A week in the Big City

After eating all of Grenada we hopped onto yet another bus for yet another border crossing. The bus was air-conditioned, with several (not so great) movies playing - all dubbed in Spanish. The ride was a simple nine-hour trip, and the border crossing was probably the most smooth crossing we have encountered yet. With a bus full of people, you always hope that one person doesn’t get held back and the whole bus has to wait at the border, fortunately the whole thing was flawless.

Arriving in San Jose Costa Rica, we had arranged a ride from the AirBnb host to pick us up and bring us back to their family home. Harold, our driver and father of the host family, had a hilarious sense of humour and made the ride home very enjoyable. Not stopping there, he proceeded to make us fried plantains for a snack before bed, which we shared while laughing some more.

Things were off to a great start!

Then came another bonus, a hot shower! We hadn’t had a proper hot shower in over two months at this time and it was magical. Needless to say we had an amazing nights sleep. The following morning we woke up to toast and tea for breakfast, then Harold took us grocery shopping. It was like having our own little family in Costa Rica; it was really nice.

While in Costa Rica we took another free walking tour, which I am so lucky to have found out about. They’re all over the world and such a great way begin any visit to a new city. It was another great three hours of learning the history of the country, some stories of the local architecture and an understanding of the local culture.

Walking through the main park on the tour, we noticed people setting up a large stage and a bunch of little tents. They were setting up for a festival called Transitarte, a local gathering of artists ranging from musicians and dancers, to painters and sculptors.

The next two days we wandered around checking out the displays, food and music. There were some we liked, some we loathed and some that just were. It was an interesting festival getting everyone involved, families, and friends of all types showed up, different stages for different music types. It was a very well-rounded festival and was hard to find something that intrigued us. We walked for hours, ate what we found and then went back home exhausted.

We were incredibly lucky with this homestay because the family really enjoyed cooking. Seeing as we are both chefs, it was a perfect pairing! They showed us recipes passed down from their families, we took many pictures and notes - most importantly, we ate very well. It was great!

For the short time we had to visit Costa Rica, it was great to explore the typically unvisited capital city of San Jose; and we’ll definitely return!