We began really early at O’Hare on Friday, after we spent the night at the airport. We flew to Charlotte and then onto San Jose, where we arrived mid-afternoon. The temperature change was fantastic. The first day we just checked out the Marriott San Jose, but the second day we took a cab into the city. Our driver, Javier, took us around both in his cab and on foot, and we spent 4 hours with him showing the highlights of the city. We went to the market, the Gold Museum, and inside the Cathedral. Later in the trip, we went into the National Theatre.

San Jose

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2/27/15—3/6/15

The international airport

The Marriott was near the airport and it had a beautiful courtyard in the center of it (right)

The room was nice, and it had a beautiful view of the pool. We went out and sat outside in the warm weather until we decided to eat in a restaurant open to the lawn and golf driving range.

Javier really wanted us to see the market. The market contained just about anything fresh that you could imagine, including flowers, produce, and meats. It would have been great to be able to buy things and cook them.

The Cathedral (left) wasn’t as pretty on the outside as this other church (below left), but the inside was beautiful (below)

Javier took us to the Gold Museum, which had a number of small pieces that were created before Columbus even made it to Costa Rica, despite the fact that Costa Rica had no gold. Coffee was traded for precious metals and then the figures were made. There was also a very interesting photo in the museum (far right).

After our week of going to other resorts in different parts of the country, we returned to the Marriott in San Jose. The last morning, after we said goodbye to everyone, we had one final good breakfast, where a beautiful bird came to visit. We then spent a little time at the pool before we took off to the airport, where we passed by some of the street vendors that just walk down the middle of the road trying to sell you things. Finally, we said goodbye to Costa Rica.

After our city tour, we enjoyed lunch and drinks at the hotel

On the last day of our tour, we came back to San Jose and went to the National Theatre. The building was built in the late 1800’s and contained a lot of art, including marble statues, painted ceilings, gold-leaf ornamental trim and railings, and more.

A final drive through the city and past an old fort that’s now a national museum. Greivin was our guide for the week and he was very enthusiastic about his country.

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