San Jose, Costa Rica – April 21-23 & 25-27, 2011

We arrived in San Jose at 3:30 p.m.    The flight from Bocas del Toro was an hour long and in a twin engine Otter that sat no more than 20 people.  There were only about ten of us on the flight so we had lots of room, which was good because there really was nowhere to put your carryon luggage otherwise.  One benefit of a small plane is that the windows are huge.   Hopefully I got some good pictures of both Bocas and San Jose.  It was also one of those flights where you arrive at the same time you depart so that’s always good for an extra hour in the day.

We took time at the airport to book our flight from San Jose to Guatemala City.  I should say we booked the flight in Bocas since we needed to prove we had a return flight or some flight out of Costa Rica so we bought one at the last minute at the Bocas airport just so they’d let us on the plane.  Then in San Jose we changed the details slightly so the flight was actually more useful for us.  I ran into this problem when trying to fly from Colombia to Panama and now again getting into Costa Rica.  Apparently we will hit the same problem in Guatemala and Belize so it’s not quite as easy to make last minute plans for the Central American countries.  We may have to actually plan a bit in advance.

We took a taxi to our hotel which seemed to be in the middle of a very deserted nowhere.  However, the hotel was quite nice.  Part of the Santo Thomas used to be an old mansion and I’m sure it was a beautiful home.  Our room opened on to a small interior courtyard so it was very quiet.  The ceiling in the room was at least ten feet tall.  The hotel has a pool and restaurant on site.  It was very secure and the people were very friendly and helpful.  The hotel was only a couple of blocks from the main “old town” area of San Jose so well within walking distance.  The streets were deserted but apparently that was due to it being Easter weekend and everything being closed.  In fact when we returned later in the week there were indeed more people on the streets and more businesses open.

On the first afternoon we went for a walk around the area.  As noted above there were no stores open but we did see several squares/plazas/parks and monuments, old buildings and new buildings, dilapidated buildings and buildings in good repair.  Within a block of the hotel we had Music Temple, which was really just a green park with a gazebo that is apparently used at times for concerts.  Two blocks beyond that we had the Culture Square.  Around that square we found the Gold Museum, the Grand Hotel Costa Rica and the National Theatre.  The first is very new and downstairs under the square so not much of a building.  The second is an old and beautiful brick building classical in style and dating from the 1930’s.  The third is a very impressive 1897 palace that was converted and expanded and refurbished yet again.

The National Theatre was funded by placing a tax on coffee and then later on rice and beans.  It was built at a time when the population of the city was less than 20,000 and yet the people of the city saw the need for a formal theatre and the President supported them.  The building is huge, as are all theatres.  From the front it appears to have two very high storeys with the top one having high arched windows.  The two storeys differ in brick layout but both are decorated in various ways with statues, columns, railings, etc.  There are three tall statues on the triangle above the main entrance, each with an arts connection (music, theatre, ??? – I no longer remember exactly what).  Overall on the exterior it is a very impressive building.

I had a chance to go inside for a quick tour and a concert.  The interior is very lovely.  The foyer has huge ornate pillars, beautiful statues, and very decorated doors and windows.  There are frescoes on the ceiling as well.  To one side there is a restaurant and to the other side there is the box office and also an exhibit room on the building and renovation of the theatre.  Upstairs above the foyer there is a large room with white walls, gold trim and decoration around the walls and huge ornate mirrors, more statues and frescoes on the ceiling.  There are two smaller rooms on each side again with gold decorations and frescoes on the ceiling.  One of the frescoes, or are they ceiling murals, “Allegory of Coffee and Bananas” is supposed to be quite famous.  I suppose it relates back to the way the building was funded.

The interior of the theatre itself is also very ornate and very gold although I imagine that much of it now (especially the areas that patrons can touch) are probably just gold paint.  The orchestra level is probably only about 20 rows deep and the surrounding lower balcony is only three rows deep.  There is an upper balcony that is also about three rows deep.  The balconies continue along the sides of the theatre to the stage wall and there are private boxes.  The nice thing about the front balcony or box seats was that they actually faced the stage, as opposed to facing the centre of the theatre as some theatres have them.  I sat in the back row of the lower balcony as close to the centre as one could get and the view was great and the sound amazing.  There were five musicians on stage (piano, bass, violin, guitar and accordion –yes, I know it’s a strange combination but it worked).  The sound was absolutely beautiful where I was sitting and you could hear every instrument clearly all the time.  Either the acoustics in the theatre are remarkable or they had a really good sound technician because it was fantastic.  The concert was very short – only about 40 minutes – over the lunch hour so it was very enjoyable.  I didn’t recognize any of the songs but they were fast and interesting.  I think they were all supposed to be tango songs but you couldn’t really prove it by me as I don’t tango.  I did think they were playing Hernando’s Hideaway at one point, if that counts as a tango song.

Okay, I’m off track now.  The concert was on the second visit to San Jose.  I was still on the first visit starting on April 21^st, which was the Thursday before Good Friday and Easter.  We walked about another three blocks and arrived at Central Park or the main square.  The Cathedral is on this square and there were a lot of people around the outside of the cathedral and into the park and there were several stages set up.  They were doing an enactment of the Easter story and it was to start in a few minutes.  We went to one of the food courts and had some fast food for dinner and then went back to watch the presentation.  When we arrived, The Last Supper was over (stage to the left of the cathedral looking from the cathedral) and Jesus and the disciples were in the Garden of Gethsemane.  The soldiers came and took the group to an area right in front of the cathedral that was the Roman courts and the evening ended after the sentence was handed down and Jesus was led away into the cathedral.  A few minutes later, from that point, a procession came out of the cathedral and proceeded down the street.  We watched for a while but did not follow as many of the locals did.  The procession probably included 100 people, mainly Romans, and they moved slowly and seriously through the streets as if doing their jobs on that fateful night.  Statues of Jesus and other saints were carried at the end of the procession with Jesus bound as if still part of the story.  I never quite figured out the other statues.  The walk was to take two hours in total and the rest of the story was to continue the next day.

On the 22^nd, Good Friday, we made some travel arrangements for the coming days and then wandered a bit past the Cathedral to La Merced, which was the first church of the town and where the founding of San Jose was officially celebrated.  It is a very beautiful old church which in many ways is somewhat gothic but not totally.  It is built of a tan/pink stone and has two spires with red roofs that reach high into the sky.  The interior has large stained-glass windows, small columns that make it seem very large and open, and a high arched carved wooden ceiling.  There is a large park across from the church and one of the largest hospitals in Costa Rica across from that. 

On the way back we got caught in the next procession (10 a.m. to noon) so stood and watched for quite a while as the soldiers again marched slowly down the street and the story followed the way of the cross with several smaller stages set up along the route to represent the various stages of the process.  The crowds were continually following along the route so it was an organized throng on the street in the official procession and then a disorganized throng on the sidewalks trying to move along with them.  Jesus carrying the cross was shown as a statue that was carried and again there were several statues of saints that followed behind, also being carried.  As we didn’t follow the procession to the end I’m not exactly sure where it finished but I’m sure it was at the crucifixion.  And the story was to be continued at 5 p.m. that evening.

It was at this point that we realized we were standing across from the post office which was one of the buildings we were supposed to see but hadn’t yet found.  Someone referred to it as a masterpiece and I’d have to agree.  It is a huge building that covers and entire block and it is Victorian in style.  It was built in 1917 and is two storeys high with very high storeys.  There are pillars, carvings, curved windows, statues, cameos and other decorations on the outside of the building, as well as bay windows and corner towers.  The sign above the main door says “Correos y Telegrafos”.  The times have changed a bit but I believe the building is still used as a post office.  It’s also used for the stamp museum.  In some areas of the old city centre there were other almost as stunning buildings but this one was my favourite.

We continued walking around the old town and wandered down a very deserted pedestrian street.  There was one restaurant open so we stopped there for lunch.  We then went to the Legislative Building, the Yellow House or President’s Residence, National Park, the National Museum, which is in an old fort, an artisans market,  the library, city hall, and more parks, plazas, monuments and much more.  Just as we’d finished our walking tour and were returning home we realized there was a tourist train that went around the same area and with commentary so we decided to give that a try.  It really did cover just basically what we had already seen on our walk but it was nice to have a bit of commentary to go along with the sights. 

I went back to the cathedral for the 5 p.m. show, which I thought was in the cathedral, but it turned out to be another procession.  I stayed for about an hour to watch the happenings.  This was the procession taking away Jesus’ body and it was even slower and more solemn than the ones before.  It started with a message or reading from a priest who was in one of the windows of the Melico Salazar Theatre, which is right across the street from the cathedral.  Then a soloist came out and sang some haunting song which I didn’t recognize but everyone else in the crowd seemed to know.  Eventually the procession started and everyone just stood and watched as the Roman soldiers and other costumed characters went by and Jesus’ body was carried past.  Then the various catholic churches were out in full force with their gowns and banners and each carrying their own statues.  Many of the people followed the procession down the street.  I did not follow the procession but took some time to go visit the cathedral.

The exterior of Metropolitan Cathedral is a beautiful white.  There are eight columns holding the balcony or entrance level, and outdoor steps leading up to that level.  The design looks Baroque to me but apparently it is also Greek Orthodox and neo-classical according to the guide books.  There are two towers, one on each side of one central section that looked very much like a false front to me.  It’s a very striking building and very peaceful looking.  The interior is no different in that last respect.  It is very simple and peaceful with columns running down each side of the sanctuary and a high curved ceiling.  The stained glass windows were of Bible stories and very well done.  The cathedral was built in 1802 but destroyed by fire so it had to be rebuilt in 1871.  Since everyone was outside following the procession it was a great chance to sit in quiet and reflect for a few moments on everything I had to be thankful for and to say a few prayers.

On the 23^rd we were up early for a 6 a.m. pickup for our adventure to Tortuguero so not much to say about San Jose.  We returned around dinner time on the 25^th so that’s where this story resumes.  I don’t remember where we went to dinner so perhaps I should say that the story begins the next day. 

We started the 26^th with a late breakfast and trying to make some travel arrangements.  Just before noon we headed down toward the Gold Museum, which was our destination.  Before going in I decided to go over to the National Theatre, which is on the same square, just to find out when their tours were.  As it turned out there was a concert about to start at 12 noon for only 1,000 colones or about $2 so I decided to do that instead so I could see the inside of the theatre.  That concert and my description of the National Theatre is somewhere up above out of sequence but at least in the right blog. 

Following the concert I had some lunch in the theatre restaurant and then proceeded to the Gold Museum.  I expected it to cost $3, which is what the guide books said.  However it was $11.  I took one of their brochures to see if I thought it was really worth that amount of money and decided against it.  There are actually three museums n the one building: the gold museum, the money museum and an exhibition space.  I really wasn’t interested in the money museum at all, although I later heard it was the most interesting part, nor the sculpture exhibit that was in the exhibition space so I decided to not go in.  In talking to others later, I think I made the right decision.

Instead I walked down the pedestrian street to the Museo Nacional de Costa Rica in the old fort building.  That cost me $8 so not a lot cheaper but it was worth it.  Parts of the old fort have been totally redone to become a museum and other parts of the original fort are still intact.  When you enter the museum you climb many steps to get to the entrance but you are still on the lowest level of the fort.  The first room is a large empty space with plants in and a ramp that winds around to get you up to the next level.  This area is the butterfly garden.  There were supposedly 30 different butterflies in the area but I certainly didn’t see that many.  I did see many of the beautiful blue morpho butterflies and they really are stunning.  The only problem is that it never sits still with its wings open so I can get a picture.

From there I went into the old barracks where they have the rooms that the soldiers used as well as the cells where the prisoners were kept.  They have pictures and displays in these areas and they were interesting to look at but there wasn’t much else to see.  The barracks was used for military purposes until December 1, 1948 when the army abolition was decreed, and in 1950 it became a museum.  Prior to being a military compound the area was used for coffee plantations so it has quite a history.  There are two homes within the museum and these are the First and Second Commanders Homes from the end of end of the 19^th or beginning of the 20^th century.  Some of the rooms were quite large and would have been used for large gatherings.  Several rooms were on display.  Some had lots of original furniture while others were quite sparsely furnished. 

There were two temporary exhibition halls in the museum but I know longer remember what the exhibits were.  I think one of them was even closed so that should have been easy to remember.  The National History museum part was also closed due to renovations.  It would have been interesting to see the history of Costa Rica but I guess that was not meant to be.  I did see the exhibit on Pre-Columbian History and it was very interesting with many old objects such as pottery, arrowheads, jewelry, etc. from thousands of years ago, as well as reconstructions of their homes.  I think the oldest information or pieces in the exhibit dated from 10,000 BC so that’s really old.  Some of the more impressive pieces were made of gold or jade but even some of the oldest pottery had some great designs.  It always amazes me how items such as dishes survive for so long.  Obviously they built things to last back then.  The last part I visited was the Indigenous Gold museum which had some incredibly beautiful pieces of gold in it.  There were large plain pieces and tiny, ornate, intricately decorated pieces.  It was all quite beautiful and amazing given how old some of it was.

After the museum I walked back toward the hotel, stopping for an ice cream treat along the way, did some blogging or travel planning (I no longer remember what I did!) and then eventually went back out again for dinner.  The next morning we were off on an early transfer to La Fortuna and that is documented in a previous blog.  Too bad I can’t get these things organized and posted in order!  However, it really depends on how much down time I have and when I can get things written.  I have until Saturday when we move to Guatemala and start yet another adventure, to get this week’s blog completed plus two other previous ones:  1) Tortuguero, Costa Rica and 2) Cali, Colombia.  I still have about ten to do from the last trip in South America but I fear they may have to wait for a really long time.