The isthmus of Central America, sitting slap bang over the meeting point of tectonic plates, is essentially a volcanic mountain range and San José is rather prettily surrounded by a few of them. Some might say they’re the capital’s redeeming feature, given the lack of an outstanding city centre or picturesque old town. One pleasant exception is La Sabana park to the west of the city centre, a good place to check out the surrounding mountains and prepare for the natural riches outside the city as well as escape the ceaseless traffic that clogs this place.
What interesting buildings there are in San José are down to coffee. After independence Costa Rica finally got its economic act together and developed coffee as a major export. The previous capital of Cartago became overshadowed by this upstart home of the coffee merchants, who splashed their cash on fine establishments and monuments to various political struggles.
I’m guessing this is an old coffee merchant’s house. The coffee trade was so critical that an American billionaire called Minor Keith had a railway built from San José to Limon on the Caribbean coast, in order to get the coffee to the crucial European market. Our friend Minor was actually very Major in many ways, not just his bank account, but for example in his impact on the country’s demographics. Many Jamaicans sailed over to help build the line, and their descendants form a substantial and distinct minority in Costa Rica, mostly around the Limon area.
The impressive Post Office, although San José hasn’t much to write home about in terms of historic sites. The real buzz is in the street life, the market stall holders shouting the odds on the scrappy side streets, the Latin music booming out from the little bars on a Friday evening, the narrow crowded pavements being the only thing stopping you from sashaying down the streets to the rhythm…
The National Museum, at the centre of the Plaza de la Cultura. Over to the right…
…the Plaza Juan Mora Fernández, named after this impressive chap, who became the country’s first elected head of state in 1824. A man of liberal persuasions he was also responsible for a series of wide-reaching land reforms. Enough to get him his own plaza and an arresting statue, maybe. The fact that, according to Wikipedia, his reforms accidentally created the coffee barons in the first place may have also had a hand in settling the matter.
The Parque Central, in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral. And…that will do for San José. There were a couple of other museums I could have gone to but in all honesty, I didn’t feel there were any must-sees that I missed. As I sort of implied at the top, some of the popular tours on offer take you out of town to the surrounding volcanoes like the famous Arenal, so it’s time for us to take their lead and head out and away. We leave behind a city that has its points of interest but has just enough to detain the traveller for one or two days, max. Do I know the way through San José? Well, a little better than before, enough for some useful insights, but it’s time to tick it off the list and head through the mountains and to the beach!
orwellianTwo 