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Published: September 22nd 2006
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Teatro Nacional
Stautues atop the roof of the National Theater. Now we understand why the Ticos are so proud of it. Truely, a national treasure! We dropped our car off at Energas in La Uruca to be serviced then caught the “green bus” in front of the building into down town San Jose. There are so many things to see in central San Jose within walking distance of each other that we figured it was as good a place as any to waste the three hours it would take to work on the car.
We got off the bus 100 meters from Parque Central. We walked the pedestrian only streets lined with stores selling clothing, shoes and stuff shops (stuff no one needs or really wants) and restaurants. We wanted to stop at the Universal store as it is the only place I’ve heard about where you can buy the Costa Rica beads like the ones at the airport. We searched the store and didn’t find the damn beads until asking someone. They were right next to the front door, the only place we didn’t look. DUH! In our searching for the beads it was hard to miss all the cosas de navidad. Notice the big bag in the photos? Bill shopped for Christmas decorations!!!!
Ok, yes we sold all of our Christmas stuff
before moving. Last Christmas we were frantically packing and prepping to sell the house. No decorations, no tree, nada. I barely remember last Christmas. I figured this Christmas we’d keep things simple as well and wait until we’re in our own house before getting back into the free for all of lights and decorations that is Christmas. Judging by the amount of time Bill spent looking at lights and decorations; he’s not going to wait another year. Although he complained in the states he must have enjoyed it on some level. Maybe he realizes with the price of electricity here we can really go all out? We brought home three small lighted yard decorations.
Burnt out on shopping, we walked thru the park and found The National Theatre. This was one place Bill really wanted to see. The place was awesome! Flash photography isn’t allowed but I managed a few shots. GEORGOUS, isn’t it! I’ve never seen anything like it. We were all in awe. Callista imagined performing on the stage one day.
After the theatre we walked a little more and found a nice restaurant for lunch. Bill and I enjoyed Red Snapper in some kind of
I like this statue !
A tribute to 'every' woman not just the model types. sauce and stuffed chicken thighs in a mushroom sauce while Callista ate chicken wings. It was a nice restaurant, not the typical soda that we frequent. For $24 we had a nice, tasty lunch with an atmosphere of upper working class locals and several tourists, locals in ties, tourists in t-shirts.
Tummy’s full we ventured on. We smelled smoke once we started walking again. Crossing a street we looked to our right and discovered a huge smoke cloud. Something BIG was on fire. The entire area was being over come by smoke. It was time to find our bus stop and get the heck outta there. Traffic lights were out, people excited, cars honking, too much excitement for us. It was difficult to breath with all the smoke. Enough adventure for one day. Bill is an awesome navigator though in the heat of the moment I don’t always compliment him. Sorry, honey! He always gets us where we need to go.
See front page story about the fire in today's A.M. Costa Rica http://www.amcostarica.com/
We found the bus stop and hoped on just seconds before it was pulling out. On the advice of another passenger we opted
Interesting store
Didn't see the name of the store but we liked the wave. to exit the bus a couple of blocks from our destination, Energas, instead of risking crossing the autopista on foot. Bill would’ve preferred dodging the cars.
The car was ready and we headed home with one more tourist stop planned.
Callista wanted to return to Senor and Senora’s, a shop where she gets her miniature wooden toys. They have two stores as well as a factory in Alajuela. If you want wood souvenirs, this is the place to buy them, hair ornaments, jewelry, toys, purses, salad bowls, etc. All the shops that we’ve been in from Monteverde to Manuel Antonio sell THEIR stuff. Don’t believe me, look at the tags. Look for the bill board on the pista headed towards San Ramon from the Airport. This trip we went to the corporate office store, 150 meters up the road from the store on the main road. If you want to order large quantities this is where you’d go.
All shopped out at only 3pm, time to head home to Bear before the evening storm hit. The sky was black so we knew we were headed into some heavy rain. Heavy rain, HOLY COW did we get heavy rain.
Entrance to the National Theater
Can you see the excitement in Bill's eyes? You would've thought he was a little boy going to a baseball game! I risked my camera to take a few shots. We’ve had long, hard rains before but we’ve usually been at home. We had no idea what happens in the little towns we pass on the autopista.
We saw waterfalls coming OUT of peoples houses. Water raged down the 2 to 3ft gutters on the sides of the highway. In some areas two feet of water covered the autopista. Sides of hills had moved onto the road. It was an amazing, exciting and frightening thing to see. We reached San Ramon to find a good part of the town underwater. A local bar we pass on our way home had closed its doors as the water level had risen above the sidewalks and had certainly covered the floor of the bar. Not too many people walking on the streets. Those we saw were huddled together under umbrellas contemplating how to cross the flooded roads. We watched as a big pickup truck crossed in front of us causing such a wave of water that it completely engulfed another smaller pickup and its passengers. I wish I could’ve gotten a picture! It was like watching a cartoon.
Ah... home at last.
Ceiling in a salon
I couldn't get a shot of the whole ceiling but you can get a sense of it. Bear was very happy to have us home back. He doesn't like to be alone when it rains. Bill was happy to be sitting on the sofa with an Imperial to calm his nerves while I placed buckets under the new leaks in the living room ceiling. It rained hard in San Ramon while we were gone. It was a long day for all of us. Callista and I were both out by 8pm. Bill stayed up a little later and ended up having to mop rain water away from our front door as water crept in. It rained hard after we got home!
Yesterday could've been a boring Thursday spent at the mechanics shop but it turned into an exciting day of adventure that wore us all out!
UPDATE: We're going to see a performance by the UCR Choir at the National Theater next month!
PURA VIDA!
Jen, Bill, Callista and Bear
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Tiffany
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Christmas Light Decorations
I laughed at the lights. I bought the same ones at Wal-mart during the after Christmas sales.