Day 2: Strolling through San Jose

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Today we took an excellent walking tour around San Jose. We started in front of the Teatro Nacional and our excellent guide led us to various points of interest throughout the city. We passed through some absolutely beautiful parks, heard the stories behind some fantastic statues and historical buildings. My favourite thing our guide did was stop and ask locals what a particular statue meant to them, or who does this painting remind you of... so very cool. Everything was interesting but my highlights were: the story of the uprising of girls from a local high school to essentially call bullshizzle on their then president (they *may* have burned a building down...oops), the present day political goings on (we are here on Election Day!) and an encounter with a type of eucalyptus tree that has leaves that smell like bubble gum when you rub them. SJ is not a huge city, so is easily walkable and we all enjoyed our tour.

We dined on local fare for lunch and I put my limited but enthusiastically spoken Spanish to good use to help translate the menu. I weren’t as good as I thoughts I was because I had no idea what a mora was (a type of blackberry) and we had to look up pina (pineapple). Apparently two years of high school Spanish, watching Narcos on Netflix (yes, with subtitles) and an excess of self-confidence isn’t quite enough to get you by. First order of business back at the hotel was to download a translation app.

We chilled in the afternoon and went back out in the cool of the evening and strolled out past the Teatro again for a lovely supper. Highlight was a lemonade blended with fresh mint. Miam!

Although it topped out at 26 celsius today, there was always a strong breeze to keep you from getting hot and lots of shade to be had. The evenings in SJ have been cool, which my heat-sensitive Canadian blood appreciates. Makes for gloriously comfortable walking around.

Up next: The three most important food groups -coffee, sugar and chocolate.

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