Costa Rica 2018: February 10. Day 1. Are we swimming to Costa Rica?

Judging by the amount of rainwater pooling on the concrete outside the hotel, I'm thinking we could probably at least start with that mode of transportation. Oh, and the shuttle driver has had a flat on the way to work. Zen.... I managed to talk myself into a seat in someone else's taxi, so got to the airport in Houston in lots of time. It was a pretty easy check-in, although I always find myself critiquing the setup and thinking that there must be some pretty obvious ways to improve the efficiency. Oh well - not my job.

It was about a 3.5 hour flight to San Jose. Good flight and right on time. All my luggage arrived and Christopher ("Fez"), our guide, was there to meet me as promised. He easily picked me out of the masses by the bike helmet hanging off my pack. Apparently I'm the first (of 10) to arrive, so he put me on a shuttle bus and waited for the others. We're staying tonight at the Crowne Plaza Hotel - very nice. Everyone so far is very, very friendly. I was at the hotel shortly after 1pm so had lots of time to do some exploring. It was about a 15 minute walk downtown, so off I went. The world is a pretty small place these days. There were all of the American fast food places - Subway, Quiznos, Taco Bell, KFC and McDonald's. In one 15 minute time span I counted at least 10 McDonald's locations. Hmmmm..... Maybe the model for this statue had visited them a few too many times.

There's even a piece of Canada here.

The main downtown area has a pedestrian mall. Lots of shops and street vendors laying out their wares on the ground. Most popular items for sale that way - remotes (for TVs, etc) and socks.

It's a bustling place on a Saturday. You have to keep your head up and down at the same time. Many of the sidewalks are in need of repair and I really don't want to twist an ankle before we even get started. Crossing streets is another interesting experience. At corners with lights, there is usually just one hanging in the middle of the intersection so it's a bit of an eyetest sometimes to figure out when to walk. Not to worry, though - just follow the masses, and most of them just go when there's no traffic coming. The drivers are quite patient with that, and even the police don't wait for the lights. Speaking of police - they are very much in evidence, at least in the downtown area. On foot, on bicycles and on motorcycles. Very pleasant and very much engaged with the public.

Here are some miscellaneous pictures of buildings and sights in the downtown area.

The next three pictures are of the National Theatre building.

And who knew there would be a Chinatown here??

Which seemed to be having some type of food truck festival this week. My niece, Jessica, would be in her glory! Four or five blocks worth of them.....

Then it was off for a stroll through a large park close to the hotel - Parque Metropolitano La Sabana. It was a hive of activity - football (soccer) fields, basketball courts, picnic tables, trees & walking paths, the National Stadium, horse rides, a lake, wooden sculptures, a running track and a banked oval for roller skating. Lots of people out and about on this cool-ish overcast day.