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Published: June 17th 2010
ASU in San José
The ASU group in a San José city park. Our half-day tour of the capital city of San José (about 30 minutes away) started with a big lunch at Soda Tapia, a “soda” that was more like a regular restaurant than the typical little soda in Costa Rica. Some ordered the typical Costa Rican “casado” (rice, beans, salad and chicken or fish or other meat), but there were other choices as well. When we saw the size of Lisa’s hamburger, we realized that all of us actually could have just shared it and ordered nothing else!
After lunch, we took the van to the main downtown area and our first stop was la Catedral Metropolitana (the Metropolitan Cathedral). Since there were no services taking place, we were lucky to be able to walk around the entire interior. There were so many symbols and details, it was impossible to take in everything, but we tried!
Next, we walked a few blocks to el Teatro Nacional, a large theatre built at the end of the 19th century, when it was still surrounded by open land, oxcarts and coffee fields rather than city buildings and
Mysterious Spheres
Sara took this great picture of some of the spheres found in Costa Rica with Johnny to show their relative size. traffic. Costa Ricans invested a huge amount of money and effort into building a place suitable for international cultural events, which explains why it is full of Italian and French marble, paintings and sculptures by European artists, and gold-plated details.
As we left the theatre, we had to wait a bit for the van, which gave us time to spend with some of the street vendors and others who approach tourists coming and going from this major landmark. Some bought small gifts and replicas of the 5 colones bill, which is depicted in a famous painting on the ceiling of the theatre. Others spent some time with a guy who attracted pigeons and took and sold pictures of tourists with pigeons on their shoulders and heads and in their hands. You can see that we got some of our own photos like this, although the pigeon guy did sell at least one of his photos to us as well.
The next stop was el Museo Nacional, a beautiful museum built within the walls of a former fort. There, Johnny (our guide) took us from room to room explaining the history of the country, from thousands of years before
Part of San José
Sara got this great shot near el Museo Nacional. Christ to modern-day Costa Rica. We saw everything from the mysterious large spheres that were found by archaeologists throughout the country to tools and artifacts in the shape of jaguars and crocodiles to gold and jade ornaments made or traded by the indigenous population of Costa Rica. In the part of the museum representing more modern times, we saw Costa Rica’s first printing press, an exhibit honoring Costa Rica’s most famous scientist, the Nobel Prize awarded to former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias in 1987, and a variety of other significant historical items. One room even showed life-sized cutouts of typical Costa Ricans and their ancestors to show the ethnic origins and the ethnic composition of the current population.
After the museum, we walked a bit to a park where we posed for a group photo beneath an important monument. It’s ironic that we were a group of foreigners exploring the city and posing under a statue representing the provinces of Costa Rica defending themselves from a foreign invasion, but Costa Ricans welcome foreign tourists and students like us now, and we certainly are enjoying their hospitality.
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Carol O'Connor
non-member comment
Hope You're Learning & Playing Too
I've been enjoying reading your blogs and looking at the pictures. It appears as though Dr. Owens has once again put her talents to work setting up a wonderful assortment of activities for all of you. I'd like to join a tour of the museum and the cathedral! Perhaps I'll get to Costa Rica one day. There is nothing special to report on this end except for the extreme heat and humidity. Everyone at ASU sends their best. Sincerely, Dr. O'Connor, Interim Dean