Pam's Blog

I bought a couple of nights on sky auction.com at the Gran Hotel in central San Jose specifically for the end of my trip. It’s a vintage 1930’s building with a few updates, like wifi in the room, but not air conditioning. My room had a small window that opened only so far onto an indoor sort of courtyard so most of the time it was almost as hot as an oven in my room. Just across the hall was the John F Kennedy suite with a poster of famous people who have stayed in the room.

The hotel also had a fitness room and a recreation area with a couple of pool tables. Like a good number of things in Costa Rica, there is more form than function. I couldn’t get the treadmill to work at and the stationary bike squeezed the entire time I rode it. The first time I hit a pool ball into the side pocket, it fell directly to the floor.

On the last day of my Gate 1 tour I asked Ricardo to suggest a good place to buy coffee, since I didn’t want to buy it and carry it around for more than a week. He suggested a grocery store right across the pedestrian street from San Jose hotel, Gran Hotel, and even suggested a couple of brands. I bought all the brands he recommended among a few other things and ended up spending almost $100, something I rarely do at the grocery store.

In the uncharacteristic light rain, I headed to the artisan market. The rain empties the streets a little bit but makes the town look grungier than it looks in the daylight. The artisan market is a block with covered (thankfully) booths that can’t be more than 15 x 15. 

On the way back I stopped at a pastry shop. Ok, actually two pasty shops. I have to say the baked goods are unremarkable in Costa Rica, but that hasn’t stopped me from trying. 😉