Costa Rica is known as the Switzerland of Latin America. And I think they are right!. I think this is a gorgeous country, very peaceful, happy and no army! Yei! Plus very green. Everywhere I looked, beautiful green views from their mountains and very clean streets.
The first time I visited San Jose, it was during Spring Break 2002, I actually went to Venezuela with some friends and on the way back to Florida, making a stopover in Costa Rica, for some reason we lost our flight (well… it wasn’t our fault, I promise! lol) so we had to stay one night in San Jose. It was fun but I didn’t get to see much.
This time, we went to San Jose, the capital. Our first night, we visited El Pueblo (The town). It’s a place where you can find some restaurants, bars, clubs and stores. We had dinner at one of the restaurants where food was great! I’m sure every restaurant at El Pueblo will have great dishes. Delicious!
Next day in the morning, we visited downtown San Jose. The first spot we went to, the Gold Museum, which is located under the Plaza de la Cultura (The Culture Square). Nearby you’ll find the Theater, where you can feel in Paris since it has the resemble of the Opera House in Paris. We took a tour inside the theater and got the opportunity to watch some rehearsal for an Italian play.
The Cathedral is a block away. Beautiful place to visit in front of a gorgeous square.
There are taxis everywhere in San Jose, I suggest you to rent a car if you would like to travel to other cities. Just as we did.
What I like the most from the country, the short distance between towns. I’d be doing a lot of road trips if I lived there. Just be careful driving, since there are a lot of curves on the way courtesy of the mountains. At least from San Jose to the North West.
From San Jose, we went to the North West, close to the Nicoya Gulf. We visited the cities of Orotina and San Mateo. Enjoyed a delicious Ceviche de Mango and of course, fresh sea food in front of the beach.
One of the things I enjoyed in Costa Rica, is the variety of sports. During an afternoon, we visited a park, Turubari, close to San Mateo. They offer you horse rides, a long walk across the park getting to see different animals and plants, rappel, canopy and an incredible flight as Superman.
To the north of the Alajuela city, we went to the Poas Volcano. Although, we couldn’t see the volcano very weel, since it was very cloudy (and cold), at least we enjoyed a walk across the park and looking at those big leaves known as sombrilla de pobre.
I hope I can go back to Costa Rica soon, since I want to go to the beaches next time and I’m sure it has lot of nice places to show us!
Here’s the video about this awesome trip to Costa Rica (Click CC for subtitles in English):
Keep it clean!