Show me the way to San Jose

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La Sabana is a large park on the edge of the city centre in San Jose. On Sunday morning it was full of life. There were thousands of people picnicking and walking dogs, but more importantly playing sports. The park has volleyball, basketball and tennis courts, football fields and a roller skating rink. However sporting life in San Jose seems to be a little machismo – only hombres were playing football, tennis and basketball. Women played volleyball or did the outdoor aerobics class.

When we arrived at 9.30 am there were dozens of football games in progress. We didn’t know the social rules for how to join in but Jackson put on his boots and started juggling a football and within minutes he was invited to join a team. He then played 90 minutes of good quality football – he was impressed with how the Costa Ricans played different tactics to Australians.
Sunday seems to be the day to be outdoors. The plazas in town were full of people just hanging, and thousands thronged the narrow streets. We grabbed a beer and nachos and watched the crowds go by.

We are staying in the old part of town at Hotel Don Carlos. The hotel is a rambling old hacienda with the most eclectic furnishings and decorations – stain glass windows, Aztec-style statues, mosaics and fountains. I just love hanging out here reading and checking emails.

Close to the hotel is the zoo which is a little drab and ill-kept but has an interesting collection of birds and mammals from Costa Rica. Unfortunately, most of them were labelled “in danger of extinction”. There were toucans, macaws, tapirs, spider monkeys and stranger animals we’d never heard of before.

We went to the Cuban embassy this morning to get our visa. There aren’t any street addresses here – just between this street and that avenue, for example. Anyway the embassy address was:
La Sabana norte
El Restaurante Chicote
100 metros norte, 50 metros oeste, 200 metros norte

We worked out that this translates to: north of Sabana park – from the Chicote Restaurant head 1 block north (100 metres means a block regardless of the real distance), turn and go ½ block west and then another 2 blocks north. Gotta love it – and we were so proud of ourselves for finding it!

Costa Rica has the reputation of being the most together of the Central American countries – and based on our two days of observation thus far this seems to be true. It is bustling with activity with little outward sign of poverty. In fact it seems if anything relatively prosperous. From here we go to the mountains, volcanoes and rainforest....

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Comments

[robert]

San Jose
that Jackson kid seems really good a football I reckon Liverpool should grapheme up before Man u does.

[Margaret Jones]

wistful sigh...
HI. Great blog. I loved san jose but haven't thought about it for a while. There was a wacky restaurant that all the mariachis ended up in at the end of the night and then play very loudly for the rest of the evening to the wee hours of the AM - i was staying just above it...if its still there its worth a visit (and if you can stay up late at night). Its muy famoso so you will be able to find it if its still there. Como es tu espanol??muy bien. Glad to see Jackson is mixing it with the locals...he could come back with some tricky new tactics. keep having fun - Margarita

[stacie adamedes]

I love the blog!
Great way to keep up with your adventures. Waht a fab experience for Jackson. Stay safe and lots of love from, Stacie