Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

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I finally figured out how to get to San Jose, Costa Rica that is. A couple of years ago I made plans to fly there for a 10 day holiday. I made all the arrangements by internet; airline reservation, hotel everything. My flight took me through Dallas to San Jose, or so I thought. When I arrived in Dallas to change planes I started to sense something was amiss. I had not yet been asked to present my passport. So I went up to the nearest departure desk and inquired about the final leg of my flight and pulled out my passport. The agent looked at it and at my ticket and said, “Sir, you don’t need a passport to go to Puerto Rico, it is a territory of the United States.” I explained that I was going to Costa Rica, not Puerto Rico. “No you are not” said he. “You are ticketed from Seattle through Dallas to Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico. You are not going to Costa Rica on this ticket, Mr. Thogersen.”



What the hell had happened? This can’t be, I thought. I made all the reservations myself and the arrangements, quite inexpensive it seemed, were confirmed. The only problem was that I had used the wrong frickin airport code. I think it was SO vs. SU or something like that. I have since blocked out the specifics. It was about 10:30pm and there I was in Dallas a long way from either home or Costa Rica. I had hotel reservations in San Jose but of course had no place to stay in San Juan. I was told that it would cost me a small fortune to change my ticket and fly to San Jose. No wonder the cost had seemed so reasonable. So I thought for a minute or two and weighed the options: I didn’t particularly want to go back home. I had never been to either San Juan or San Jose. Either would provide a warm environment away from the gray and rain in Seattle. Spanish is the predominate language in each city. So what the hell, I decided to simply fly on to San Juan, Puerto Rico.



But first I called my friend Bud in Seattle. “Bud, get on the internet ASAP and find me a hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico” I said. “What the hell do you want with that? I thought you were on your way to Costa Rica.” I replied, “Don’t ask questions, just do it. I’m about to depart for Puerto Rico from Dallas. Call me back and leave a message on my mobile phone so I can check it when I arrive.” Then I hung up and ran to the gate.



I ended up having a splendid holiday. Bud came through with a hotel reservation for me in a message when I arrived in San Juan very late at night. I stayed in the Condado area of the city in a hotel on the beach. I had many marvelous meals with Puerto Rican beer, explored the old part of town and the ancient fortifications, met some interesting people, toured a wonderful art museum and went snorkeling on the north coast of the island. It was a great adventure, but of course I had to endure plenty of jokes when I got home. My change of plans from San Jose to San Juan provided much amusement for my friends in Seattle. I took it with good humor. What else could I do? I had acted quickly to make the best of a rather disconcerting situation and it all turned out swimmingly well.



But of course I still harbored a desire to find my way to San Jose and today I did. Infinity arrived in Costa Rica at the port of Puntarenas on the west coast of the country. I booked a bus tour from there to the capital of San Jose, about 70 miles away. All along the way I kept thinking something would happen that would prevent me from getting to my destination. The area has recently experienced flooding and a 7.6 earthquake with landslides and road closures. But this time I made it; San Jose, Costa Rica at last!



I found the city to be a charming place. It doesn’t have great architecture or grand plazas but is a bustling, clean, and beautiful city on the central valley of the country bordered by thick jungle, lush forests and towering mountains, some of them active volcanoes. I toured a couple of museums and saw many beautiful parks. San Jose has the feel of a prosperous, busy, peaceful and livable metropolis of happy and healthy appearing people. Costa Rica boasts a very stable and highly developed society with a well functioning social system much like I have experienced in Scandinavia.



I would love to visit this place again and spend more time getting to know it better. I think I now know the way to San Jose, but perhaps it would be best if I let my travel agent make the arrangements.

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