We left Trogon Lodge after breakfast and headed back down the mountain. We stopped for a bano break and shopping at Café Quetzal. Alex introduced us to guayabita – a chocolate candy filled with guava jelly.We drove past the town of Cartago, the former capital of Costa Rica. Irazu, an 11,000-foot volcano overlooks the town.
When we arrived in San Jose, we drove into the Rohrmoser neighborhood in the western part of the city. This is an area of big houses – homes of the rich and famous of Costa Rica. We saw the home of Oscar Arrias, the former and current President of Costa Rica, winner of Nobel Peace Prize.
This picture was taken through the gate of a lovely colonial style house that showcases two national symbols – the oxcart from Saarchi and the purple orchids.
In San Jose, we toured the National Theatre – an opera house built by coffee money and import taxes. It is European architecture, typical of the 1800’s.
For lunch we checked out Rosti Pollo – a Costa Rican chain featuring all sorts of dishes with roasted chicken.
We walked around town a bit – this is one of many plazas seen throughout the city.
This picture shows some of the wire and bars that “decorate” many homes. Alex wanted us to believe that it was decorative, but it sure looks like razor wire ….
In the evening, we gathered as a group one last time for a photo in front of the hotel.
Then we were off to La Casita Azul (The Little Blue House) for our farewell dinner. We tried a local drink known as horchata – made with rice, peanuts, milk and water – once will be enough for a lifetime. Dinner was typical Costa Rican cuisine – chicken and rice, shredded beef, beans with pork, mashed green plantains, chopped pear squash (chayote) and corn, pico de gallo and homemade tortillas. There was a plateful of assorted desserts to try – rice pudding, sweet plantains, coconut flan, cajeta (a coconut candy), and a candy called yolks (a round yellow ball made of milk, sugar, and egg yolk).
