Saturday

I got to San Jose last night after an easy trip connecting through Houston.  This morning I am up early with a dove outside my window (who-cooks-for-you?, who-cooks-for-you?).  Then out for a walk, but last night's drive into town from the airport is on my mind. I am paying extra attention at street crossings. Not that the drivers are bad drivers - just 'creative' and also maybe 'enthusiastic'. Those are words I wound use. I get to La Sabana Park and it's still early and not too crowded.  local football squads training and families out for bike rides. It's a big park and no doubt it was once grand, but now is a bit run down - rough pavement, boarded up bathrooms, that kind of stuff. Leaving the park, I amuse myself by photographing manhole covers along Paseo Colon.

This street is the local segment of the Pan-American Highway and it must be just about halfway from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. Today big sections are closed for repair and resurfacing and this makes the drivers just a bit more anxious.

Nice walk through busy streets now that everyone is awake, and I'm on my way to some of the museums in the center of town. They are nice - Gold Museum, Jade Museum are modest displays, but beautiful stuff. What I am enjoying more, however, is the people watching. Not too may tourists except right around the museums, but a lot going on in the streets. Soon the clouds lower and look ominous, and I head back to the hotel as afternoon showers start.