Pura Vida-Costa Rica Part 1

This lovely greeting was taught to us by our guide on our recent trip to Costa Rica, it is the national 'hello' and 'good bye' and is the affirmation of 'pure life' or 'pura vida'. . It is how Tico's greet each other, that's slang for a native. Since we're getting older, we decided an escorted tour would be the best way to see as much of the country as we could. It was a good decision. No driving on unfamiliar roads, no decisions about restaurants, no hassles with hotels. By and large, we were very satisfied with the company sponsoring the tour, Caravan tours. Our guide was an affable young man, Elston Valentin. He was extremely knowledgeable, didn't ruffle anyone's feathers and saw to it that all problems were solved in a reasonable way. He is a credit to his country.

In San Jose, the capital city,



we visited the Gold Museum and the National Museum. I was impressed by the detail of the pre-Columbian gold objects we saw. As in most Central and South American city, the center of town is a plaza with fountains and parks. We wandered the center of the city and had lunch in a local restaurant. I bought some macadamia nuts, my favorite, for a very reasonable price. We stopped in a souvenir shop which sold lovely wooden object made by local artisans. If only I had known they had the best prices we would find in Costa Rica, I would have bought more. I treated myself to a lovely box made of rosewood with a blue morpho butterfly sandwiched between two pieces of glass. It is my treasure from this trip.
Our hotel was the lovely Barcelo Palacio, and it was indeed palatial.


Since I am having a problem uploading my pictures, this is to be continued in another entry.