Holy Mother of God

Okay, I know I said that my next trip after San Fran in January would be to Positano but something has come up. My friend has invited me to go with her to Costa Rica this summer as she walks for the Virgin Mary! http://costaricatravelersblog.com/?p=410

Excerpt:

More than 2 million people make the voyage…During August 2nd, the streets and roads of Costa Rica transform into a meandering river of human souls who profess their Catholic faith. The majority of the Costa Rican population participates in this religious tradition. Friends and family walk together in groups with tennis shoes a backpack full of water and snacks.

The idea consists of making a sacrifice (walking the long pilgramige) and making a promise to the Virgen of Los Ángeles.

She has family there and speaks fluent Spanish, so I’m not concerned about my measly two years of high school Spanish making me a potential victim of any sort of crime. AND we’ll have native tour guides to show us around for free. What’s topping that? This also means that I could remove an item from my Bucket List – zip lining through the Costa Rican jungle! And the religious event itself, I imagine, will be magnificent. I plan to participate, if I can, and crawl into the church after the long walk with everyone else. I’m pretty excited about this.