Best Breakfast … another kind

So my post about best hotel breakfast got me thinking. I prefer staying in bed and breakfasts to get the local feel of a place, and to really interact with locals. There are so many memorable places I have stayed, and I think that a place can make a trip. Even if a place sucks, it’s going to give you a good story, of which I have plenty.

I have encountered such amazing hospitality at bed and breakfasts on my travels, and it’s really hard to say which breakfast beat others. Not for the taste, or the portions, but because you are getting a taste of cultures, and how can you really compare those experiences.

However, one experience that stands out was in Monteverde, Costa Rica. This couple had a farm and on this farm they had built a few cabins for guests to stay in. Because it was the rainy season, as noted by our experience with tropical storm Alma, we were the only ones staying there at the time.

At breakfast, we were invited into their home. Their beautiful kitchen was connected to the living room where their two children played. We were served such a local breakfast. The coffee was from the beans on their land, the eggs were from their neighbor’s chicken, the fruit was grown on their land and the milk was from their cow, who was due to give birth any day.

Our hosts: the husband spoke no English and the wife spoke very good English
Their children: the toddler spoke Spanish and the baby said ‘mama’
Us: my boyfriend speaks a few words of Spanish and mine is decent – my grammar backwards is – but I can get by with a pretty solid knowledge of vocabulary and hand motions where my vocab is weak.

We were all able to communicate over breakfast and the baby crawled right over to my boyfriend and held her hands up to be held.

These are the kinds of experiences I love. It’s so much more than about the food.