San José

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The town of San Joaquín de Flores, where we live, is in the province of Heredia, but it is also more or less a suburb of the capital city of San José. On Thursday afternoon, we spent a few hours on a tour of the city. First we drove through some of the more affluent neighborhoods and saw the home of the current president, Oscar Arias, as well as the US Embassy. Then we drove into the heart of the city and had lunch at a typical restaurant near the National Museum. Our food was served on a wooden plank lined with banana leaves, and we had our choice of type of "casado," which is the very traditional and VERY common dish of beans and rice and either beef, chicken or fish, usually served with a small salad or slaw, some other cooked vegetables and some fried plantain. After lunch, we walked to the Museo Nacional (National Museum), which is located on a hill in an old fort. The setting itself is impressive, and the exhibits walk you through the history of Costa Rica, from 10,000 years before Christ until the present day. We saw pre-Colombian artifacts, gold and jade made into jewelry and other ornaments by the indigenous people, a typical colonial home, an exhibit describing (in life-size cutouts) the mixing of races throughout Costa Rican history, and even the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Oscar Arias in 1987 for his efforts to promote peace in Central America. Johnny explained the history behind the abolition of the armed forces in Costa Rica in 1949, and throughout the entire tour he displayed both the wealth of knowledge that he possesses and the pride that he has in his country. After the museum, we walked a few hundred yards to the Parque Nacional (National Park), which is really a beautiful city park. Throughout San José, we encountered many cows -- no, not live cows, but cow "statues," of sort, all decorated and arranged to highlight various important aspects of contemporary Costa Rican culture. A slightly longer walk led us to the Teatro Nacional (National Theater), which was considered a "jewel in a mudhole" when first built in 1897, since it was constructed basically in the middle of a coffee field. The idea was to bring fine culture to Costa Rica, and after seeing the beautiful Italian and French marble and huge European-style paintings inside, we were certainly impressed. Finally, we headed to La Catedral Metropolitana (Metropolitan Cathedral), where we had about 20 minutes to look inside or check out some more cows in a park across the street. Those of us who went inside the cathedral felt a bit odd because there was a mass taking place at the time, but it is common for people to come and go during mass. We quietly snapped a few pictures (no flash) and then went outside to wait for our driver to take us back to San Joaquín.

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Photos

Lunch!
The food was very good at this typically-decorated restaurant near the National Museum.

Busy Eating
Some of us were too busy eating to stop and pose for a picture. Notice the food served on banana leaves over a wooden plank.

Casado con pollo
Katie got this close-up picture of her food and the banana leaf. It is "casado con pollo" or rice and beans with chicken (and some other stuff.)

National Museum
The National Museum is in an old fort on a hill overlooking San José with a nice view of the nearby mountains. Elroy, Anne Marie, Glaze, Reid, Ashton (and almost Katie and Lauren) are taking in the view before the tour.

Strike a Pose
Katie poses in the gardens of the museum. (I made her do this three times before I actually got the camera right!)

Museum Portico
The National Museum is very open, with beautiful gardens and a wide portico leading all around the inside portion of the building.

Lots of Work
Johnny explained that this pre-Colombian object was carved out of one solid piece of stone.

Closer Look
This is a closer look at that stone carving.

Rest stop
The group stopped to take a rest on a bench that was the perfect size for a group photo.

Stone Spheres
We had seen these stone spheres in other places, including CPI. Johnny explained that they are mysterious artifacts from between 300 and 1200 A.D. that have been found all over Costa Rica.

Bartering
Outside the National Museum, Pete and Glaze barter with a vendor for small flute-type instruments in the form of animals, similar to those made by some of the indigenous people of Costa Rica.

Cows everywhere!
This cow is decorated to highlight the traditional coffee production of Costa Rica, but Crystal, Bailey and Elroy are looking at another nearby cow that is disguised as a tree frog.

Cow in Detail
Crystal got this good shot showing the detail painted on that cow.

Concert in the Park
Glaze entertains us with the flute-thing that he bought.

When Cows Fly
This cow is ziplining through the rainforest (like some of our group may do later at Monteverde).

Important Monument
The group looks at an important monument honoring Juan Santamaría, who is said to have sacrificed his life to help defend Costa Rica from the forces of William Walker, an invading U.S. mercenary, in 1855.

National Theater
Reid snapped this one of the front entrance to the Teatro Nacional. Imagine this being built in the middle of coffee fields!

Foyer of the Theater
Reid also took this photo of the foyer of the National Theater. Everything glittering really IS gold, and the marble is European.

Inside the Cathedral
Don't worry - we were very quiet and respectful as we looked inside the Metropolitan Cathedral and discovered that a service was in progress.

Commissioned by the Pope
Bailey stands near a statue of Pope John Paul II, who commissioned its sculptor to sculpt a work that is now in the Vatican.

This is serious
There are some very serious ice cream cone eaters in this group! (Pete, Glaze, Ashton and Reid)

Waiting for the Driver
Here, most of the group waits outside the Metropolitan Cathedral for the driver to take us back to San Joaquín.

Comments

[Beth Robertson]

Can't wait to get there, too!
Susan...I was really looking forward to my trip there...but now I really can't wait to see Costa Rica for myself! How about you? The kids seem like they are having a great time, don't they? These pictures and emails are priceless!

[William Allen]

Cows!
I love the cows. I'm going to use a couple of those photographs in my modern art class this afternoon. Thanks! I loved the stone spheres too. Keep sharing this kind of thing.