Pura vida! That’s Costa Rica’s tag line and it truly does give you a taste of a pure life. With its myriad outdoor sights and adventures, we thought that we’d have to spend another post on the delights that it holds.
At this very moment, we’re in Hawaii which is giving us many wonderful memories to share with you on our return. In the meantime, we have a new YouTube channel [but don’t tell anyone! We’ll launch on our return!]. On that channel we’ve begun to create videos for a more on-the-scene kind of information for those who are sharing these experiences with us.
So, until we return home full of stories about the Hawaiian Islands for you, welcome to La Mansion Inn in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica!
We are not that smitten with celebrity. Celebrity news makes us yawn – especially if those celebrities are Hollywood royalty – and we have ignored every bona fide celebrity we’ve crossed paths with. Michael Douglas on a street in Toronto; Judy Dench on an airplane. So, what were we doing at the Oceanographic Institute of Monaco in December gawking at Princess Charlene’s wedding dress and then Prince Albert’s collection of vintage and modern cars? We were being tourists. And like any self-respecting discerning traveler, we were taking advantage of the opportunity to be tourists at a time of year when there were few others about.
We were walking in the old city of Monaco near the palace when on impulse we decided to buy a ticket for the exhibit. Yes, the Oceanographic Institute seems an odd place for such an exhibit, but it’s one of the few large exhibition spaces in Monaco and it’s close to the palace.
The Armani dress was stunning!
We had been there before, but this time it was quiet – so quiet that we had an opportunity to get up close and personal with the myriad gigantic photos of both the civil and the religious ceremonies that took place last year. We have never seen a bride who looked sadder, but her dress, designed by Giorgio Armani, was spectacular – in fact a work of art, and as we have discussed before, searching out works of art while traveling is a singular pleasure.
Just to balance the fashion foray, we decided to then visit the Prince’s cars. We had walked by the door of the exhibit housed in a building above Carrefour (a humongous super-market) in Fontvieille and had never thought that it would be worth visiting. But we were beginning to run out of things to do so decided to give it a ry.
Princess Grace's little green car
With the place all to ourselves, we had a chance to take a trip through history and imagine what it must have been like in Monaco in the late 19th and early 20th century. We imagined what it must have been like to see Princess Grace flying along in her little green car; we could practically see Prince Rainier driving the Rolls through the streets of Monte Carlo. And of course, there was the current Prince Albert’s Mercedes McLaren which sells for about half a million dollars (!)– it made us wonder if he ever takes it out for a spin. We know we would!
Erte's Manhattan Mary hanging in her permanent home above our fireplace -the shot doesn't do her justice!
We doubt that there is anyone among the discerning travelers of the world who has not spent inordinate amounts of time visiting museums and galleries when on vacation. This is perhaps especially so in Europe, but it can happen anywhere. Whether it’s the Louvre or the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, or even – believe it or not – on a cruise ship, art has often been a memorable part of our travels.
It happened most recently last summer when we were visiting London for a few days before ticking a trans-Atlantic voyage on a Cunard Queen off our bucket list. Patty had a yearning to visit the V & A to find a handbag once owned by Napoleon that was reported to be in the museum. Museum folks (and librarians) are among the most helpful of people and like nothing more than to be asked to help in a quest – the more obscure the better. But alas, it was not to be. We never did find that handbag (which plays a central role in a book she’s currently working on). What we did find, however, was a piece of art that has great meaning for us.
The original design for the Equus horses' heads now on display at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London
Among the permanent exhibits at the V & A is their magnificent Theatre and Performance Galleries which include an extraordinary collection of artifacts from West End theatres in London. One of the plays that featured among the most interesting was Equus. You might be more familiar with a more recent revival of this play in 2007 on Broadway starring Daniel Radcliffe making his break-out debut post-Harry Potter. But this exhibit was from the original play dating to the early 1970’s by playwright Peter Shaffer whose story is of a psychiatrist treating a teen-aged boy with a pathological fascination with horses – resulting in him blinding them. A chill-inducing premise to say the least. What we found in the display, however, we eerily reminiscent of a piece of art that hangs high on a wall in the great room of our home.
The Equus horse's head hanging in our home.
Created for Neptune Theatre’s production of Equus back in the late 1970’s by designer Linda Whitney, our piece resembles the original, stylized horse’s head costumes that were worn by actors playing the unfortunate horses. It’s a piece of sculpture that Art had when we were married and has followed us from one abode to another since then. To see it’s provenance during our travels was to feel connected to the wider world of art and culture that transcends international boundaries.
But there have also been other ways that art has played a part in our travels.
One of the aspects of cruise travel that we would caution anyone about is the art-at-sea spectacles. Many of the cruise ships we’ve traveled on have carried on board large collections of artwork pieces of which are regularly auctioned through the week or ten days of the voyage. The art auction typically consists of free champagne and lots of salesmanship – not to mention a collection of pieces that is eerily the same from one ship to another. Every once in a while, though, a cruise ship actually has on board pieces that are more appropriate for the discerning art collector.
A few years ago, we were aboard the Regent Seven Seas Navigator on a Caribbean cruise when we happened on a piece of art that matched our aesthetic. A limited edition, signed print, it was a piece of work by French artist and designer, Erté. It had been created by him in the late 1970’s based on a series of works he had done much earlier in his life. For reasons that you cannot possibly understand unless you know Patty’s alter-ego, the piece had to make it home to be with us. Manhattan Mary was not among the pieces that were shown in the art auction – rather it was hanging in one of the stairwells and was framed in the most god-awful frame one could imagine. After negotiating with the art rep and ensuring that the piece would be reframed in a more appropriate style, we had it shipped home. And now it hangs above our fireplace.
Although we don’t expect to find a piece of art to hang on a wall during our upcoming travels to three Hawaiian islands, one time in St. John’s, Antigua we did find a piece of art that hangs on a gold chain around Patty’s neck . Maybe there’ll be another of those!
[A note: In Canada, pieces of original art are not subject to duty. If you are going to buy art work when you’re travelling, you should check in advance about customs and duty regulations in your country to save you a nasty surprise in the form of a whopping bill for duty owed.]
It was 2005 and we were on our way to Antigua for a week of relaxation at the St. James’s Club. Who knew that even in the early 21st century the airport on this beautiful Caribbean island didn’t have a landing guidance system that would safely land an aircraft in the fog? In fact, who knew that Caribbean islands had fog?
After the third attempt and pull-up, it was clear to us that there was a problem. The first stop after that was the island of Guadeloupe for fuel. Sitting at the front of the aircraft, we got as far as the top of the steps to look out the open door and breathe in the warm, tropical air – and then we were off to Antigua again. But to no avail. The weather was just too bad so we would have to spend the night in Barbados. We could hear the groans all around us. Well, we thought, an adventure.
It was a credit to Air Canada that they were able to find overnight accommodation for everyone on a Saturday night in February within an hour or two. We were among the lucky – or at least we chose to think that!
We were taken to The Crane, a residential (read: condo) resort on the rugged east coast of the island. Since it was so late, the restaurant was closed – but the manager on duty roused the cook who got out of his bed and came to make hamburgers for the dozen or so of us who hadn’t eaten in so long we couldn’t quite remember at that point. In the dark it was difficult to tell what the resort was like – but the next morning, it was clear that this was a place we would want to return to at some later date. We made a promise to ourselves and kept it.
Overlooking the rugged Atlantic
Last winter’s cold temperatures here on the east coast of Canada sent us fleeing once again to a Caribbean cruise, and this time it was one that would leave from Bridgetown, Barbados. So, before we boarded the Silver Cloud, we spent three days exploring The Crane.
Built on a rugged bluff above an extraordinary white sand beach, The Crane is billed as the oldest resort in the Caribbean. Don’t be fooled, though. The old mansion that was expanded into a hotel that opened in 1887 is still part of its charm and houses the spa and a few rooms. But the rest of the place is a series of charming new buildings housing extraordinary suites/apartments – just the kind of place discerning travelers would love.
We booked ourselves into a one-bedroom suite because we had remembered the junior suite we had been housed in that fateful night years before. And the rooms were just as lovely as we remembered with their four-poster mahogany beds, breathtakingly spacious bathrooms, breezy white cotton-covered sofas, dining room, kitchen, laundry and the list goes on.
Grand Jetee
The property itself has several wonderful pools. The oldest pool overlooks the beach and is just the kind of place where, if you squint just a little, you can picture early 20th century guests sitting about with parasols, fanning themselves daintily. Throughout the property there are several wonderful pieces of sculpture. One is a life-size bronze statue called Grande Jetee and if you know anything about ballet, you’ll recognize the form. As parents of a son who is a ballet dancer, we were quite taken with it the first time we saw it and even more so the second time around.
There is a series of little shops and restaurants around a kind of town square within the complex and it houses, among other boutiques, a convenience shop. We noted that many of the guests seemed to be buying stapes no doubt to use for their own meals in their residences. As a result, the restaurants were practically empty most of the time.
One of the restaurants on the property, Zen, offers a Japanese-Thai menu and was the #1 Zagat-rated restaurant in Barbados in 2009 and 2010. Its setting overlooking the Crane Beach, often counted among the world’s most beautiful, is something not to be missed. But don’t forget the pizzeria onsite as well!
A series of connected pools
The pool area was practically deserted – many of the ground floor suites have their own plunge pools and it seemed that many guests simply stayed on their own lovely lanais. We had a sense of privacy and luxury everywhere we looked.
We truly enjoyed our three days at The Crane, but did think that a longer visit would be a bit too laid back for us. The resort isn’t within walking distance of anything and we do get a bit bored sitting around a pool all day! That said we could use a few pool days right about now and certainly would go back to the Crane if we ever take another cruise out of Barbados. We kept our promise to return – and The Crane kept its promise – the promise it offered on one brief encounter.
Crane Beach from the resort above (there is an elevator and a staircase leading down — an up!)
Some photos of our suite…
Part of the wonderful bathroom in the suiteThe bedroom of our suite at The Crane, Barbados
The Discerning Travelers 
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