Most people don’t particularly care for San Jose, the much maligned capital city of Costa Rica. Despite its magnificent location in the Central Valley at an altitude of about 3800 feet above sea level, San Jose itself is relatively drab and unsophisticated compared to other capital cities in Latin America. The city lacks the gleaming skyscrapers and sophisticated architecture of Mexico City and Panama City, and the beautiful ornate colonial architecture of cities like Quito, Bogota or Cusco. In a nutshell, San Jose feels like a working class-blue collar town, just very down to earth.

After so many visits to San Jose, personally I have come to appreciate the city’s unpretentious and humble personality. San Jose feels very comfortable like an old pair of shoes. I enjoy walking around the historic neighborhoods of Barrio Amon and Barrio Otoya located on the northern edge of the downtown area where there are many small boutiquish cafes as well as restored mansions of coffee barons from the late 19th century. Many of these mansions have been converted into small hotels. In addition, there are many small parks - little oases of greenery – scattered around the city. My Verdict on San Jose - PURA VIDA!

La Plaza de la Cultura (Culture Plaza) in San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital city is one of the most popular venues for locals and tourists alike. Located in the heart of San Jose’s busy downtown area, the park is flanked on one side by the Gran Hotel, at one time the most prestigious hotel in San Jose, with the National Theater looming in the background. On any given day, you’ll see a variety of street performers – mimes, clowns, jugglers, Andean folk musicians and the like - as well as local artisans displaying the wares.

People watching and feeding the pigeons are the most popular pastimes at the Plaza de La Cultura; these birds are out in force during lunchtime and after 5:00PM as well as holidays and weekends. Sort of reminds of the days, when as a little boy I used to visit Union Square, a famous landmark in downtown San Francisco and at one time, the most popular pigeon-feeding venue in the city. Of course, feeding the many pigeons that congregate at the park, can only lead one thing – a lot of bird shit and some rather unsanitary conditions. Oh well, the Ticos and their children love these foul birds…

On my latest visit to Costa Rica, I strolled to The Plaza sometime late afternoon on Ash Wednesday, the official start of the five day Semana de Santa (the Easter Holidays) in Costa Rica. While the rest of San Jose was relatively dead, the Plaza was jamming with activity. There were many working class Ticos at the park enjoying the start of the holidays. Mixed in with the many families (mostly parents with their small children) was a rather motley group of punk rockers. Of course, the pigeons were out in force. I observed a number of old ladies doing a rather a brisk trade selling pigeon food - small packets of corn – to the many parents, and the young children were having a field day feeding and chasing the birds. There were also several entrepreneurs making some monies by taking pictures of people, printing the photos on the spot with a portable photo printer. Some of the Ticos even had their picture taken with pigeons eating corn on the top of their head. Watching this, I shook my head, thinking why would anybody want to pay for a picture of a pigeon shitting on his head?!?!

Besides a trio of clowns selling toy balloons shaped like phallus symbols, entertaining a small group of locals were a pair of mimes. The mimes were painted in white - the man was dressed up as a cowboy, while the lady looked like a modern version of Raggedy Ann, a famous fictional character that appeared in a popular illustrated book series written for children. The Mime duo was quite talented and experienced - as they went thru their poses, they looked like a pair of ceramic statutes. There was a real photo taking frenzy going on as most of the onlookers were busy taking pictures of the mimes with either their cell phone or pocket camera. The mimes had a decent payday as many people rewarded the performing duo by placing a small donation into their collection hat. Just another day at the park…

People often ask me to list the top five things to do or see in San Jose, Costa Rica’s Capital City. Without straying too far from the ‘heart of town’, here’s my recommendations (my personal top five):

1. Plaza de la Cultur – Great place for people watching; very colorful scene where you’ll find many craftsmen, jugglers, street preachers, mimes as well as musicians performing Incan folk music.
2. Historical Barrio Amon, northern edge of downtown – old mansions, Victorian and Caribbean architecture, cafes & art galleries
3. The Gold and Art Museums – near the Plaza de La Cultur
4. Spirogyra Butterfly Garden – small butterfly garden located not far from city center
5. El Pueblo – lively entertainment & shopping complex located near Hotel Tournon. Many restaurants, bars, shops and nightclubs

You can see all these places and attractions at a very leisurely pace in one day.