Topiaries, Hot Springs, fancy carts and more of San Jose

March 31

Today Victoria, our host, Ray and Ella, a couple our age from Canada and Ron and I headed out with Fernando at 7:30. Fernando is one of Carlos’ employees. We hired him to take us in a van to Zarcero which is known for its topiaries and to a hot springs resort. You can Google both places for more photos.

We stopped for a coffee break along the way then hopped back in the van and we were enthralled with the scenery. 

We went over the top edge of the mountains above the central valley and what wonderful sights we had. One area was completely terraced on some of the steepest hillsides imaginable. They were vegetables and fruits of all descriptions being grown here. We tried to get some shots from the moving van so the photos are not as good as we wanted but when we travel with others we are not comfortable making photo stops while others have to wait.

  

When we arrived at Zarcero we spent 30 minutes walking around the park with a wondeful mosaic wall and the topiaries.  Whimsical animals and designs were everywhere.  There was even a "Thomas" train.

 

Then inside the church that was on the square. It was quite cold with the cloud cover and the wind. None of us had brought a jacket. It was a lovely simple church and a number of parishioners were waiting to give confession. Unlike other churches I had been in, I was surprised to see the priest sitting in full view of the parishioners and the confessor sitting with him. I had been under the impression that the confessors had more privacy and anonymity. Not here at least. Because this is Holy Week church activity is at a high.

We drove for another hour or more and arrived at the resort. We paid our fees then drove to the parking lot where Fernando and Carmen, his friend, left us off. We then walked for about ten minutes through the loveliest walk on a paver walkway. We were in a dense, moist jungle with a running creek along our side. The hot springs were a series of pools marked with the temperatures in Celsius. We choose 43 degrees, about 109. It was wonderful to sit in the pool and look up at the canopy above us. Twice I spied a blue morpho butterfly, always a treat. Although there were others there, almost all Ticos, it never felt crowded. We enjoyed ourselves for about 90 minutes then changed and headed back to the resort where we had a nice buffet lunch.

As we were nearing Escazu Victoria who is very spontaneous, asked if any of us had been to Sarchi. Nope. So we took a quick turn off the freeway and headed for the small fun town of Sarchi. Sarchi is known for its furniture manufacturing and for its fancy ox carts historically used on coffee plantations, These are very special carts that are highly painted in bright colors, often with a red or blue background. The ox cart factory was started in 1923. They still have the original hydro power system to run a series of belts that operate saws and other equipment. It was fascinating. They had an extensive shop with all manner of souvenirs but none that we needed. 

We have bought very few items on this trip as we literally do not have the room for such. I only bought two gifts besides the jewelry I always buy in bulk in Sri Lanka for women friends and family.

We got home at 6:30. Ray and Ella were dropped off at the grocery store to pick up some bread and we dashed home to put together a salad and heat up the soup I had made the day before so we could all enjoy a meal together. It was a full day and loads of fun.

April 2

 Today we caught a bus around 9:30 and went onto San Jose, about 15 or 20 minutes away by bus. We did a walking tour of the older part of downtown. Unfortunately SJ has not preserved many of its historic buildings, making for a very unattractive city. However we did get to see probably ten or so older buildings from the late 1800’s or early 1900’s that had been restored. We were surprised how few of the buildings had any form of signage telling us what they now were or once had been.

 

We walked for over two hours and headed back to catch our bus. Today and tomorrow are national holidays in CR as part of Holy Week. According to Victoria, all of Costa Rica heads to the coast for the holidays. Downtown had few cars and people. The buses were scarce as well. We waited a very long time for our bus. Ninety percent of the businesses were closed today. Oddly enough shoe stores were open and there are quite a few downtown. There also were a few fast food eateries open.

We stopped by the store near our house to get oil and eggs for the brownies we were making for tonight’s house dinner Victoria is making for us: chicken, squash soup, salads and bread. When we arrived we were tired and famished so lunch was the first order of the day then a quick nap for me and Ron made the brownies.