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Published: February 17th 2010
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Courtyard of the National Museum
Situated within a former barracks, the museum offers an insight into pre-Columbian (that's pre-Christopher Columbus!) life and post-Spanish Colonisation. I was awake and up with the lark this morning - assuming the lark was diesel electric, towing carriages and hooting very loudly as it passed by on the other side of my bed! Fortunately, it was 07h15, so despite it being almost lunchtime in the UK, I'd actually had a very good night's sleep.
After showering, I grabbed my bags and headed downstairs for a breakfast. My room-mate was already down, as were a German family and, as it turned out, four of the remaining five adventurers. This was going to be an exciting trip as these four were all of pensionable age!
One thing that has surprised me already, just a day into the trip, is the poor quality of the coffee. I can only assume that the best is exported as the coffee served at breakfast was rather weak and, though not instant, had a similar taste. However, the rest of the meal was rather good; watermelon, pineapple and mango - all fresh - followed by beans and rice, then toast with guava jam.
At 09h00, we were finally joined by the last member of the group, who had spent the previous three weeks in
Nicaragua and was proficient in Spanish. Needless to say, I'm sticking with her throughout the trip as she's the only one with
any knowledge of the language - and is better looking than my room mate!
Setting off into the morning sun, we headed towards the National Museum, occupying an old fort towards the top of the city. When the army was disbanded in the late 1940s, the barracks were handed over to the founding of a Costa Rican national museum, with approximately half of the museum given over to life before the Spanish colonisation. It was this half that was of most interest to us all as the latter portion documented Spanish religious iconography rather than the life of the early settlers.
The displays, though simple, are very effective in their message and the items displayed are stunningly beautiful, be they gold animals and birds or carved stone corn-grinding tables (
metates). These have three legs and are carved from a single piece of volcanic stone. They appeared to be personal items and were also placed upturned over the grave of the owner, rather as grave goods.
After a poor, yet expensive, lunch (lasagne and coffee at
the National Theatre), I headed off down the Central Avenue towards the markets. This is the best place to get an understanding of the way a nation functions as, it is here, that you see the real people going about their daily lives. Indeed, it was here that I had the best coffee to date, from a tacky looking stall, where the owner was keen to teach me some Spanish (although I'd already learned to ask for a Black Coffee!).
The market was bustling and was selling everything from fresh meat and fish, to shoes, sandels and bags. Dotted around were sodas, full of locals having their (late) lunch.
Outside, with the sky darkening and a fine drizzle falling, it was time to head back to the hotel. We've decided to all meet up at 19h00 (in the bar - where else?) before returning to last night's eating house. Tomorrow, we have an 07h30 start - so I doubt we'll be up into the small hours!
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