Open Road Travel Blog
Heredia, Costa Rica
January 26, 2008

For more photographs of Costa Rica go to Traveler Photographs.com

Monte De La Cruz- Costa Rica

How to get to Monte De La Cruz, Costa Rica

If you grow weary of the hassles, pollution, and grit of San Jose or Heredia, Costa Rica and want to go for a nice walk in the countryside, you can take a bus and within thirty minutes be in the mountains. Monte De La Cruz is simply a nice way to quickly shed the frustration of the city life below and just relax in the clouds. Fields, horse riding trails, waterfalls, and mountains are all at Monte de la Cruz.

This is the sign that you get off of the bus near. It shows the way to Cerro Redondo and is not difficult to locate.

Directions to Monte De La Cruz:

Option A: Take a local bus from San Jose or Heredia to San Rafael. The local buses will have the name of the place that they are going to clearly written on their fronts. Just find a bus going to San Rafael and get in. This bus trip should cost around 300 Colones.

From San Rafael take another bus to Monte De La Cruz. You can catch this bus next to the big yellow church. This church is a landmark, you can not miss it. San Rafael is not a big town, you will be able to navigate through it easily. The cost of this ride should be around 200 Colones.

Option B: Take a bus from Heredia directly to Monte De Le Cruz. This bus stops next to the National University. There is only one main street that goes by this university, so just ask for directions to it and you can find a bus stop. These buses come every hour and are bright purple and have Monte De La Cruz written on its front. The cost of this trim is only around 350 Colones You can also take a bus from the university to San Rafael and then go on to Monte De La Cruz from there.

After you get a bus that is going to Monte De La Cruz you ride it until you get up into the mountains. You can get off of the bus when you come to the sign that is photographed above which is at a fork in the road. The sign below is at the fork. It is not difficult to locate, and the bus usually stops here to pick up passengers anyway.

Once you get off of the bus you can either follow the sign and hike up to Cerro Redondo or to a waterfall and nice hiking trails on the opposite side of the road. To go to the water fall, walk back along the road for 100m and cross through an opening in the fence and walk by some cows and horses until you get to the river. There is a bridge that crosses the river and below it is the waterfall. There are also plenty of hiking trails that go through here.

Monte De La Cruz is a really beautiful way to escape from the less than charming cities San Jose and Heredia. When in Costa Rica, this makes a good little day trip. You can get there, have a picnic and be back in the city in two hours. Monte De La Cruz is beautiful.

If you have any more information on this part of Costa Rica please comment below.

This is the sign that is at the fork in the road where you get off the bus. Just pull the string to let the driver know that you want to get out.

Costa Rican cows in the agricultural pasture that you walk through to get to the waterfall and the forest.

The river near the waterfall. This is a great place to hike in Costa Rica and it is very close to San Jose Get out of the city and come here.

Wade from Song of the Open Road Travel Blog
Heredia, Costa Rica
January 26, 2008

For more photographs of Costa Rica pleas go to Traveler Photographs.com

Wireless Internet Code for Mexico City Airport

Wireless Internet Code for Mexico City Airport

In the restaurant/ business area of the Mexico City airport, prior to going to the departures hall, is a fast food restaurant called Baguetelle Bistrot that offers a "free" WIFI connection. But in order to receive the password to use it you need to make a purchase. This restaurant is a little expensive (paid a$1.60 for a coffee), so to save a couple of dollars you could use one of the passwords below:

Username: bagsab002
Password: fedc1234

Username: bagdom002
Password: bazy5678

Write these codes down for future reference, you never know when you may be stuck up for a night in the Mexico City airport.

Wade from Song of the Open Road Travel Blog
Traveler Photographs

Lisbon Oeiras Youth Hostel

Lisbon Catalazete Youth Hostel in Oeiras, Portugal

Price: 13 Euro- Dormbed, 11 Euro if you are not a member. Do not buy a membership card!
Note: This place is expensive, you can find a comparably priced room in the Bairro Alto district of Lisbon.

I found this hostel to be almost decent. It is clean and in right on the beach, but it has a male employee who is an absolute penis, and he can make your stay here a little uncomfortable. There is also a really nice woman and another guy who is also extremely amiable, but the rudeness that I was shown by the Penis makes this a place that I will not return to. You can tell who this guy is just by looking at him.

For the full story please read:
Youth Hosteling International Rip-Off

Address:
Lisbon - Catalazete Estrada Marginal (near Inatel) 2780-267
Oeiras, Portugal
Tel. +351 214430638 Fax. +351 214419267
Email: catalazete@movijovem.pt
http://www.hihostels.com/dba/hostel047006.en.htm

The Catalazete Youth Hostel is located on the beach in a really great location, 30 minutes from Lisbon, but connected with a train service to Cadre de Sodre in the city. This location may seem far from the city center, but is is beautiful.

The wireless internet service that the hostel offers is horridly expensive- 3 Euro an hour. A real rip-off. $4.50 for an hour of internet! But you can go to the funny looking black building, which is a reception center for people who sail in, that is near sea and use their internet for free.

How to get there:

From Lisbon take bus Nos. 17 and 35 to Cais do Sodre station. At Cais do Sodre, take the train to Oeiras (it is easy to tell what train this is) At Oeiras, walk 2km to INATEL (ask directions from the lady at the snack stand outside the station)

From the Hosteling International Website:

A restored 18th century fort, the Youth Hostel of Catalazete is a great option for young people who want to see Lisbon and the Estoril coastline. Oeiras is your host town. Here, you can use the sport and leisure facilities, such as Vale do Jamor sports complex where the National Stadium is located and the seawater public swimming pool, next to the hostel. If you prefer the beach, then Carcavelos is the nearest option, but the railway line along the coast gives you lots of others to choose from. Come and have a drink with us and watch the Tagus River meet the Atlantic Ocean.

Photos of the Lisbon (Oeiras) Youth Hostel:



Wade from Vagabond Journey
Song of the Open Road Travel Blog
Traveler Photographs
Cheat Eating Traveler

Milfontes Hostel- Casa Amarela

Casa Amarela Guesthouse in Vila Nova de Milfontes, Portugal

The Casa Amarela Guesthouse is located in the beautiful village of Vila Nova de Milfontes, which is right on the Costa Azul of Portugal. I stayed here for a month in a room in the back. I needed to do some writing and this hostel proved to be a great place for working.

Vila Nova de Milfontes is a truly beautiful place to stay for a while. It sits right where the River Mira meets the Atlantic Ocean. Miles of beaches. Rui, the owner, is also a really wonderful man, and he built the guesthouse with his own two hands. He is a dreamer who has traveled around the world himself, and therefore knows what travelers want in a hostel.

Prices:
15 Euro- Dorm
25-35 Euro- Single room
35-55 Euro- Double room
50- 70 Euro- Triple room

Note: Rui, the owner, is an extremely nice guy and is willing to be a little flexible with these prices if you really cannot afford it (I couldn't).

Services and facilities:
Full kitchen
Bathrooms in rooms
International TV
TV in rooms
Free internet
Private parking
Friendly staff
Great location

Contact information:
Rua d.Luis Castro e Almeida 7645-317
Vila Nova de Milfontes, Portugal

283 996 632 home phone
93 420 46 10 cellular phone
e-mail:casa.amar@gmail.com

Casa Amarela Website

A description of the Casa Amarela Guesthouse from their website:

"Less than 200 Km to the South of Lisbon, at the plain between the mountains, the sea and the mouth of Mira River, Vila Nova de Milfontes had become the main holidays destination at the South-West coast to Portuguese or other visitors from all over the world and surely one of the most appetizing of all the Portuguese coast. Rarely the Nature was so generous at this frontier between the Earth, the river valley and the Sea creating countless very beautiful beaches of fine sand and crystal waters.

Is at this paradise place that Rui, a traveller that have been travelling around 60 different countries around the world, therefore knowing better the needs of those ones travelling, offers lodgement , at the town centre but in a deep courtyard than extremely quite, in rooms of 2, 3 ,4 and 6 people or special rooms for youth at a cosmopolite, easy going and friendly atmosphere that calls for travelling. All rooms come with private bathroom, T.V., hairdryer. We also have common different kitchens for exclusive use of our guests. Free Internet."

Photographs of the Casa Amarela Guesthouse:

This is one of the common areas where travelers are able to use the internet and watch international TV and movies.

The Casa Amarela Guesthouse is full of paintings that Rui brought back from his travels.

One of the guest kitchens at the Casa Amarela Guesthouse

A double room at the Casa Amarela Guesthouse

Portugal Hotel Accommodation

Wade from Vagabond Journey.com

For more information on traveling in Portugal please visit:
Song of the Open Road Portugal Posts
Travel Photographs from Portugal

Cheap Eating Traveler