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Tico Realty.com
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Six cyclists passing through on way to Tierra del Fuego By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The “AIDS Awareness Expedition,” is scheduled to pass by the Hotel Cariari west of San José Tuesday morning. The expedition is led by German cyclist Joachim Franz who is heading a team of six riders who are pedalling over 14,000 miles along the PanAmerican highway from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego to raise awareness about AIDS and HIV. They plan to complete the trip in only 35 days. The team is trailed by nine support vehicles, which are probably necessary considering the riders are covering approximately 435 miles a day with no breaks and no days off. They plan on arriving in Ushuaia, the southern-most city in the continent, Sept 18. The convoy is planning on passing through the Peñas Blancas border with Panama between Aug. 29 and 30, said a press release. The report did not say how the team is planning on crossing the Darian gap. The gap is dense jungle between Colombia and Panama that has no road and is infamous for its usage by drug smugglers. The team is riding with the support of the United Nations AIDS program and the Organización Panamericana de la Salud. Very senior athletes compete in Desamparados By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
There's now sports competitions that only allow you to participate if you're golden. The Juegos Dorados and the Juegos Especiales of Desamparados start today at 9 a.m. in the Gimnasio Municipal in the Desamparados Centro. Another round is scheduled to happen a week from now. The “Juegos Dorados,” is an activity that organizers hope will allow senior citizens to maintain their physical and mental activity. Players must be at least 70 years of age. The Juegos especiales are for people with disabilities, the release said. Way cleared for trial in Parmenio Medina killing By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Tribunal Penal de Heredia has overturned a decision that reduced the criminal charges facing the Rev. Minor Calvo and businessman Omar Chávez. The decision opens the way for a trial date to be set for the two men and seven other persons facing allegations from the murder of radio host Parmenio Medina in 2001. The press office of the Poder Judicial said that charges of fraud and conspiracy had been reinstated against the two men. They also face other charges. The pair directed the operations of Radio María, a religious radio station that was heavily criticized by Medina in his own radio show on another station. A judge threw out the two charges against the men but the Ministerio Público appealed successfully to have them reinstated. Prosecutors allege that the priest and the businessman were the intellectual authors of the murder of Medina. He was shot down near his Heredia home. Prosecutors have identified the seven other persons as assailants and middlemen. Radio María was ordered off the air May 30, 2001, by the the conference of bishops. Parmenio Medina died a short time later. He had exposed irregularities in the operation of the station and had meetings on the topic with church officials. Brother of Candidate Arias denies peddling influence By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Rodrigo Arias Sánchez told lawmakers Thursday that he knows what influence peddling is and that he never has participated in any such act. He is the brother of the presidential candidate Óscar Arias Sánchez and himself a former minister of the Presidencia. The question of influence peddling related to the trash contract between the Municipalidad de San José and the Canadian firm, EBI. The Comisión Especial de Control del Ingreso y Gasto Público is investigating allegations of payoffs to municipal officials when the contract was negotiated in 2001. Arias said he was consulted on the contract in his capacity as a lawyer but that he could not have influenced the agreement because his discussions took place long after the agreement had been approved. The committee decided to call other witnesses for a session next week. |
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Did
you know that articles-for-sale ads and articles-wanted ads are FREE in A.M. Costa Rica? See our classified page |
with the observations of Dr. Lenny Karpman Click HERE! |
Guess who will be one of the first train passengers |
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I was delighted to read
that
San José is expanding its mass transit services to include a
Pavas to San Pedro train. In case anybody on this planet I have
ever talked to doesn’t remember, I love trains. This train will
be mainly for people going and coming from work or school, I
guess. It will not be for those of us who might want to go
downtown in the middle of the day. According to early reports it
will make just 10 stops between Tropigas in Pavas and the Universidad
Latina in San Pedro, and the closest stop near me will be on the south
side of the Sabana, near the Contraloria (that building that looks like
a silo to me). But one day early in its run (which it makes only
Monday through Friday) I will be on that train. The train will consume about two gallons of diesel fuel per kilometer. The entire trip is about 13 kilometers and according to estimates, 100 passengers paying 300 colones each will cover the cost. Eventually each trip will accommodate 480 passengers. If the train doesn’t hit any more cars, it should be a very economical and ecological addition to dealing with the problem of moving people around this city. Some anonymous sources have said that it won’t make much difference in the demand for gas here since mostly poor people without cars will ride the train. Well, let’s hear it for poor people. Was it Abraham Lincoln who said that God must have loved poor people because he made so many of them? I have been taken to task for not knowing the difference between demand and consumption. And well I should have been. I never really thought about consumption and demand. If someone had asked, I suppose I would said that demand was when you |
went to the gas station and said “Fill‘er
up. Buddy.” and consumption began when you drove off. So I do
appreciate the lessons in economics. He has
explained – before he apologized – that to take someone out has many
meanings. I think he meant, Let’s divert President Chavez, like
let’s
"take him out" to the ball game. If you sing that song all
the way
through, you will have to agree. |
Fine Spanish food with a Catalan emphasis |
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Casa Luisa was actually
her
home. Luisa Esparducer raised her two daughters there. Despite the fact
that her entire family now lives in Spain, she continues to hold down
the fort and prepare some of the finest Spanish food in Costa Rica. Her style reflects her native Catalan roots and influences from all of the Spanish Mediterranean. Her restaurant still has the warm feeling of a home. When her kitchen labor abates, she comes to the table to treat you as a dinner guest in her dining room, rather than as a faceless, nameless patron of a restaurant. Her informal earthy style is infectious. If you are receptive, you can feel like an old friend in short order. In Catalan tradition, she uses only the finest ingredients. When the lambs are so large that the flavor begins to approximate mutton, lamb dishes disappear from the menu. Her choices of salad greens are exacting. Flavors are rich and pure – garlic, paprika, extra virgin olive oil, Jerez sherry vinegar, Modena Balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. They work beautifully with oven-roasted tomato, eggplant and skinned red pepper strips. Rabbit, pork, duck, beef and fresh seafood need no other additions to taste marvelous. She does use a little Dijon mustard in her lovely sherry vinaigrette salad dressing. Bread and butter? Not at a Catalan table. Pa amb tomàquet is the traditional way of eating bread, rubbed with garlic and tomato, and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Alternatively, she serves bread spread with a creamy aioli, garlic flavored freshly made mayonnaise. Grilled lightly, they come to the table bathed in delicate olive oil. Authenticity demands a little excess in the oil. If its presence doesn’t bother you, you will have a hard time not eating the entire plate of fresh or toasted rounds before your first course arrives. I love gazpacho when it is crispy flavorful and so fresh tasting that your mouth tingles. Hers does exactly that. One of my biggest disappointments when I first dined in Spain was the addition of cream to southern Spanish gazpacho, rendering it akin to old cold cream of tomato soup. Nor do I like a covering of soggy croutons, salad size vegetable chunks and hard boiled egg pieces. Hers is simplicity and perfection. On our first visit, I ordered mixted paella and was again delighted. It was not a bed of fluffy white rice colored with turmeric or saffron, cooked in broth and topped with green peas. It was rich, dark and loaded with prawns, squid rings, tender octopus pieces, mussels, pork and chicken drummets in a classic Catalan sauce, xanfaina — a vegetable stew of onions, peppers, tomato, and eggplant,. The result was caramelized and a little oily, a perfect rendition of the Catalan version. On our second visit, we shared an order of eight battered shrimp served with aioli, bunuelos de gambas. Joan had a duck half, roasted to well done tenderness, yet with crispy skin and very little residual fat. It was sauced with a thick marvelous dark brown reduction of red wine, pan drippings, mushrooms and dried plums and served with slices of roasted potato. I had rabbit in a typical white wine picada sauce loaded with tender little bits of diced onion, ground almonds, flat leaf parsley and a little garlic, served with a plate of thinly sliced grilled |
eggplant, zucchini and small artichokes. Both items were very satisfying and presented in an appealing way. Among the other menu items are more Catalan classics. Canelons Rosini (¢4,000), a main course, are like Italian cannelloni, but the pasta is stuffed with a variety of meats and baked in bechamel topped with Parmesan cheese in Catalanya. Escalivada (¢3,000) is an appetizer, charcoal or oven roasted eggplant, red pepper and onions, smothered in olive oil, and sometimes chopped garlic. Luisa serves it with tomato-anchovy toasts. There are also roast suckling pig, seafood aplenty, steak in Roquefort sauce (¢6,000) and an entire page of tapas. There is a choice of desserts that we have yet to try because we are always too full. Sangria and a variety of Spanish wines are available. The setting is very homey. Polished wooden floors, many small rooms, colorful wall hangings, furniture and a toilet in a room with a full bath contribute to the ambiance of a family nest. The small protected garden in the back is a lovely al fresco choice. The waiter and waitress are very helpful and efficient. Although the prices are hardly bargain basement, they compare favorably with other Spanish dinner houses we have tried in the Central Valley, unless you go to a very expensive specialty side of the menu. Tapas are ¢1,000-4,000 with an average of about ¢2,500. Main courses are about ¢3,500 to 6,000. Our meals of a shared appetizer and two main courses with nonalcoholic beverages cost ¢15,000 and ¢19,000 on our first two visits and included paella, duck and rabbit. Much more expensive are an entire suckling for about $100 (probably serves four or five) and Beluga caviar $165. Broiled lobster is $24, giant prawns a little less and a broiled seafood mixture containing both is about $35 (enough for two). We returned with friends on a third occasion for a delightful tapas party to celebrate Don Quixote’s 400th birthday. To find Casa Louisa, turn south on the street adjacent to the nearly pyramidal large Contraloria building in Sabana Sur, across the road from the park. Four hundred meters later, turn left one short block after the traffic light. Casa Louisa is the purple and papaya colored house in the middle of the block on the left. Closed Sunday, otherwise open for lunch and dinner. Telephone: 296-1917 ***, $$-$$$$ |
A
report from CR-Home Realty
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Baseball
fans will get to pick the Latino Legends Team |
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Special to A.M. Costa Rica
Fans of major league baseball will select the sport's first official Latino Legends Team, which is designed to commemorate contributions that players of Latin American heritage have made to the game. Major League Baseball said a special ballot has been created featuring 60 Latino players representing seven different countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean. From Monday through Oct. 10, baseball fans in the United States and elsewhere in the Americas can vote for the team via www.MLB.com. In addition, fans (only in the United States) can also vote for the team through paper ballots provided at U.S. dealerships of the Chevrolet car company, which is sponsoring the voting. Fans will select eight position players -- one at each infield position, three outfielders and a catcher -- three starting pitchers, and one relief pitcher. Major League Baseball and Chevrolet will announce the 12 players selected by fans prior to game four of the 2005 World Series. Those nominated for the team range from active players such as Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Pedro Martinez, Albert Pujols, and Miguel Tejada to former stars Luis Aparicio, Minnie Minoso, Orlando Cepeda, Tony Perez and Roberto Clemente, who died in a plane crash in 1972 while delivering relief supplies to Nicaragua. Juan Marichal, from the Dominican Republic, who won 243 games and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983, said, "I'm very honored to be on this ballot. It makes me very proud to have been a Latin player, and I thank Chevrolet and Major League Baseball for creating this program. It will make all Latin players feel great. I'm so very pleased we're being recognized by this wonderful program." |
Mariano Rivera, a
native of Panama, said after watching a video montage
of Latino players at Major League Baseball headquarters that "watching
that video gave me goose bumps. It was tremendous, watching some
of
the guys who made the path for us. I'm honored just to be mentioned
with them. I encourage fans to vote, because we need to see
programs
like this continue." The only nominee for the Legends Team who did not play in the majors was Martin Dihigo of Cuba, who pitched in the Negro leagues, the Mexican League, and in the Caribbean from 1923 to 1947. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said that "over the years, major league baseball has been blessed with a wealth of players of Latin American heritage who have contributed to some of the most memorable moments and accomplished some of the most storied feats in the history of the game." He added that through this ballot selection, "we have a tremendous opportunity to reflect on the immense contribution that Latino players have made . . . " The cumulative accomplishments of the players on the ballot include 296 All-Star Game selections, 63 Gold Gloves for fielding prowess, 12 most valuable player awards, 22 batting championships, and seven Cy Young Awards for pitching accomplishments). Major League Baseball said Latinos make up a significant portion of players in the major leagues. As of the opening day of the 2005 baseball season, 204 players born in Latin American countries were on major league baseball team rosters, accounting for nearly one-fourth of the overall number of players in the major leagues. The Dominican Republic led all countries with 91 players in the majors, followed by Venezuela with 46 players, and Puerto Rico with 34 players. |
Catcher
López, Javy — Puerto RicoPeña, Tony — Dominican Republic Rodríguez, Ivan — Puerto Rico Sanguillen, Manny — Panama Santiago, Benito — Puerto Rico |
First Base
Cepeda, Orlando — Puerto RicoGalarraga, Andrés — Venezuela Pérez, Tony — Cuba Pujols, Albert —Dominican Republic Palmeiro, Rafael — Cuba |
Second Base
Alomar, Roberto — Puerto RicoCarew, Rod — Panama Soriano, Alfonso — Dominican Republic Vidro, José — Puerto Rico Samuel, Juan — Dominican Republic |
Third Base
Alfonzo, Edgardo — VenezuelaBeltre, Adrián — Dominican Republic Castilla, Vinny — Mexico Martínez, Edgar — Puerto Rico Bonilla, Bobby — Puerto Rico |
The complete ballot for the Latino Legends Team |
Shortstop
Aparicio, Luis — VenezuelaConcepcíon, Dave — Venezuela Fernández, Tony — Dominican Republic Rodríguez, Alex — Dominican Republic Tejada, Miguel — Dominican Republic |
Outfielders
Alou, Felipe — Dominican RepublicAlou, Moises — Dominican Republic Bell, George — Dominican Republic Beltrán, Carlos — Puerto Rico Carty, Rico — Dominican Republic Clemente, Roberto — Puerto Rico Cruz Sr., José — Puerto Rico González, Juan — Puerto Rico González, Luis — Cuba Guerrero, Vladimir — Dominican Republic Minoso, Minnie — Cuba Oliva, Tony — Cuba Ramírez, Manny — Dominican Republic Sosa, Sammy — Dominican Republic Williams, Bernie — Puerto Rico |
Starting Pitcher
Andujar, Joaquín — Dominican RepublicColón, Bartolo — Dominican Republic Cuellar, Mike — Cuba Dihigo, Martín — Cuba Gómez, Lefty — Mexico Hernandez, Livan — Cuba Luque, Dolf — Cuba Marichal, Juan — Dominican Republic Martínez, Dennis — Nicaragua Martínez, Pedro — Dominican Republic Pascual, Camilo — Cuba Rijo, José — Dominican Republic Santana, Johan — Venezuela Tiant, Luís — Cuba Valenzuela, Fernando — Mexico |
Relief Pitcher
Benítez, Armando — Dominican RepublicHernández, Roberto — Puerto Rico Rivera, Mariano — Panama Hernández, Willie — Puerto Rico Mesa, José — Dominican Republic |
U.S. firm to help retrieve
Frances Drake's sunken horde Special to A.M. Costa Rica A South Carolina company said Thursday that it will help salvage the remaining 35 tons of Sir Francis Drake's silver treasure located offshore of Ecuador, using 21st century technology and the company's dive team of Ecuadorian and U.S. salvage professionals. The company is Global Marine Ltd. of Charleston. In order to lighten his ship's heavy cargo for the treacherous Pacific crossing, Drake and his men regretfully threw overboard in excess of 1,350,000 pesos of silver -- an estimated 45 tons. Silver coins, ingots and bars found at the site off the coast match the silver that Drake unloaded onto a sandy bottom some 50 feet deep. Numismatic professionals estimate that the value of this circa 1578 silver may be worth approximately $100 million if properly marketed. Archival documents also mention the unloading of gold coins and jewelry at the same location. Attempts in the past to locate and salvage the treasure have proved mostly unsuccessful. However, the pirate Bartholomew Sharp, who anchored over the right spot, used weighted tallow to fish up a few hundred pieces of eight. Since the area is a treasure find and no wrecks are involved, there will be very little archaeological work performed. |
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