Good morning friends and family!
What a vibrant and gritty and authentic city San Jose is! Not too many tourists, though Robert and I are far from alone, as the streets are crowded at all hours with locals and workers all rushing about. The traffic is pure chaos, but pedestrians abound, nimbly dodging transports of all sizes from overloaded mopeds to dinosaur-scaled buses, all spewing diesel clouds. Something about this place gives me the energy to leap buildings!
Yesterday noon, the rested Robert and I retraced the steps of my morning excursion, then wandered further to the Central Market -- a full city block affair of vendors and eateries, like a turkish souk or the Pike Market. We ´treated´ ourselves to an authentic lunch in the belly of the market. Appetizer was some kind of potato tortilla, fried. The entree a form of meat-ish patty on cornmeal tortilla taco-like. Dry of seasoning or toppings, both were, umm, interesting. But (rap wood) no tummy difficulties to report and it was really fun to use Roberts high school Spanish.
We ventured further to the sketchier part of town where we procurred bus tickets for the morning departure to Jaco, then scooted out quickly, safe and sound, belongings intact, back to our pension.
Jetlagged Robert spent much of the rest of the afternoon napping away the heat and humidity, while I wandered the streets near our pension, burning off excess energy buying three sarangs for the beach, and some tourist trinkets.
This morning we are off to Jaco, on the Pacific Coast, where the adventure continues. I can´t wait to plunge my toes into the ocean!
Love T
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Pura Vida from San Jose!
Ola mi amigos!
Greetings from San Jose, Costa Rica! Robert and I flew out yesterday afternoon. His luggage weighed twice mine -- bikinis just don´t take up much space-- and we were on the red eye out of Denver at midnight. Before we knew it, we had landed, cleared customs and at 530 a.m. were launched onto the streets of San Jose.
The city was already awake and lively, which is more than I can say for the two of us, unwashed and rumpled tourists that we are. Our wonderful pension, Casa 69, owned by a German man from Saarbrucken, checked us in immediately. I jumped headfirst into the shower; Robert barely removed his shoes before crashing out on the bed. I left him to sleep while indulging in a perfect eggwhite omelette, which was not easy to order....I had to do some fancy explaining, and I bet they´re still talking about it. Sigh. After that, I left Robert to his repose and hit the streets of the city.
Our hotel is a bit out of the city center, (but conveniently located to the Nicaraguan embassy so it´s easy to find). I´ve put some tracks on my tennies enjoying the sights and sounds and smells. I found an ATM to withdraw the local currency but then realized I had forgotten the exchange rate and was uncertain whether I was withdrawing $10 or $1000. Zipes. Fortunately for me, I guessed correctly, and have $10 to splurge on whatever tourist fancies grip me (and there are many, many).
Sending you my love!
Love T
Greetings from San Jose, Costa Rica! Robert and I flew out yesterday afternoon. His luggage weighed twice mine -- bikinis just don´t take up much space-- and we were on the red eye out of Denver at midnight. Before we knew it, we had landed, cleared customs and at 530 a.m. were launched onto the streets of San Jose.
The city was already awake and lively, which is more than I can say for the two of us, unwashed and rumpled tourists that we are. Our wonderful pension, Casa 69, owned by a German man from Saarbrucken, checked us in immediately. I jumped headfirst into the shower; Robert barely removed his shoes before crashing out on the bed. I left him to sleep while indulging in a perfect eggwhite omelette, which was not easy to order....I had to do some fancy explaining, and I bet they´re still talking about it. Sigh. After that, I left Robert to his repose and hit the streets of the city.
Our hotel is a bit out of the city center, (but conveniently located to the Nicaraguan embassy so it´s easy to find). I´ve put some tracks on my tennies enjoying the sights and sounds and smells. I found an ATM to withdraw the local currency but then realized I had forgotten the exchange rate and was uncertain whether I was withdrawing $10 or $1000. Zipes. Fortunately for me, I guessed correctly, and have $10 to splurge on whatever tourist fancies grip me (and there are many, many).
Sending you my love!
Love T
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