The flight from Miami to Costa Rica had some lovely views as we travelled south, although we were nearly redirected to Liberia due to bad weather which would have been a bad start to the trip. They made it down on the second attempt; to the wild cheering and applause of the Americans who get very excited by ‘airplanes’.

From there it was a quick connection to the hotel in time to have some dinner with the G Adventure crew and a chance to meet my roommate for the duration, a tall broad-shouldered German Doctor.

August 2nd

It was about five hours on the bus, and the mood was quiet. When we arrived, there would be one last dinner and in the morning we would start to go our separate ways...

Dinner was lovely at a Mexican Cartina, I was disappointed the ‘pint of wine’ was a regular glass with a bad translation. I had excellent tacos. Only one couple was not with us, they had gone for a private dinner as they got engaged the evening before.

It was a fun sight, but also a bit subdued as we all knew it was our last meal together.

A couple of us went for a final few beers before bed at a nearby sports bar.

August 3rd

Costa Rican Art Museum

I managed to see a few people off in the morning, before heading out to the nearby Costa Rican art museum. It is a small building, but the selection is good and it is free entry.

After a coffee at a nearby cafe I explored the local park for a while.

I then walked into town to find some food, ended up eating at an excellent Argentinian place.

Gold Museum

I then met up with one of the others from the tour to do the gold museum which also has the history of the coins of Costa Rica. The vault doors were impressive, and the collection well laid out and annotated (Spanish + English)

After a pint or two we headed back to the hotel to get changed for dinner. One of the guys from the tour was having women problem and so invites himself along to dinner. It was one of the most expensive places in San Jose, Grand d’oro (?) a French place, the service was strangely surely, but the food was exquisite. Rabbit Raviolo, duck breast, creme brule and some excellent wine.

August 4th

Final day in Costa Rico, I had a late start, and breakfast with one of the remaining people from the group before I headed out to the centre of town, taking a different route, a more authentic set of shops including several horseriding stores.

Jade Museum

After a coffee and a brief chat with some Swiss girls, I headed to the Jade museum set in a new building. The grey monolith dominates the scene.

The collection is spread over five floors and is well-annotated. There is a danger when seeing when the items were produced to be dismissive, chiselled bowls in 800AD, and it is an impulse that needs to be controlled.

When done with the museum, I had an excellent steak at an Argentinian, chaotically busy, I ate at the bar.

National Museum

Following lunch, I headed to the national museum set in an old fortress that became obsolete when the army was abolished in the mid 20th century.

Interestingly, the entire hall is a butterfly sanctuary...

Past that, there are a series of rooms, with their own themes, the arrival of the carriage, the building itself and more. The Museum is very open with its criticism that the government lets down women and the LGBT+ community.

I then spent an hour or two wandering, seeing the sights; some parks and the Temple de la Music, where kids dances on the pagoda and alt-rockers sit on stone branches.

I then retired to a rooftop bar to watch the people go by and drink some local craft ales.

Dinner was at a local pizza place called The Corner with Simpsons on the TV and good red wine. A beer at a bar hallway home and my adventure was done, just my flights home to the following day.

San José