City Tour

The adventure began with a walking tour in the center of San Jose led by Carla, a college student and native of Costa Rica.  Since everyone in the city had escaped to the beaches for the Xmas to New Year's holiday, the streets were dirty but the number of people on the pedestrian way had increased considerably from yesterday since people were back at work.  The children were still on their summer vacation.

Our first stop was the Temple of Music. Young folks used to dance around the temple as a way of meeting possible mates.  Costa Rica fought with Spain for its independence in 1821 as did most of Central America.  In 1856 William Walker from Tennessee (yes, in the USA) tried to invade Costa Rica but was defeated by Juan Santa Maria.  The park held cork trees and coffee bushes, both important exports along with sugar cane, pineapple, bananas etc.  Nearby was a school made of metal in 1897 and is still in use as a school .  On the otherside of the park was a large building that could have been a fort but was a liquor factory established in 1853,  producing rum and gin and guaro which is a vodka like liquor made from sugar cane.  Today it houses the National Cultural Arts Center

A central plaza surrounds the National Theatre at ground level and the Gold Museum is a three tierd underground structure under the plaza.  As in most Central American cities there is the Central Market built in 1880, full of fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, breads, souvineers and cafes.  We tasted some of Costa Rica's prize winning coffee, ate Xmas tamales, and tasted ice cream made from the same recipe for over 100 years.

After a short siesta we caught a cab to the Barrio Escalante where many fine restaurants and bars are located.  The Beer Factory caught our attention first so we tried two of their craft beers. We also enjoyed a stroll around the neighborhood before dining at a very good Italian restaurant.  On the way back to the hotel another bar drew us in with a nice wine selection where we bought an excellent Argentinian Malbec that we took back to the hotel to enjoy as a nightcap.