Blogs from Central America Caribbean - page 1912

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 ... read more

...a very unique jazz supper club in old san juan! Pianist Carli Munoz grew up in Puerto Rico but at an early age covered a lot of ground musically and geographically. In 1969, he went to Los Angeles on a weekend visit and ended up doing studio work and tours with a variety of artists, such as Wilson Pickett, The Association, Jan and Dean, and the Beach Boys (for 11 years). Eventually Munoz was able to work with artists whose vision was closer to his own: George Benson, Chico Hamilton, Les McCann and Charles Lloyd. in December 1998, he opened his own jazz supper club, Carli Cafe Concierto in Old San Juan where you can enjoy gourmet tapas and exotic martinis under the stars - with a breathtaking view of San Juan Bay from the open ... read more

Hey all, Sorry been out of touch for a while. Internet is expensive and slow here, and i guess you were getting sick of sunset photos at Santa Teresa. So on to a different place - Montezuma! Ali and tripped there for a day from Santa Teresa last week just for something different, and we had heard the waterfalls there were incredible. Montezuma is a funky little town only about 1.5hrs from Santa Teresa so we hitched a ride with a good kiwi friend most of the way (on the back of his flatbed truck getting mouthfuls of dirt) then were lucky enough to meet a local Montezuma guy called randall on the bus the rest of the way. I say this was lucky because we met him at the waterfalls later (which are a nice ... read more

...a UNESCO world heritage site in old san juan! La Fortaleza, built between 1533 and 1540, was the first defensive fortification built for the city of San Juan, and the first of a series of military structures built to protect the city. The construction was authorized by Charles V as a defense against attacks from the European powers of the day and Carib Indians. Since the 16th century, La Fortaleza has acted as the residence of the Governor of Puerto Rico, making it the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the Americas and has been the residence of over 170 governors hosting various dignitaries including President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline Kennedy who stayed in La Fortaleza in 1961. ************************************* ...ah, calypso music...probably my biggest appreciation! allow me to give a brief description ... read more

Day Three - Thursday September 21st The day we decided to go to see the other malls. There was Metro Centro, but M's cousins told us that MC is "ghetto" and that there are "classier" malls to go to. We called a cab that was blessedly free of seat belts and we were taken to the expensive, cold, emotionless malls that you can find in the super upscale districts in Toronto or any other city in the world. I don't have much to say about them at all. I can't even remember their names! I'd call them Boring Mall 1 and Boring Mall 2. Boring Mall 2 was complicated and we kept getting lost (and ending up in the underground parking lot). I was sitting on this bench when suddenly Colonel Sanders sat down next to ... read more