I landed in San Jose right on time and had zero issues getting through immigration and customs. I made my way out the door with my luggage and picked a cab drivr whose name was Franklin. Franklin was a great cabbie and told me lots about his country on the 20 minute drive into the city. I couldn't comprehend everything Franklin said but picked up there are 7 provinces in Costa Rica, a little over 4 million people, Winter (the rainy season) had arrived about 3 weeks ago, and Ticos (the people of Costa Rica) are the friendliest people in the world. Franklin also told me that San Jose was a typical big downtown city where people commuted in for work but nothing really happens at night except the casinos, especially on a Sunday night.
I checked into Hotel Santo Tomas which was a cute little boutique hotel that used to be a mansion. Since it was almost 9, and I wasn't very hungry I decided to just eat at the hotel. I went down the airy restaurant and had a bowl of onion soupa and a cerveza. While eating I met an older couple from Harrisburg, PA that was staying at the hotel? We did the small chat thing before they left. I finished my soup, ordered another cerveza and asked for the cuenta (check) and surprised myself that I remembered a few Spanish words. On precious trips to Mexico Dan (or Josh) did most of the talking to the locals. I don't know if the waiter was as impressed but he gave me one of the cervesas on the house.
I decided to call it an early night to get the sleep I didn't get the previous night. I also wanted to sightsee around San Jose before I needed to catch my bus south. I arrived at breakfast at 7am and was excited to see Gallo Pinto as one of my 3 options to eat. My friend Irene had texted me the previous day that this was a must eat. She was right. The beans, rice, and scrambled eggs were delicious. Again, while I was eating I saw the Pennsylvanian couple and started chatting with them again. The were in the country, and this specific hotel, to get dental work down. There was an expert dentist on staff and the prices were cheaper than the States. Who knew? The wife, Mae, and I decided to walk around town together while her husband Ed was getting 3 root canal treatments done.
I had 3 hours to kill so Mae and I started off for the Central Market. Here we found a maze of booths with all kinds of products for sale. There were souvenirs along with everything from household products (pots and pans to cleaning products), pet food or a pet (dog, bunnies, chickens), clothes knives and machetes (which some of you know I was dying to have), to a full food court of cooked and uncooked food- meats, cheeses, vegetable, herbs, and many items I didnt recognize- you name it. Mae and I didn't see anything we wanted and finally made our way out of the labyrinth.
Our next stop was the artisan market. We needed to walk 9 blocks from our hotel so we set out in the right direction; however, we never found the market. Later we would learn the sign is very small and easy to walk past, which is apparently what we did. We walked awhile and decided to head back towards the hotel taking a different route. Franklin was correct that San Jose is a typical large city. I could have just as easily been in Buenos Aires, Argentina. There were large pedestrian walkways with tons of shops selling clothes, shoes, food, surf boards, etc. I spotted many McDonalds, Popeye's, Taco Bell, and Quiznos. There were also little pocket parks everywhere with statues, trees, and flowers that made the city less, well city like. My three hour walking tour was enough and we headed back to the hotel so I could start the next leg of the trip. With my bags packed and taxi called I was off again.
