CLASSIC TRIP: Letting the Jet Lag and Stress Float Away in Costa Rica

With the rental car shenanigans behind us, it was a dark and lonely road to the Riu Palace Hotel on Playa Matapalo. Around one dark corner, a lone horse stood in the road. I almost put him down. Now and again, speedbumps would appear in front of a school.  Narrow one lane bridges popped up with some regularity. Pedestrians and bicyclists  would materialize out of the dark, moving slowly in the traffic lane.

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It was a bit harrowing that first evening then coming down the steep hill into the little bay we’d call home for the next week.  My wife urged me to slow down while I informed her my foot was already pressing on the brake pedal.

Three massive speed bumps really slowed us down and then we were at the gate to the Riu.

There are two hotels here, the Riu Guanacaste...the nice but more budget friendly of the two…and the Riu Palace, the top level brand of the Riu chain.

Unloading the car, we step up to the checkin counter and I immediately remember why I love the Riu.

As a server hands us each a welcoming cocktail (especially nice after the fight at the rental car agency and the dark drive) checkin goes efficiently and effortlessly.

“Remember, we are here to serve you. You only have to dial 9 on your room’s phone and we will get anything you want.”

And, as we’ve found out at the Riu before, that is not an empty promise.

Our room is just what we booked. Oceanview, though not quite beachfront, over the pools, with a nice terrace and three beds set up just for us. The bellman shows us the ropes, with the in-room liquor dispensers, the minibar, TV, and more.

There’s also a spa tub between the beds and the bathroom that’s really more in the way than useful but I can see where some people might like it. For us, the large, walk-in shower is more of a luxury making it easy for Tim to have a bath.

It’s not an official accessible room (although they do have some available) but we find the regular rooms here work just fine for us and we get better views and locations than the wheelchair rooms offer.

After tipping the bellman, we hit the buffet for dinner before retiring back to our room for a deep, night’s sleep to catch up on all we missed the day before and to shed our travel frustrations.

The morning dawns bright and sunny.  A hot sun. The breakfast buffet is very good and extensive. Great protein in the fried eggs, scrambled eggs, and more. Costa Rican food is represented by their banana –leave wrapped tamales, gallo pinto, and several varieties of rice and sausage.

A couple of shady lounge chairs invite us to stake out a place by the pool. A ramp makes it easier to get Tim in the water. We wade in and roll the chair as far as we can, put Tim’s feet through the hole of an inner tube, stand him up, let him fall through the hole till his arms hook onto the tube…holding him up…and away he goes to float for a few hours in the Riu’s pool.

Nicole, our pool server, keeps us supplied with Mai Tais, chocolate martinis, beer, and water. The three of us float around like this, soak up the sun, and meditate on what activities we’ll be doing this week.

After swimming, soaking, and meeting new friends at the pool, it’s off to L’Anfora off of the lobby. This is the Riu’s Italian restaurant and the only one besides the buffet that does not require a reservation.

I have a local version of ossobuco while Tim has lasagna and ravioli. Letty has a nice seafood pasta.

Our room is right over the floor show area, so after dinner, we can watch from our terrace. The music can be loud, so you might want to ask for a room away from it if it bothers you. Since they have a curfew of 11pm that is strictly enforced, we can live with it.

After a day of cocktails, sun, and water, our minimal jet lag is diminished and we retire to rest up for the next part of our adventure where we head off property and go exploring the Central American countryside.

Darryl

Copyright 2016 – Darryl Musick

All Rights Reserved

Photos by Letty Musick

Copyright 2016 - All Rights Reserved

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC IN A WHEELCHAIR: Riu Palace Punta Cana and Area Access Features

(Please read our Covid 19 Statement first - Ed)  Here's how we found access in the Dominican Republic in 2011...

ON ARRIVAL: Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ) does not have jetways. All passengers board and deplane via stairs. Four men carried Tim down the stairs (and back up when we left) in the plane aisle chair.  An airport chair awaited us at the bottom.

Wheelchair users are escorted though the entire arrival process, including through immigration and customs all the way through to your ground transportation. Our gate checked chair was provided to us at baggage claim.

The airport, other than the boarding stairs, is very accessible and nicely ramped throughout. The restrooms have handicapped stalls and there is also a family restroom available.

GROUND TRANSPORTATION: Since it was our first time, we decided to use a manual chair instead of the power chair.

We used Dominican Airport Transfers, where we were able to book a private van for the three of us, round trip, for less than $100.  They were on time (actually a little early), safe, courteous, and comfortable.  Since we've been to the DR, they have aquired a lift equipped van that you can book with advance notice.

AT THE HOTEL:We picked the Riu Palace Punta Cana because it was the only hotel we could find that would block an accessible room for us. Several resorts in the area purport to have accessible rooms and facilities, but we could not find any other that would guarantee it.

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See the video above for a tour of the accessible features of the hotel. There are step-free rooms with roll-in showers which are very nice junior suites but they are not located in the prime area of the hotel. They are very close to the ramp which leads to the restaurants, pools, and beach.  Other step-free rooms with bathtubs are available closer to the beach.

There are six lifts...two on each side of the lobby and one in each wing closer to the pool and beach...four ramps, located at the bottom level of each lift, that will provide access to the plaza, restaurants, shops, pool, and beach.

The grounds are very nicely ramped throughout. A paved path runs along the beach starting at the Colonial Street shopping area adjacent to the pool. About 200 yards south on the path, it jogs pretty close to the water where you can transfer to lounge chairs on the sand.

-Darryl

Copyright 2011 - Darryl Musick

All Rights Reserved

A Palatial Adventure in Munich

(NOTE: We're trying to see different things on this trip to Munich than we did on our last trip. You might want to check out our previous trip to Bavaria to see some of the big sites we won't be covering on this trip as well)


(Please read our Covid 19 Statement first - Ed) My wife said she had two requirements on this year's European adventure, neither of which I have met yet. First, she wants to go to a German yarn shop. Second, she wants to see a palace.

We were able to meet the first goal when I found a few yarn shops near Marienplatz in Munich. The second goal requires that we go to a different platz...this time Odeonplatz, just a few blocks away from Mary's Plaza.

The trains of the Munich U-Bahn are a bit lusher than Berlin's. The newer trains even have sexy, curved, blond wood seats to stretch out on. Seems a shame to only take it a couple of stops away from our hotel to the Odeonplatz station.

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A big memorial to King Ludwig dominates the plaza when we exit. Before World War II but after the Nazi's rise to power, a memorial to fallen Nazi soldiers was here and guards were there to enforce everybody walking by would have to give the Nazi salute.

Not everybody was inclined to do this.

Behind the memorial is an alley where those who found it repugnant would walk through to avoid the guards in Odeonplatz. A strip of gold cobblestones down the middle of the pavement pays tribute to those avoiders.

One more block and around the corner we arrive at the wheelchair accessible entrance to the Residenz Munich, the city palace of the royal family. There is a lot of construction going on here. In fact, we'd see a lot of construction work taking place in this area during this trip.

While we can get into the palace courtyard, there is about a half dozen steps into the gift shop that also serves as the ticket counter for tours.  Tim and Letty wait outside while I go in.

We're told that a guide will meet us outside to escort us in. Soon, a gentleman appears and takes us inside. He asks me something in German that I don't understand. I ask in German if he speaks English and get a negative answer but through some back and forth with my limited German skills and his non-existent English skills, I get that he's asking if Tim can walk a little bit.

"Nein," I answer.

I can see why he asks when we have to shoehorn Tim and his chair into a very tiny elevator. It was quite a feat to get him in and I was concerned we'd never get him back out. We managed, though.

We follow our leader through several halls where we finally find ourselves in a large room that holds part of the royal silverware collection.

A lady meets us and starts to tell us what to do in German. I explain that, while I can speak a little German, I can't follow everything she's telling us.

"In Germany, we speak German," she tells me in perfect but a bit arrogant English.

"Guten morgen dann. Ist das deustch genung für dich?" I reply, a bit annoyed (translation: "Good morning then. Is that German enough for you?"

"Ja."

I explain to her I'm trying to learn German as much as I can but as a non-native, English speaker I'm not up to her level yet. Finally, she relents a little bit and tells us which way we can go to navigate the palace.

On our own, now, we wander through, finding the king's outstanding collection of clocks.

Room after room, filled with priceless antiques and artworks open up to us as we go along.

Some of the artworks, especially in the ceilings, were destroyed in the war with only a blank spot to replace them.

We see several rooms where the kings, queens, and other royals would meet with subjects.

There are a few music rooms.

Bedrooms for every occasion, royal, or visitor abound.

Finally, we see the giant ballroom where the king would sit on his own balcony to survey the proceedings.

Tim sits up there today as stairs prevent him from going onto the ballroom floor itself.

Dozens of busts and statues from ancient Rome and Greece line the walls.  The king was a bit of a collector.

Tour done, we go to exit the way we came in but it is now blocked by construction work. The man working the ticket counter is not empathetic to our plight.

"Go that way."

"There's loose gravel and two steps at the end."

"You will manage it. That is your only way out," he says and walks away.

Yeah, I'm not loving the attitude of some of these palace workers.

We do get out and manage to work our way over to the Augustiner Keller biergarten where the friendly faces, giant beers, and great food do wonders to put us back in the mood again.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2016 - All Rights Reserved

Photos by Letty Musick
Copyright 2016 - All Rights Reserved

THE THINGS WE SEE...

on our travels...

Palace guard at the Grimaldi family's royal palace.  Monaco.