San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, is a city of about 400,000 inhabitants. While it may lack the flashiness and glamor of other Latin American capital cities, San Jose exudes an aura of genuineness and warmth. In this humble city, you will not find an abundance of fancy shopping centers, ornate architecture or showy monuments and statutes. At its basic core, San Jose is a workingman’s town, a little rough around the edges but comfortable like a snug coat.

To really get a feel for Costa Rica’s capital city, I suggest that you go sometime around noon to the city’s Central Park located at the end of Paseo Colon, one block East of 2nd avenue - you’ll see a cross section of businessman on their lunch break, tourists enjoying the pleasant spring like weather, performing musicians and mimes as well as artists and craftsman selling their wares. Unlike other Latin American cities, you’ll encounter very little begging. Surrounding the plaza are a number of outdoor cafes, where you can sit down and enjoy a strong cup of coffee or espresso while you take in the Pura Vida vibes of Costa Rica.

If you want to see fancy boutiques, trendy restaurants and bars, I suggest that you spend some time in San José’s upscale suburb of Escazu. This is the stomping ground of the ‘Gente Plastico’ and highbrow expatriates.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 at 7:33 am and is filed under Costa Rica, travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.