The Day I Tried to Pretend I Wasn't a Tourist. . .

Which failed miserably the moment I stepped into the Tourism Office!
Today Becky, Amanda and I went into San Jose - which here in Costa Rica refers to the downtown area. I wasn't sure what all we were planning to do, so I didn't bring my camera. In retrospect, not the best decision ever! We took the bus into San Jose from San Pedro, which is where we live. Becky took us through the neighborhood to the Mas-x-Menos, which she recommended to us as the best place to do grocery shopping. Unfortunately, its a bit of a hike, and would probably require a taxi to get home. . . so I might stick with the grocery stores 2 and 4 blocks away, unless I have a big shopping trip I need to go on. We saw the Iglesia San Pedro, which is the church our neighborhood is named for, and which I plan visiting - its supposed to be beautiful. (I spent so much time on vacations visiting churches with my family that I even do it now without my parents!) We then took a bus into the city. They're really easy to catch, and really cheap - I think it cost $0.50 to take the bus into San Jose. Of course, you don't get a transfer or anything like that, which makes it slightly less cheap if you have a ways to go, but since I usually only need one bus, it works out well.
We arrived in San Jose with no problems. I was surprised at how much of the downtown I remembered, but I did spend a lot of time there when we visited 4 years ago. Amanda and I took a tour of the Teatro Nacional, which was built in 1897 and is a really stunning building. Very baroque in style. We want to go back and see a show of some sort there. We then walked over to the Cathedral, and slipped inside for a bit. There was a mass going on, so we didn't see much, but what we did see was quite lovely.
For lunch, we went to a restaurant called Nuestra Tierra. This was the very first restaurant our family ate at when we visited Costa Rica. It was much brighter inside than I remembered, but it seemed very much the same. We then meandered across the street and through the Mercado Artesanal - the Artesans Market. Amanda and I have made plans to return and buy earrings there, as well as touristy gifties for our families.
The three of us then meandered back to the pedestrian mall, and walked up to the mercado to get some of Becky's favorite ice cream - vanilla-cinnamon flavor. Amanda and I were very suspicious of the ice cream - it is very yellow and not super solid, but it was fantastic. The flavor reminded me of the dough for the pan de muertos I made for Easter.
It was after this that our real adventure began. Becky wanted to show Amanda and me the Plaza del Sol, which is a market-y sort of area. Its back in San Pedro, so we got back on the bus. We were trundling along in the bus, and Becky told me "When we take a left up ahead, push the button so the driver knows we need to get off." Well, the bus never took a left - we were on the wrong bus. Instead, it turned right, and dropped us off in Curridibat, which is another neighborhood in the city. The rain that had threatened all day had started, and the three of us were lost and wet, even with our umbrellas and rain coats. We started walking in the generally right direction, but really had no idea where we were in relation to anything. Becky was horrified, and kept apologizing to us. Eventually, we ran into some Mormon missionaries, and got directions from them, and made our way to a main thoroughfare, where we caught a taxi and took it back home. Now Amanda and I know to be very, very sure that the bus we are on is the right one! But all's well that ends well, and I am now home and dry.