I can't believe we haven't yet written about the bakery that is about 40 yards from our apartment. The Green Iguana is a small grocery store and bakery, and I swear I am not exaggerating when I say that we went there on average twice a day for the last month. We bought groceries and such as well as pastries for desert multiple times a day. The place seemed to be family owned, and although no one there spoke any English we felt we had an unspoken bond with the young pastry chef. He did give Matt a fist pound one Saturday evening. Although Matt believed their friendship had been cemented; I think the normally shy culinary artist had been drinking heavily on this occasion.
One afternoon Matt went up to the store by himself, and when he returned he told me that there seemed to be some commotion at the Green Iguana. Several additional bakers were present and there seemed to be an increased energy level about the place. Matt expected big things and insisted that we return to check it out later that evening. After dinner, we strolled on up to the store, and indeed we saw something new - a huge cake looking creation still in the pan. "What is this?" I said (in Spanish). "Tres Leches," the guy replied. "Is it ready?" I said. He said that it was ready. "How much does it cost?" I asked. "No se; es una prueba" (I don't know it's a test). After consulting with the higher ups, the guy charged us 900 colones for a huge slice (less than 2 dollars). Although the tres leches was a bit pricier than any of the other treats, we deemed it a successful prueba for the Green Iguana.
I have to admit, however that the Green Iguana is not the best bakery in Samara (though Matt's loyalty to the his pastry chef buddy might prevent him from agreeing with me). There is another bakery downtown (about half a mile away) that has a better selection including huge chicken stuffed empanandas and by far the best doughnut I have ever eaten. Everything at Las Delicias is spot on, which I think might have something to do with the fact that the food is prepared by a middle aged women rather than teenaged boys (see picture above). Since the portions were notably bigger at this establishment, it's probably in everyone's best interest that it wasn't right around the corner from our place.
Yesterday (Tuesday) was our last full day in Samara. Monday and Tuesday we had our best surfing days yet. The waves were huge, but broke maybe fifty yards off shore, which meant that we could catch the whitewater and still have a really long ride. Surfing is really so much fun when it's going well, and I hope I can make some trips to Folley Beach this summer and catch some waves there. We hit up all our favorite locales for our last day. Pablitos is a bar next door to the Green Iguana. If you order a beer, you get a free cup of delicious stew, all for $2. I wanted to take a picture, but the place was pretty busy, and we didn't want to be the silly gringo tourists snapping cheesy photos. Next we had dinner at La Perla, another small family run place on our side of town that doesn't get frequented by tourists. Costa Rican food is pretty basic - black beans, rice and some sort of meat or fish and a surprise side which could be anything from friend plantains to macaroni salad. The price at La Perla is right, and there's a nice ambience as La Perla (yes I know that means pearl, but I don't know the name of the woman that runs the place) seems to feed any Tico that happens to wander in, making the place feel like a community gathering spot.
