I went to Costa Rica for my birthday in 2018 with 3 friends. Roundtrip tickets from Austin were $426 each and our Airbnb came to a total of $290 for 4 nights.
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| Don Quixote House |
Sheila and I got to San Jose in the early evening and took an Uber to our Airbnb... it was pretty straightforward. We stayed at a local musician's house and absolutely loved our stay there. It was close to everything and we only took Ubers when leaving San Jose. Our host, Jose, also owns a bar downtown, Amon Solar aka El-Sotano, that he invited us to. It was such a blast and we got to listen to live music, dance, play some vinyl records and have a few Costa Rican beers with local snacks.
Day 1... tourists are us!
The first morning, we went to Café Del Barista for some Costa Rican coffee and local pastries. It was so good that we stopped there almost every morning until we left.
Afterwards, we went on this sensory walk around San Jose's Central Market area, aka Mercado Central de San Jose. The tour cost $25 per person and included tastings (local snacks, fruits, ice-cream), history lessons and belly laughs.
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| Cheese tortillas on banana leaves, a delicious, local staple |
This ice cream store has been there since the early 1900s. They still have just one flavor, everyone loves it and no one has been able to successfully replicate it. Highly recommend!
We also made stops at the National Theater, the Post Office, the French Alliance Building, a public park where teenagers practice street dancing, and a few other places within walking distance around the market.
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| Heroes of Poverty - the only statue in the National Theater made by a Costa Rican. |
At the Post Office, we got to see one of the first post office boxes made in Costa Rica. The crest had 5 stars while the country's current crest has 7 stars.
PO Box with 5 star crest
As we walked downtown, he showed us this building and said the person who got the contract to paint it won a graffiti competition of sorts and it was a big deal at the time. I wrote down their name and lost it... please let me know if you know who it is so I can credit them.
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The last thing he showed us was this school building. Apparently, the metal façade was imported from Belgium in the late 1800's by rich kids who traveled/schooled overseas and wanted to bring some of that culture back to Costa Rica.
Day 2
We went to Irazu Volano National Park in the Cartago Province. The ride was 1hr 30 mins but we didn't want the responsibility of a rental so we took an Uber. It didn't cost too much to split it between the 4 of us but I don't remember how much it was. We drove so high up the mountain that we were on the same horizontal level as the clouds.
Once you get to the top, there is a visitor center and hiking trails that lead you to the top of several craters.
The volcano hasn't erupted since the 1960s and currently, the only activity is from fumaroles releasing smelly steam ever so often so it's pretty safe to visit.
Afterwards, we drove took a 45 minute Uber into Cartago and visited Basilica De Nuestra Senora De Los Angeles. It is an old church built in honor of the Virgin Mary, after a girl found a rock that was a representation of Mary and baby Jesus in the 1960s... here's a very short summary of the story per Wiki. It is easily one of the most revered churches in the area worth a visit. It has the usual, impressive feel of old catholic churches - stained glass windows, hand carved alters, statues etc.
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Afterwards, we took our last Uber of the day back to San Jose and had a very traditional meal of Costa Rican coffee (made the old way) and platters of Torticasado Tipico at La Tortelleria. The meal was a cheese-filled tortilla topped with rice and beans, chicken, plantains and pico on a bed of lettuce!
That evening, we took walks in different neighborhoods, bar-hopped and finally stopped at a hostel for drinks, socializing with new friends and photo-ops.
Day 3... MY MUTHAFUCKING BIRTHDAY!
I woke up early and went to the couch to journal, that's where the girls found me when they finally rolled out of bed.
We started the day by walking down to a pop-up Saturday's Farmer's Market for breakfast. There is a local Farmer's Market in every town and they are called Feria. Afterwards, we got an Uber and made an arrangement for him to stay with us the whole day, which he was okay with. He turned off the app, and we went partying.
We drove to Jaco in Playa Hermosa, which is in the Guanacaste region. We wandered a round for a bit then ended up at a hostel and basically took over the place.
They also had beach access so we walked down and had a blast playing with the black sand and seeing who would could get the most sand on others.
We then walked down the street until we found another beach access and spent a couple of hours playing, chilling and just having a good time.
Once we were done, we stopped by the Jaco sign for pictures and watched the sunset. We had our driver drop us off at a nice restaurant for dinner. We went in smelly and still in beach clothes but didn't care. The food was meh so I won't be recommending it.
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| That’s our darling driver in the back |
When we got home, the girls surprised me with a big cupcake and it made the perfect end to the perfect day. For me, their coming on the trip in my honor was enough of a present. However, the fact that they managed to buy and hide a cake and candle was hilarious, thoughtful and the literal icing on the cake. There is so much more of Costa Rica to be seen and if I go again, I'll make San Jose the airport stop while I spend more time in other parts of the country. Either way, a good time was had and I highly recommend going there.
