Early February I decided it was time to get out of town and
explore this Costa Rica. So I headed to Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean
coast on a Thursday morning. Friday
morning 5:00 a.m. found me still looking for a bus to the Caribbean, having
inadvertently arrived in a Puerto Viejo that was nowhere near a beach. That afternoon I arrived to a funky little 60’s
feeling, ultra creative, hippy kind of place with laid back inhabitants and
visitors, surfing, beautiful beaches, interesting and varied restaurants / accommodations and lots of sun.
As I walked around town, I was continually reminded of the
funky 60’s feeling, ultra creative, hippy kind of place with laid back inhabitants
(albeit highly rowdy), interesting and varied
restaurants and lots of sun that is South Austin. This was at the same time delightful and
uncomfortable.
But Austin does NOT have miles of beaches, palm trees, kids
selling huge deep-fried wheat tortillas with a drizzle of local honey or
condensed milk out of a bucket or an improbably old man pulling coconuts out
of trees along the main road, throwing them in a wheelbarrow and selling them
from a picnic table on the beach as he hulled and topped them with a (probably equally
old) machete.
Puerto Viejo de Talamanca has a handful of Americans with little food and surfing
businesses, bicycle and hammock ($7 per night) rentals and many American tourists along with numerous other countries represented. Notable in the food genre are Bread and
Chocolate (breakfasts/French press coffee/killer cookies)and Pan Pay where I
had the best chocolate croissants ever.
The previous holder of this title was a charming little south Austin
bakery in the 70’s, Sweetish Hill (where my favorite waiter for Sunday breakfast wore lederhosen. It's since moved and expanded).
 |
| Pan Pay - home of the world's best chocolate croissant |
There are several food experiences while travelling that
stand out in memory and the Pan Pay chocolate croissant is now in that company. They were so perfect (flaky, great chocolate,
buttery) that eating one made it is impossible to think of anything else but the
texture, smell, flavor and pure pleasure of it.
It was a transcendent few moments.
It didn’t hurt that the restaurant is right on the beach. Needless to say, I had more than one.
