Prelude: do you know the way to San José?

When we originally booked our BA flights from Gatwick to San Jose in Costa Rica the departure time was mid-morning. We decided that rather than have an early start to get to the airport on time we would stay the previous night at the airport's Premier Inn, as we had done for our much earlier departure to Seville last November. Then BA changed the flight time, putting it back by two hours. We could have cancelled the hotel but in the end we kept the booking and travelled to the airport the evening before our departure. It meant we didn't need to worry about possible train disruption, and with a long flight ahead of us we could at least shorten the first part of the day's travelling.

The next morning we had a light breakfast in the hotel's Costa coffee shop before going across the road to the airport. Although a bit quieter than usual perhaps, it was noticeably busier than when we had been here back in November. And once we'd dropped off our bags and gone through security the cafés seemed as busy as ever. Clearly people are travelling again.

We had a while to wait before boarding but everything went smoothly, and we took off on time. Apart from the need to wear face masks, it all felt pretty normal and comfortable. And we were super excited to be off on our first long-haul adventure for two years!

The roughly eleven hour flight passed slowly, as the novelty of being back in the air evaporated into the usual mild boredom. An average sort of meal was served soon after take-off, I watched a film (Six Minutes to Midnight), read a bit ... For most of the flight there was nothing beneath us but ocean and clouds. So I was excited when, with about two hours to go, some of the islands of the Bahamas (I think) could be spotted far below! But that excitement was short-lived; the clouds had returned as we passed over Cuba, and then there was a lot more sea to cross before we reached the mainland of Central America.

We landed about 30 minutes early, which was good, although we had to wait a little while to disembark as we were called a few rows at a time. Immigration was very quiet, baggage claim rather busier, but we were soon outside and being met by a driver, Sigi, who drove us the 30 minutes or so to our hotel for the night, the Hotel Bougainvillea. Of course by now it was dark so we could only get a little impression of the country - small roadside businesses, others rather larger including US chains such as Cinnabon, the lights of San Jose off to our right.

We checked in and persuaded our weary bodies to stay awake long enough to enjoy a beer and some nachos, as well as catch up on a few messages. By around 10.00 PM local time, 4.00 AM London time we were more than ready for bed!