Kicked Out and Moving On

Monday, Jan. 7, 2013--San Jose to Heredia with Side Trip to Barva

We awoke this morning to the news that no reservations had been canceled and that we would have to go elsewhere to stay.  I went to a nearby place that had been our second choice in San Jose and they were full, too.  Therefore, after a fantastic, huge breakfast buffet (lots of pickled fruits and vegetables, eggs cooked any way we wanted, whole grain breads, butter, jams, rice pudding, fresh papaya and watermelon, several sweet pastries, etc.), we went in search of the bus to Heredia.

No one seemed to know exactly where we should catch the bus.  We went to where the hotel had told us it would be, and it was not the location.  Everyone we asked sent us in different directions.  Finally, after a search for about an hour, a policeman told us where it would be and what color it would be.  Its location was one block over and one block up from where the hotel had originally sent us!

Fortunately, Heredia is really just a suburb now of San Jose.  It only took half an hour to get here.  We had picked out two potential places to stay and went to the one that had the best reviews on Trip Advisor--the Hotel Hojarascas.  It is a very nice place--very clean, very modern, convenient in location, etc.  The surprise was that they charge PER PERSON.  The good news is that rather than put us in one room at that rate, they let us each have adjoining rooms.

Heredia is a nice, small city.  It's easy to get around town, and it seems safer and more relaxed than San Jose.  We went exploring--El Fortin, a tower remaining from an old fort; the churches of Immaculate Conception and Iglacia del Carmen; the former home of past president Alfredo Gonzalez Flores; and the campus of the National University of Costa Rica.  The city was filled with new students being given orientation tours today.  And an interesting observation about the churches is that the baby Jesus had been removed from the nativity scenes apparently because 3 Kings Day has now passed.

We had a late lunch/early dinner at the Soda Rustica in the municipal market.  A young woman who is an art professor at the university and was eating there with her mother helped us choose what to eat--a gallo which she said is a tortilla with any kind of filling.  We each had a large corn-cheese tortilla (about 10 inches [25 cm] in diameter and about 0.4 inch [1 cm] thick).  On top was a pile of potatoes (cut into 0.4 inch [1 cm] cubes) fried with seasonings and pieces of ham.  We ate this with a very hot picante sauce which they make there at the restaurant.  To drink, we had a yogurt-based fruit drink, although I am uncertain what fruit it was.  Everyone seemed so excited that we were eating local food at a market stall restaurant.

With time left in the day, we caught a bus to Barva, a very small town just 15 minutes further up the mountain from Heredia.  It's main attractions are its plaza which is surrounded by very old buildings with VERY old tile roofs, its church facing the plaza, and the activities that take place in the plaza.  We walked the square looking at the buildings and the shops in them, we toured the church which is similar in style to the two we saw in Heredia, and we sat on the square watching people--girls riding new bicycles with training wheels which had probably been Christmas gifts, teenage boys riding two unicycles, boys of all ages playing with soccer balls, skateboarders trying to flip their board and land on it after going over the edge from a stage, teenage boyfriends/girl friends hanging out together, etc.

In the evening, I went out alone.  Wes was watching a movie and the Notre Dame/Alabama football game.  I wanted to see what was happening in town, since we are only a few blocks from the main square.  Most stores were already closed, but a few people were out.  The Christmas lights were still up and were quite interesting.  The main square had a few people there; it was mostly lovers, but a few men were walking around and a couple of westerners were getting lessons on some kind of Chinese instrument.  On the way back to the hotel, I heard music at a Catholic church and investigated.  I'm not sure if it was a contemporary church service or a concert.  I couldn't understand the words, but the music was nice.  The audience applauded for the musicians.  An older man in plain clothes spoke at one point; I assume he was a priest.  But then the music started again and the crowd moved forward.  I left and returned to the hotel.