Katie's Wedding in Costa Rica

I got a chance to take a little vacation from Peru and head up to Costa Rica to visit my family and friends. I hadn't seen anyone in my family since Thanksgiving, so it was incredible to meet them in the middle of the rainforest in Costa Rica. 

My family had a long travel day starting at 3 a.m. to get to the Arenal volcano in central Costa Rica, but I only had a short flight and got picked up by my sister's friend Ann in a rental car and it just took us a few hours to drive there. Ann and I arrived about a half hour before the rest of my family, which gave us time to have a cold beer ready for Katie and Seth as a welcome gift to their wedding week!

The hotel we were staying at was called the Linda Vista, which translates to Beautiful View. It definitely was an incredible view - breathtaking views of the manmade lake, looking out at the volcano on the other side, and everything around us completely green. It was definitely one of the best views from any hotel that I've ever stayed in.

View from the Hotel Linda Vista (Beautiful View Hotel)

After spending time catching up with the family, a group of about twenty of us went to spend some time in the rainforest. In the morning, we got up and hiked towards the volcano. During certain times of the year, you can see the lava running through cracks below your feet. Unfortunately (read: thankfully) this was not the case for us, as the lava has not been visible since October.

On the way back down from that hike, it started to rain on us (after all, it is the rain forest...) and our path become covered in mud. At one point as we were walking, my cousin Molly's shoe got stuck in the mud and she was left balancing there on one foot until someone came back to help her! We made sure to take plenty of pictures before actually giving her shoe back.

We then spent the night relaxing at some natural hot springs. There were 28 different pools, all at different temperatures, and even three hot water slides! The slides were the most incredible part - they would NEVER have been legal in the United States. The first one that I went down, I asked the lifeguard which one his favorite was. He told me the fastest one, but you can't lie down in it. To me, this was more like a challenge and I immediately lied down when I started. Bad idea - I ended up going so fast that when a turn came, I got thrown into the side of the tube so hard that I wasn't actually sure that I was 100% conscious when I came out the bottom.

I still gave the other water slides a chance. The next one I went down, the lifeguard told me that you have to lay down on it, so I did. Bad idea - I ended up getting flipped upside down (still going down feet first, but on my stomach) and ending up hitting my face a couple times pretty hard on the tube. The third slide was just straight down with two dips. During the second dip, I ended up getting air and landing with a THUD on the slide. After that, I was done with those and just needed to relax while sitting in one of the hot tubs and having a Cuba Libre.

We also got a chance to do some zip lining in the jungle. We went on a total of eight lines that would get us up to speeds of around 50 miles/hour! It was definitely a thrill and we had great views of the rain forest, volcano, and lake the entire time! Somehow my sister Anne always managed to go the fastest though... She has some first person videos that she took that are pretty incredible - I'll see if I can upload one of them in the future!

Molly's shoe coming off while hiking through the mud!

My and my uncle Larry's date on Valentine's Day at the hot springs!

Me zip lining in the rain forest!

After taking a shuttle for a few hours, we arrived to the city of Tamarindo - the city that Katie and Seth were to get married in. Hoping to use a little of my Spanish in Costa Rica as well, I was disappointed to find out the the nickname of the city is TamaGRINGO and everyone there spoke English just about as well as us!

The first morning there, some of us woke up early to go deep sea fishing. My uncle Larry, along with his wife, kids, and sister-in-law took up one boat, and my dad, his friend John Holtan, my cousin Sara, her friend Tricia, and I were on another boat. My uncle's boat ended up catching a variety of fish, but our boat caught 10 total fish, and we all got to reel in two. All of our fish were amberjacks, which look and taste similar to yellow fin tuna. With our catch (about 60 filets), we were able to feed dinner to everyone that was staying at the hotel with the wedding party that night.

Tricia and my dad deep sea fishing

One of my fish

Fishing for amberjacks... Our boat caught ten!

The next day, a group of us all went four wheeling up to the top of a peak where we got to go into this castle-like house that was never finished and have magnificent views of the ocean and mountains. From the peak, we could see all the way to Nicaragua, as well as a very long distance along the coast. We also got to drive to two different beaches. One of the beaches we stopped to go swimming, the other we got to ride the four wheelers over the sand and have a bit of fun with that. I missed out on one of the snowiest winters in Minnesota history, and also missed out on the snowmobiling that goes along with that, so I was happy to at least get out and ride around a little bit!

The 4-Wheeling crew

My roommate Beto and I overlooking the coast

My cousin Tom and I with a great view

On Wednesday night, the girls all had a bachelorette party for my sister, and us guys all got to enjoy a relaxing night having a beer and enjoying the sunset. After a while, some of us went out to meet up at the bar after their party was over and we all danced around to a bit of salsa. I got to show off my moves that I have not learned from living in Peru and dance with my sister, some friends, and my date for the wedding, Rachel, who had just arrived.

Katie and I dancing to some salsa

The next day, 70 of us all got onto a catamaran to enjoy the ocean, go swimming/snorkeling, and watch the sunset from a sailboat. It was an incredible day that we all got to spend together and I also got a chance to break out my zunga (kind of like a Speedo, but with longer sides) for everybody. I'll save you all the misery of posting pictures on it here, but if you look at my Facebook page or look at my entire Costa Rica album, I'm sure it won't be too hard to find a picture of me in it!

Rachel and I on the catamaran

The next night, we had an incredible groom's dinner that also doubled as Seth's birthday dinner. Seth's family had rented out the entire restaurant just for us and we had a TON of food that was all delicious, and afterwards, the restaurant surprised us and had a band set up to play for us to dance to.

Rachel and I dancing during the groom's dinner

My ex-roommate Miranda and I. Miranda and I lived together during my first month in Peru.

Even though I'm all sweaty, I love this picture of Rachel and me dancing

My parents having a good time on the dance floor

Finally the day arrived that we had all been waiting for - the wedding day! We spent most of the afternoon getting ready for everything, then spent some time taking pictures with the photographer (I'll try to post a link when I get it. For now, I just have the pictures that I took during the ceremony). My sister Anne was the maid of honor, Seth's brother Keith was the best man, I was an usher along with my cousins David and Tom, and my uncle Larry proceded over the ceremony.

It took place in the garden at the hotel, overlooking the beach. It was an incredible setup that they had, and the reception started right where the wedding took place, then moved across the street to the main pool area where they had the dinner tables and dance floor set up. The whole ceremony was an incredible experience, and with 90 people showing up, it was probably one of the largest destination weddings ever!

My sister Anne (Maid of Honor), Seth (Groom), my sister Katie (Bride), and Seth's brother  Keith (Best Man)

My sisters (after Anne gets married in July, I'll be the only sibling that's still a Pastorius!)

The bride

Walking my mom down the aisle

The wedding party including ushers, parents, flower girls, ring bearer, best man, maid of honor, and the bride and groom

My dad walking my sister down the aisle

At the altar

Eight white lilies - One for each of the grandparents that were at the wedding in spirit

Rachel and me at sunset during the ceremony

Awesome sunset picture overlooking the Pacific Ocean during the reception

Katie and Seth entering the reception

First dance with the parents

After the dancing was over, we all decided to take a jump into the pool! Those who decided that they didn't want to go in, I helped encourage them by picking them up and bringing them with me into the water. It was a great way to cool off after a warm night full of dancing. Just a warning for anyone looking to do this in the future - don't dive in! You might hit your face on the bottom of the pool and have to have Dr. John superglue you back together! (Miranda's plastic surgeon back in Boston said that she will not need surgery thanks to the great work that my dad did though!)

My mom and Katie jumping into the pool at the end of the reception

Family picture in the pool

Dr. John after he fixed up Miranda's face!

The next few days, we finally got to relax and enjoy the vacation. We had nothing to do and nowhere to be. We just got a chance to spend time together at the beach surfing or playing soccer, at the pool, and just got time to spend together. I will see my sister Anne and cousin Tom in about one month when they come visit me, but I won't see the rest of my family until the end of May when I move back to Minnesota.

Eric and I catching the same wave surfing

View from the condo in Tamarindo