Thursday, March 7
Do you know the way to San Jose? We do!
San Jose's reputation as a Capitol city with many challenges reached us even before we left the states. We had heard and read that the city was crowded, dirty, noisy, polluted, had lots of traffic and crazy drivers, was rife with thieves and pickpockets, and had treacherous sidewalks and walkways. What we read in guidebooks and on the Internet before we left was confirmed by people we have met here in Costa Rica, Ticos and Gringos alike. Therefore, this city was pretty low on our bucket list of places we wanted to visit while we were in country.
However, Bob was intrigued by the challenge of finding our way there by public bus and navigating all the "hazards" successfully. In this, he was joined by our new friend Phil, who was also up for the challenge, while Phil's wife Diana, like me, was less keen. Nevertheless, we four planned a trip into the city by bus, and today was the designated day.
We all prepared for this trip by leaving all our valuables at home, so that we would not be targets for thieves or pickpockets. Bob and I wore no jewelry, did not bring any electronic toys - not even a camera, brought a minimal amount of cash and one credit card carefully tucked away, and brought copies of our passports but left the real ones at home. Our friends Phil and Diana did the same. And it was worth it; we weren't hassled at all.
We discovered that there is a regular bus route between Atenas and San Jose, which runs fairly frequently - on the half hour during busy times and on the hour on less busy times. The bus turned out to be large (too large, we thought, for these narrow, winding mountain roads), modern, and comfortable. The route along the way was hair-raising as it comes down off the mountains, crosses over a river, and then winds back up again, with many hairpin turns. And then, as we approached the airport and then the city, the traffic really picked up, with some stop-and-go moments. The approach to San Jose seemed to me to be very similar to the approach to New York City - lots of congestion and some crazy drivers!
Our objective, once in the city was the Teatro Nacional for our first stop. We took a red taxi from the bus station and arrived there around 10:15. We signed up for an eleven o'clock tour, and then stopped into the Teatro Cafe for coffee and conversation.
Teatro Nacional, San Jose, Costa Rica. (Photo by lois&stan, Flickr)
Our tour was fascinating. Our bilingual guide gave information in both English and Spanish, to accommodate the mixed crowd. We learned that the idea for the theatre came from wealthy coffee barons in the 1890's, and they had financed the beginning of the project. However, their contribution to the total cost of this project was about 4% of the total cost. The remaining 96% came from taxes imposed on the rest of the population.
Entrance to second floor Salon, Teatro Nacional, San Jose, Costa Rica. The winged statue once stood on the roof of the Teatro. It was brought inside for preservation purposes, and a replica was installed on the roof.
The decor was very ornate, including much gold leaf work, with influences from Spain, Italy, and France. The marble work all through the building came from Italy. The paintings on the ceilings and walls were done by both Spanish and Italian artists. The crystal doors, window panels, wall lamps and chandeliers came from Paris, as did some of the furniture. One interesting factoid was that San Jose was only the third Capitol city in the world, behind only New York and Paris, to become electrified.
Interior of Teatro Nacional, second floor Salon where small concerts and special events are held.
In the above photo, you will see a large column to the right of the gilded door. The guide told us that this column was only decorative, not a supporting column. He told us that in November of 2012, there was an earthquake in Costa Rica (with the epicenter in Guanacaste province) and one of the effects of the quake in this building was that this column moved about one inch, top and bottom. And sure enough, when we passed by it, we could see this for ourselves.
In the theatre itself, we saw the fancy opera boxes, the Presidential Box - reserved for the Costa Rican President and her/his guests, the "widows' boxes" (intended to hide widows of one year or less who were not supposed to go out in public for a year after their husbands' deaths), and the highest balcony (aka the "peanut gallery") which had a separate entrance from the others.
There were many other fascinating things about this theatre. One is that for certain occasions, now rare, the seats can be removed from the floor of the theatre, and then the floor can be raised mechanically (by a large group of people) to the level of the stage for a special dance, such as the Presidential Ball that happens every four years. (We have no photo of the theatre interior, unfortunately.)
When the tour was over, we decided to go back into the Teatro Cafe, just off the lobby, for lunch. Although we had considered the possibility of seeing another museum or two after lunch, Diana was not feeling well and the rest of us were already tired, so we decided to head back to Atenas after lunch.
We hailed another red taxi to take us back to the Coca Cola Bus Terminal. This driver was even more aggressive than most, moving too quickly through crowded streets. And just as we approached the terminal, the driver made a sharp right into a narrow street and we heard a voice cry out, "Aaagh!" A man on the corner cried out in pain and raised his right foot. It appeared to us that the taxi had driven over this man's foot. But the driver, although he did hear the scream, just kept on going. And, in fact, there was no way for him to stop, back up, or turn around, given all the congestion of vehicles and people. All we could do was hope that this man was not seriously hurt. We all wondered what would have happened if this incident had been witnessed by a policeman. Sadly, we all guessed the answer would be "nothing."
Once at the bus terminal, we had twenty minutes to wait for the next bus to Atenas. We wandered through the indoor market a little, sticking together, watching each other's backs. There wasn't much for any of us to worry about, pickpocket-wise, as none of us had brought anything of value. It seemed like a rough area to me, but not as rough as I had expected. Nevertheless, I did witness a man attempting to steal a suitcase from a bus that was unloading. He did get stopped. I sure wouldn't want to be in this station with all our suitcases, or at night. It was a relief to leave.
P.S. Some logistics: The bus trip each way took about and hour and a quarter and cost one Mil - 1000 colones or $2 per person each way. The theatre entrance fee and tour cost $7 each. No advance reservations were necessary for either. The taxi ride cost 3000 colones ($6) going to the theatre and 2000 colones ($4) returning. The difference can be explained by the way the streets are set up, with many going only one-way. The trip going to the Teatro was longer than the return trip.
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