When I was in grade 6, we moved to Costa Rica for the year to learn Spanish before moving to Venezuela for 6 years.
I wanted to show my Children where I lived in San Jose...
so we took Uber to the district of San Francisco de Dos Rios and the area near El Bosque park. Before we even got to our destination, I saw the outdoor basketball court and playground where we went to do gym class (I skinned both my knees on that court!).
We got out at the bus stop by El Bosque; where as a young 11 year old, I brought home a cute baby albino bunny that my Friend and I had bought when we went to the mall to buy a birthday gift for her Mom - thinking that we could take weekly turns to nurture and take care of. Later in the day, we walked around and knocked on doors asking if any neighbours would like a free rabbit - I think we both learned an important lesson.
I believe the brown house was the one we lived in...a few things have changed in the past (almost) 30 years! The blue one was pretty much how I remember it being - so that was a good clue.
Our kids thought the playground equipment at El Bosque park was the best part of the trip (after having not been to a regular town/city park in the past month at Playa Chiquita).
This is the Spanish Language Institute where my parents went to school. They allowed us to walk thru the whole area as it is now a school for younger children after I said why I was there.
...it could be Madrid, it could be Rome - nope, it's downtown San Jose. The national theatre transports a person to Europe with it's marble, architecture and majestic sculptures. Incredible to see the many facets of this beautiful country.
...the pigeons were enjoyed
(but not by me!).
The beauty of the downtown Cathedral. A memory that's linked, my little brother was 1 when we went to Costa Rica, he was always getting his cheeks pinched (kindly) and told how cute he was (hey, I still think he's cute - he's my little brother after all...I wonder if he's reading this blog?). When we were in the this church I had the sense that Maelle was heading for a cheek pinch similar to her Uncle - an older lady looked at Maelle and said she has hair just like a muñeca.
Playing...exploring.
The 35 kms to get to Zarcero from Grecia took well over an hour and a quarter...but it was worth the trip (and time). This small town on the crest of mountains is known for it's cedar sculptures - the smell was like home at Christmas.
There were dinosaurs, elephants, oxcarts and dog sculptures...and many more. Incredible artistry!
This is the beautiful artwork inside the church.
The green church of Sarchi...a town of furniture and oxcarts.
The largest oxcart of the world...
I'm the main navigator on these adventures; I use Waze (a map app that many Locals use and is country specific - we also used it in Israel so coming here and talking with Uber drivers about what they used helped me know what to download when we rented the car for this week) to get us around the mountain roads, towns and paths (with neither sign nor grid). We couldn't make it without (I remember many stops as a child trying to get directions thru small Venezuelan towns). When we would get to our final destination in Israel, we'd say 'wazel tov' (instead of mazel tov - which is a Jewish saying which means congratulations or good luck). Today, after Waze turned off for 5 seconds and we took a wrong turn and then instead of coming up the road that was a bit wider and where we had driven before, we were directed to came up a path that was too narrow for a motorbike and our rental car (the bike rider waved us thru and made sure we didn't bump mirrors)...we said 'wazel tov' as we parked in front of our apartment for the night.
Adventures can get hairy...just ask Arden; he opened the door tonight! Better outside...than in...
araña
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