Grecia, Costa Rica

The taxi dropped us off in front of Grecia's town center next to the church. This Gothic-style church is the prettiest one we have seen so far. It was constructed out of steel plates imported from Belgium in 1897. We went inside to get a closer look at the detailed stained glass windows and high arched ceilings.


We walked from the church to La Terraza Guest House and Bed and Breakfast where we had reservations for the night. We were greeted by a friendly worker who showed us to our room and brought sandwiches and juice for an evening sack. After a quick shower we went into the main house and met the owner Jeanetta. She arrived in Costa Rica about 7 years ago from Olympia, Washington. She has a passion for giving her customers the best possible service so they can have a relaxing vacation. We were lucky to be the only guests that evening. Large parties were arriving the next day. We spent some time visiting with Jeanetta. She shared many valuable insights on life in Costa Rica. I will remember her words of wisdom!

The guest house and B&B are located on beautifully manicured grounds including a small river that runs through the property. I was impressed with the care the gardener gave to the plants and fruit trees. All appeared in tip top shape. I was able to take a lot of photos of many different types of tropical flowers.

As we were departing La Terraza, Jeanetta introduced us to woman from Seattle (we have met a lot of people from Washington!) who owns more than 700 acres high up on the continental divide. She is reforesting the land and has planted about 11,000 trees so far. She extended an offer for us to visit her and the land she is reforesting in the cloud forest. I am looking forward to that trip.

From La Terraza we left for The World of Snakes just outside Grecia. They have on display a large collection of snakes from all around the plant along with a few other reptiles. John likes snakes, I am still somewhat afraid of them. I wanted to go to the exhibit so I could see the snakes and try to get more comfortable with them. An English speaking guide took us around to the many cages and told us about the reptiles. They let John hold one non-venomous snake. I opted not to hold it but did pet it a few times.

We took a taxi back into the center of Grecia, had lunch and headed for the bus station. We are still getting used to the public bus system. I was apprehensive about this ride because we had to transfer to a different bus in down town San Jose. We boarded the correct bus in Grecia. Once it started rolling a man in the front of the bus began speaking loudly to the passengers. I listened carefully because I didn't know why someone would be addressing the riders like this. Was he telling us something about the trip? Something about safety? Did he need to collect more money? Finally I was able to grasp a few words and determined he was trying to sell something. Soon after I realized that he pulled out small framed photos of Jesus and various Christian saints. After he was done with the sales pitch he walked down the row of seats asking everyone if they wanted to make a purchase.

We arrived in down town San Jose. Because there are many buses departing for various places they all have their own bus stop locations. Most are located within several blocks of each other. I knew the avenue name and street number we needed to find for our next bus. After departing the bus we asked a man working at a candy counter for directions to the address. San Jose does not have street signs or numbers on the buildings. This makes it difficult to find locations. We asked 3 different people (one a police officer) where the location was and still couldn't find the bus stop to Ciudad Colon. We were basically walking in circles in a three block radius. I decided to hail a cab. Turns out we were one block away but didn't go up one street far enough. Next time we will immediately hire a cab in San Jose to take us to the next bus stop.

We boarded the bus and it took off right away. There were two different vendors on this bus. One selling boot leg music CD's and the other pens. The bus fare for the two of us was less than $4.00 for the entire trip. A taxi ride for the same distance would easily have been $40.00 We had a really good time in Grecia. The town was large enough to have everything anyone needs and also (we hear) has a nice size expat community. I have a feeling we will go back and spend more time in this town.